| spanish language courses in costa rica |
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To whom it may concern I retired a few years ago from College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL, where for many years I was a Professor of Spanish. Currently, I am Director of Study Abroad at Illinois College. During my tenure as Professor of Spanish at College of DuPage, I was pleased to be Director of the Summer Study Abroad Program in Costa Rica for many years. College of DuPage has had a study abroad program in Costa Rica since 1990. One year the program was held at a public university in the city of Heredia and for two years, it was held at another public university in San Jose. There were many problems during those three summers, especially at the latter institution, with the result that a number of students requested a full refund from the college. The College of DuPage faculty and students encountered many difficulties of a burocratic nature. Classes were too large, sometimes the students would arrive and there were no classrooms where the classes could meet. On occasion, the professors did not show up. When students had problems with the families who housed them, no effort was made to accommodate them more satisfactorily; in fact, they were asked: "Can't you manage to put up with the situation? It's only for a few weeks." During subsequent summers, I met students from Eastern Illinois University who expressed the same complaints to us. Because of these problems, College of DuPage decided to seek out another place where its students could study. After visiting various institutions, Forester Instituto Internacional was chosen and has been the institution used for the program since 1993. Even after beginning to take students to Forester, we visited more institutions. We have come to the conclusion that Forester is the best choice for a variety of reasons, which I shall list here. 1) Forester is located in a pleasant, residential area. 2) The facilities are the most beautiful we have seen. 3) The atmosphere is congenial, helpful and very conducive to learning. 4) Class size is small, making it easy for all students to participate every day and get answers to their questions and their doubts resolved. 5) The faculty is very dedicated, knowledgeable and experienced in teaching Spanish to non-Spanish speaking individuals using up-to-date pedagogy. 6) The staff is always ready to attend to students' needs quickly. 7) The institute has stringent requirements of the homestay families who must comply with them. 8) The homes are the best we have seen (based on what personnel from other institutions showed us). 9) If students need to change class levels or family, for whatever reason, changes are made immediately, no questions asked. In summary, I would like to say that after visiting many institutions in Costa Rica where Spanish is taught to students from the U.S. and other countries, we have concluded that the best one and the one providing the best value is Forester. Sincerely, Flora Breidenbach, Ph.D. Professor of Spanish |
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"As Director of UNCCharlotte's Spanish Language & Culture in Costa Rica Program since 1993, I have worked closely with Forester's staff and have been a witness to their commitment to excellence. My students have benefited from the "Forester experience" linguistically, culturally, and personally. Its faculty is very qualified and very caring. The professors here at UNCCharlotte have complimented many of the students who participated in the Costa Rica program and have definitely noticed the improvement in the students' skills." |
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To whom it may concern In 1975 I visited, along with a colleague, several language institutes in San José, Costa Rica to start a summer program. Among the institutes visited, Forester was my number one choice. I saw, at first hand, the quality of instruction after observing different levels being taught. At the time of making the decision, due to circumstances beyond my control, I did not select Forester Institute but instead opted for my second choice. After working with "my second choice" institute for three summers, and being as demanding and strict as I am for excellent teaching and quality of service in general, I realized that my students were being charged for services not rendered or that some professors had been hired "out of the park." (At this time this institute, due to contacts the owners had with many universities in United States, the number of students attending classes was greater than the resources and the mighty dollar was more important than the quality American students were being given). In 1999, while finishing the summer program and disappointed with this institute (we were not the only university leaving this language institute looking for another one), I revisited