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| Address |
La Unión Spanish School
1 Avenida Sur No. 21
Antigua
(+502)-7832-7337, 4195-9064
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| Rank |
86% |
| Prices |
300 USD for 20
hours per week including host family
165 USD for 20 hours per week without host family
Study one hour daily more or less: add or subtract about USD 10 per week.
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| School Size |
60-100 students |
| Openings |
This school currently has openings! |
| Summary |
La Unión is a large dynamic language school in the Southeast corner of Antigua. It has three corridors encircling a patio with a fountain and huge tropical plants, as well as a small cafeteria and sitting room. The school excels in ingenuous and entertaining Spanish instruction, social and cultural activities, travel service and volunteer projects.
The school also offers special programs tailored for children. Free WIFI internet is available around the school grounds and guesthouse, as well as laundry service down the street from the school.
La Unión was founded in 1995 by Juan Carlos Martínez and other teachers after completing a Spanish training program for Peace Corps volunteers.
Total immersion in Antigua: good if you avoid other tourist while studying Spanish. |
| Registration |
This school will get you a teacher any day you walk in from the street, but it is not guaranteed; registering at least two weeks (one month for high seasons) in advance will enable you to reserve a specific teacher or guarantee any special requests. Regardless of when you register, you are sure have an experience that will make your Spanish advance in leaps and bounds.
Prices for high season are $300, which is from December thru August (except the month of May). |
With a timely registration, the school can assign you the best teacher from its list. (Contact us for group discounts). |
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| Teachers |
The school has approximately 60 teachers with many years of experience. They are helpful, outgoing and very flexible. They receive one month of grammar training before starting to teach.
[Show Details] |
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School's specific Information:
Recommended teachers: Manolo, Julio Cesar, Oscar Azurdia.
(Roman numbers refer to the numbers of recommendations.)
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General Information:
Spanish language teachers in Guatemala are mostly young people like University students who do this job for very little salary (US$30-$60 per week) and are trying to continue their education. Teachers in our recommended schools have undergone a formal training and know how to make students enjoy learning. By enrolling in advance, you are likely to get a better teacher. This holds especially true during high season.
If you are not happy with your assigned teacher, don’t hesitate to ask the director for another teacher. How to get a good teacher.
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| Methods |
Before commencing classes, students have the opportunity to make specific requests regarding their teacher, and then are placed with someone who fits him or her. Students can choose to study during the mornings and/or the afternoons. Each week you are given the opportunity to either change teachers or continue with the same for as long as you wish.
[Show Details] |
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School's specific Information:
Every Friday the school offers optional tests on the curriculum covered. Students with high test scores are eligible for a discount on the final week of classes.
100% correct = receive 10% discount;
90% correct = receive 5% discount;
80% correct = receive 3% discount.
One on one teaching in La Unión includes the following activities:
*Participatory activities like word games, conversation in groups and some games "teachers and students vs. teachers and students" or "teacher vs. student".
*Oral and written exercises.
*Group conversation and discussion to listen to other voices, pronunciation, and to practice Spanish.
*Music in Spanish to help the students to improve comprehension and pronunciation skills.
*As an optional activity the students prepare a topic (political, social, religious or cultural) with the help of their teachers and then present it to other students and teachers.
*Talks about Antigua Guatemala history, culture and traditions.
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General Information:
Spanish Schools in Guatemala promote the most effective 'one student one teacher' method. You spend your time talking and listening with your own personal teacher. This is why Guatemalan schools are probably unmatched in the world. Go to a good school, and get the grammar right, too.
A typical school day:
8:00 to 10:00 Grammar and exercises
10:00 –30 -minute break for coffee, tea, and socializing with teachers and other students
10:30 to 12:00 - Conversation, pronunciation, reading comprehension
After 12:00 - lunch with your host family
Afternoons: previously scheduled activities and homework
(See your curriculum of learning Spanish)
Most schools offer a diploma stating the amount of time studied and the level of Spanish attained (minimum of two weeks).
See more information about diplomas and university credits.