Forester Institute and began with them in 2001. Why would I recommend Forester without reservation? For the quality of Spanish instruction, for all the amazing, knowledgeable teachers whom we keep seeing year after year indicating that "turn over" does not seem to be a problem at Forester; for the personal attention all students and accompanying professors receive and will always receive from anyone from Forester: from Mireya, who deals with housing, placing each student carefully with families and making changes, when needed, without a second thought; from Stephanie, at the front desk, taking care, with abundant details, of all matters affecting students; from doña Vicky, who so meticulously cleans the building and greets all with a smile, patiently cleaning after our students and their (sometimes) messy breaks; from Silvia, the most "increíble cubana" dancing instructor in Costa Rica and/or Latin America; from Sarita, the most competent and charming tour guide in San José; from Manuel, the chauffeur who greets university groups with a big smile at the Santamaría airport, and of course from Horacio LoPrete, director/owner of Forester. Horacio LoPrete will personally take matters into his hands for any kind of situation and provides students and professors/directors the best quality and experience Costa Rica can give foreign students. His willingness to work with each college/university individually goes beyond words. The success of any business starts with the manager/director/owner who in turn will hire the people who will be his mirrors and his projections when it comes to give quality and care for customers. It is difficult to consider Forester a business for all the personal attention we each receive, but we must agree that after all, it is a business that deals with the teaching of the Spanish language. And a very unique one. Horacio and other Forester personnel make the experience rewarding and very personal without jeopardizing the high quality he himself (and I) stand for. Just meet Horacio once, and you will see the quality students and professors will receive at his Insititute. What one pays, is received in exceptional service and personal attention from anyone at Forester Institute. As a professor who has several programs abroad, the institute in Costa Rica--Forester--is the best institute I use in Latin America. Dr. Diana Rodríguez-Lozano |
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"Forester Institute is the place to go if you want to learn Spanish. Intensive 4 to 12-week programs are offered... Each four week level completed is equivalent to one UCONN semester of Spanish." |
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"The Forester Instituto Internacional offers exciting, quality Spanish immersion programs in San José, Costa Rica. We chose this program for its excellent reputation and strong commitment to Spanish language instruction." |
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September 26, 2005 THE JOURNAL REPORT: ENCORE Travel Back to School Looking for something a bit more stimulating on your next trip? Try these 'learning vacations.' By LAURA JOHANNES White sand. Warm sun. Sparkling blue-green water, a lawn chair and a cold drink. To some, that would be the ideal vacation. But not for Lori Kagan-Moore of Danville, Ky. Her idea of a good time this spring was three weeks intensively learning Spanish in Costa Rica. "Past a certain age, who wants to veg on the beach?" says Ms. Kagan-Moore, age 50, who says she worked so hard that she was dreaming in Spanish by the end of the trip. Indeed, learning vacations can prove as deeply relaxing as traditional escapes. "It flushes...the mind of all the other garbage," says Fred Luety, a 62-year-old financial consultant from Missoula, Mont. [...] IMMERSED IN A LANGUAGEFor Ms. Kagan-Moore, the decision to spend a three-week spring vacation studying Spanish with her 8-year-old daughter, Emma, was an easy one. The family had been learning the language on its own for several years, with videotapes, and had traveled to Mexico. But weeding through the language-school publicity hype was much harder. "When you look online for schools, you see a lot of advertisements--all written by the school," she says. Ms. Moore spent more than a hundred hours online looking for objective reviews and other information, such as location and costs. She narrowed her search, then contacted her top choices by email and phone, asking about prices, instruction and housing possibilities. She picked Forester Instituto Internacional in San José, Costa Rica, in part because the school quickly lined up a Spanish-speaking host family with a daughter similar in age to Emma and a female private tutor. The intensive classes--conducted entirely in Spanish--were "amazing," she adds. "Your defenses break down, and you let the language come in a natural way. All of a sudden things just click." [...]