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| Materials |
The school has produced its own study materials, "Español para latinoamerica", which is straightforward and provides a good framework for grammar and exercises, and teaches American Spanish. "Que Onda Vos?" is an entertaining collection of modern Guatemalan phrases and sayings. It has a library, games to enhance learning, music and videos.
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School's specific Information:
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General Information:
At most Spanish schools in Guatemala, teachers write examples and grammar on paper; at others, blackboards are used. And at some, students receive a notebook for their own use. Teachers generally have to supply their own teaching materials. The most widespread book is AMSCO “Spanish Three Years” (Nassi, Levy), a very helpful grammar and exercise book in three levels, written in Spanish and English. A few schools have good libraries, video collections, and many have board games like Scrabble and others, to make teaching more entertaining.
If you are not an English speaker, you may want to bring grammar- and exercise books in your language. In any case a good and small dictionary is very helpful for homework.
(See recommendations on good Spanish Textbooks.)
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| Special Programs |
The school caters to children of all ages, granting them a bit of flexibility and creative liberty to learn in a manner which best fits them. |
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School's specific Information:
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General Information:
Special Programs are available for medical students and nurses, lawyers, missionaries and business people. You study Spanish as any other student, but with emphasis on the vocabulary of your profession or interest. Schools also get you in contact with Guatemalan professionals of your field and organize practical courses upon request.
A few schools have good programs for children. Guatemala365.com recommends schools in safe places and with a garden or ample cubicles. This way the children feel free to play while learning.
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| Location |
A big colonial style building with three corridors around, central patio, fountain and tropical plants is the heart of the school. There is also a cafeteria, a laundry service, a travel agency and a backyard with a small garden and a few apartments for students. |
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School's specific Information:
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General Information:
Many schools have big halls or patios in a pleasant environment, with tables that seat two. You can often hear teacher-student conversations from nearby tables. Some schools have separate cubicles for each teacher – student team. Most schools have small patios or gardens to relax and get to know each other at break time. Some schools also have a cafeteria or even kitchens where students and teachers meet to cook local or food from their home countries.
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| Activities |
Every Monday, students receive a printed program of activities for the week. They include salsa and merengue lessons, bike tours, visits to social projects, a beer factory, etc. In such a dynamic school, activities are well organized and enjoyable. Many like the visit to the The Real Guatemala guided day hike in "Vuelta Grande;" the extra cost is worthwhile. During weekends there are paid tours offered to Semuc Champey, Copán Honduras, Quiriguá, Rio Dulce, Lake Atitlán and Monterrico beach.
[Show Details]
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School's specific Information:
Afternoon students can join activities accompanied by their teacher. Examples are
* Salsa and Merengue (dance lessons)
*Movies in Spanish,
*Preparation of traditional Guatemalan food (e.g. how to make tortillas),
*Scrabble in Spanish and other table games (you can beat your teacher),
*Soccer/Basketball games (teachers vs. students),
*Tours in Antigua Guatemala,
*Demonstrations of weaving typical Guatemalan clothes,
*Visits to social projects, museums and Mayan ruins,
*Trips during the week to indigenous villages to see Mayan ceremonies,
*Tours with a guide to the volcanoes Pacaya, Agua and Fuego.
*Bicycle tours to areas usually not frequented by tourists: e.g. coffee and macadamia nut plantations.
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General Information:
During afternoons, a school staff member takes you to the most beautiful places, interesting projects and Maya traditions of the
area, where you have the opportunity to practice your newly learned Spanish and get to know teachers and other students. These activities make your stay a real holiday. Some activities like weekend trips have an additional cost.
Note: small schools have fewer activities during low season.
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| Host Families |
Host families are half of the success of Spanish teaching in Guatemala. La Unión has several alternatives: families with a private bedroom, hot shower and purified water; a room in the school´s student guesthouse, or private apartments. Accommodations with private bathrooms are also available at an added cost. |
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School's specific Information:
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General Information:
Generally host families provide each student with their own private little room and three meals a day/six days a week. On Sundays, most families provide no meals. There is nearly always hot water and electricity. It is recommended that you bring your own towels, soap, shampoo and other personal care from your country or you can buy it here. Your host parents help you with any problems and encourage you to talk Spanish. It is pretty interesting to see how people live in Guatemala.
A word on food:
By looking at what families earn at different schools you can assess the quantity of food given. The range is from US$30 to $85 per week. If you are in a $35 host family, please do not complain about beans every day. Just eat out now and then.
If you do not want to stay in a host family, we recommend you to visit www.guatemalastory.com for a list of good hotels in Guatemala City, Antigua, Atitlan, etc.
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| Volunteering |
Like with everything else, the school has a hands-on approach here: teaching, art, sports and tutoring opportunities with children, nurseries, medical work, homes for the elderly, construction, and many more options are available through La Unión´s Social Project Department. |
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School's specific Information:
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General Information:
Most schools have only loose contact to volunteer social projects or have only poor projects on their own.
If you want to volunteer, it is best to rely on PMG (Antigua, Rio Dulce and Cobán), or Entremundos (Quetzaltenango) or other non profit organizations in order to find an organization that suits students' interests.
More information on volunteering and jobs in Guatemala.
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| Airport Pick-Up Service |
Upon request private transportation is available from the airport . This is recommended.
One-way transport either to/from the airport (1 passenger) $35.00 p/person
One-way transport to/from the airport (2 passengers) $20.00 p/person
One-way transport to/from the airport (3 passengers) $15.00 p/person
One-way transport to/from the airport (4 passengers) $10.00 p/person
If you study for more than four weeks, airport transportation is for free.
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School's specific Information:
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General Information:
If you don?t want to worry about closed banks on the airport, late night hotel search or unsafe zones of Guatemala City, take advantage of the airport pickup service of your school.
For hotels in Guatemala City please see www.guatemalastory.com.
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How to get there 
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Send yourself an e-mail with information on how to get to La Unión Spanish School.
You can find La Unión in the southeast corner of Antigua in front of San Francisco Church, on 1st Avenida by the corner with 7th Calle.
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Anonymous
07 / 2012 |
Very effective and friendly learning environment at La Unión Spanish School. Teacher assessed my level of knowledge of Spanish and provided a realistic plan for the week. I stayed in the guest house which provided good meals and a welcoming & safe environment. Need more than one week to make significant progress.
Check-in to the school was smooth and helpful. |
Trevor Pearson
trvpearson@gmail.com
08 / 2011 |
I stayed at the apartment in the back of the school at La Union.... It was good ... but there was continual construction going on the whole time I was there...... it was ok... but started early and went on late.. The kitchen was adequate was missing some basic stuff.... Furniture could have been a little more comfortable for the stay..... no soft seats .. just hard chairs etc.
The people were great and my teacher was excellent. The location of the school too, was very good. |
Peter Baird
pbaird@csus.edu
07 / 2011 |
I highly recommend La Union Spanish School for its organization, desire to service the needs of Guatemala, the quality of its teachers and flexibility to the needs of our program and students.
The school facilities are a bit crowded because of the popularity of the school, but that is a sign of success and I understand that the director is looking for additional space in which to expand. |
Jakub Zák
jakzak87@gmail.com
06 / 2011 |
I had a great time in La Union Spanish School! I was able to speak Spanish just after two weeks of studying (I did not take any Spanish course before) which was very helpful during my following trip from Guatemala to Bolivia. I was taught basic phrases as well as vocabulary which I found very important. I was satisfied with this school, I can highly recommend it, if I have time I will definitely go back to Antigua, Guatemala and study there again!! Thanks a lot
Correspondence with the school was smooth and helpful. |
Erica Day
05 / 2011 |
My husband and I found our week of lessons at, La Unión Spanish School to be very helpful and the teachers excellent. The one-on-one format is great, so our lessons could be tailored exactly to our levels and requirements. We would highly recommend this school, especially as they are able to accommodate new students on very short notice. We stayed in the school's guest house which was OK, perfectly adequate for the price. |
Victoria Sadler
06 / 2010 |