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Dear Reader,
The purpose of this letter is to provide a detailed account of my three-week experience at a Spanish language immersion school, Forester Instituto Internacional, in San Jose, Costa Rica. I am motivated to write this letter for two reasons: the first is that I had a great deal of difficulty finding detailed, objective information about language schools during my search process and was determined to add something to the meager selection online; the second is that the school we finally chose so exceeded our hopes and expectations that I feel an obligation of gratitude to share the story with others… To narrow our research, we tried to figure out which part of the country would best suit our needs. We chose San Jose easily, and for many reasons. First of all, there is an enormous variation in climate among the parts of Costa Rica. San Jose has what they call "eternal springtime" meaning that the weather is around 70-75 degrees year round. Every day the warmth of the sun and fresh breeze made walking in shirtsleeves a pleasure, yet we never needed sunscreen. By contrast, many of beautiful parts of the country are exceedingly hot (over 90 degrees) and humid year round. We decided to reserve those areas for special weekend trips that would concentrate on the beach, volcano, etc. I did not want to spend three weeks slathering my child twice daily with #45 sunscreen and Deet before she could walk out the door. And we didn't want to study in excessive heat. A second factor in choosing San Jose was that it is the central hub of transportation for all of Costa Rica. I learned that it would serve as the easiest take-off destination for weekend jaunts to Manuel Antonio, Arenal and other areas of interest. Dragging a 7-year old on a long ride first to San Jose, and then to connecting points elsewhere held very little appeal for me. We did in fact have marvelous weekends away at those destinations, which were reached easily and cheaply from San Jose… After deciding upon San Jose, the number of schools was narrowed down. I inspected the websites for intelligent English, evidence of training, experience and education of the teachers, a level of seriousness about the task at hand, attractive classrooms in safe neighborhoods, indication that colleges in the U.S. had chosen them for study-abroad programs, and last but not least, clear written indication that they had specific programs for children (all of them will make provisions of some kind, but I wanted a higher level of planning than that.)… We arrived in San Jose on Sunday, April 3, and took a cab directly to our host family's house. They received us warmly with smiles, and an eagerness to show us around and introduce us to their friendly housekeeper and their two clean puffy white poodles. We had our own room in their large comfortable house decorated with Spanish tile and pottery, a walled-in back yard with cozy patio and comfortable furniture. The most important part, however, was that our family seemed genuinely happy to have us there, and, while never intrusive, were always happy to see us. They had been taught to use the minimum of English with us, though they spoke it well, because we were to have maximum opportunity to practice our Spanish. Had we spoken less Spanish they would surely have used a little more English. The next morning we arrived at the school. The building delighted us immediately: a large, airy building with tile floors and huge windows, full of sunlight and a cool breeze flowing in from the open patio and rear gardens. The classrooms are comfortable and bright, and a full-time cleaning woman keeps the building and bathrooms spotless. Meanwhile, in my class, I was taken entirely by surprise with how much I learned every day. Gustavo, a Costa Rican man with college degrees in language and ten years' experience teaching Spanish as a foreign language, led the advanced class in which I was placed. Taught entirely in Spanish, it consisted of extensive conversation, grammar lessons, readings and periodic funny games like Go Fish and guessing games. Gus is a warm-hearted, non-judgmental, easy-going guy with a great fluidity in teaching style and we all liked him a great deal. Although my Spanish has always been grammatically flawed, and had become very rusty over the years, I found myself thinking and dreaming in Spanish by the end of the third week. I was amazed by how much Emma and I learned… The staff at Forester was fantastic and the students loved them. One thing I particularly appreciated was their presence in the lobby at their desks all day long. You never had to look for anyone for help or advice: they were always right there. No doors to close. They answered questions, made phone calls for us, helped with internet questions, helped making reservations and receiving faxes and making photocopies, recommended destinations and modes of transportation, gave directions, and managed at the same time to speak the absolute minimum of English necessary to get the job done. The bookkeeper was at her desk at all times and was always careful and slow in explaining accounts, translating dollars and colones, counting change. Always friendly and willing to go over things, she never surprised me with an unanticipated charge… Please feel free to write me. I'm a real person, right here in Kentucky, at lori@thedollhousemuseum.com Be sure to use the word "Forester" in your subject heading so I don't toss you out with the junk mail. Sincerely, Lori Moore
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