Hello, I elected to go to La Unión Spanish School in Antigua. I studied for five days, four hours per day. I had Aracely as teacher and she was friendly and helpful. For study materials, I bought two books but, used only a little of one. It was fine though. I attended one of their after school activities and it was very interesting, but it wasn't explained very well ahead of time and wasn't what I had expected. I did not stay with a host family. I would recommend the school to others. best, Victoria. |
Kevin McLean
hulagon@gmail.com
07 / 2009 |
We also studied for 2 1/2 weeks at La Union Spanish School in Antigua. The school was incredibly organized and well run. We took part in a lot of the "after school" activities and enjoyed them immensely. There were too many teachers to mention all the names, but they were all very good. Our spanish improved greatly. Our home stay was very kind and accommodating, although, we did not bond with this home owner as we did with the family in San Pedro. Both schools were very helpful and I give them full marks for being able to accommodate our requests, sometimes with little notice. We were very appreciative that they found a home that would let us have our dog with us as well. We would recommend both schools to anyone interested. Kevin McLean. Calgary, AB. |
Bob Bibbee
rgbibbee@aol.com
08 / 2007 |
I spent two weeks at Centro Linguistico la Union in Antigua, where I took four hours of class per day. My teacher, Rafael Chavez, was very good. One of my things is grammar and he was up for the challenges I posed. I always wanted to know the "why" of the many irregularities in Spanish and he gave me good answers. He also encouraged me to converse more in the language, which is not easy for me. There were minimal teaching materials, except for those Mr. Chavez cobbled together himself. The director of the school had written a textbook which I purchased thinking it a necessity, but no one seemed to use it--(considering the many typos in the text and the total lack of proofreading it was no surprise that no one used it.) One supposes that a student′s experience depended solely on the ingenuity of the teachers... Most of my fellow students were quite happy with their teachers, so I guess the school is blessed by the quality of its faculty. The place has an upbeat vibe and everyone is extremely approachable and helpful--and very patient with the linguistically challenged. The planned activities were entertaining--a trip to a Mayan village, a salsa class, a trip to a macadamia finca, etc.--but didn′t add much to my educational experience. I enjoyed the ambient of Antigua and walked all over the city on my own steeping myself in its history and architecture. I stayed at the school′s guest house, which was one step up from a hostel. The meals were fine, most of the time, though not particularly Guatemalan. My fellow residents and I had a fairly jolly time interacting amongst ourselves--mostly in English since we were all norteamericanos and Estella, the cook-housekeeper was a joy. On the whole, I think that if I had to do it again I would stay with a family, thereby putting myself in a situation where I would be forced to use my Spanish more, but that is hindsight. I learned lots and had a good time in a beautiful city. I guess you can′t ask for much more, eh? Bob |
Bernd Schärer
bernd.schaerer@uba.de
03 / 2007 |
I decided to attend Centro Linguistico La Union in Antigua. I was happy with my teachers. The activities were interesting and organized. My family was friendly and good people. Thanks, Bernd. |
Sofie Starke
sofie_starke@hotmail.com
02 / 2007 |
The school I ended up with in Antigua is called Centro Linguistico La Union. I don´t remember if you had it on your site. But I think you do since it is quite a big school. I liked it, but I think it is better with a little smaller school. My teacher was very nice and friendly, but I don´t think she had the best learning technique. That is different from teacher to teacher as from school to school. I studied there for 8 days, but didn′t stay in a family. I hope this helps. Best wishes, Sofie. |
Katherine Ransel
kpransel@netzero.com
11 / 2006 |
I chose Centro Linguistico La Union in Antigua. I studied for 3 weeks there. I ended up not staying with a family. My teachers were great. The students were pretty young, for the most part. It would have been nice to be at a school with somewhat older students, but there were a lot of students and I didn′t really want to mix with English speakers that much anyhow, so I guess it didn′t really matter. I lived in a little hotel where those that tended it only spoke Spanish, so I was happy (not to mention the little hotel was great and I got a great deal, and a piano to boot). Katherine P. Ransel Phone, (206) 783-4875, E-mail, kpransel@netzero.com |
James Simpson
jamie2@fastmail.fm
08 / 2006 |
I also attended La Union Spanish School, in Antigua. This school, is a bit of a "pack ′em in" type school, but they have lots of activities, a friendly staff, a great travel agency (which is how I was introduced to the school in the first place), and at least one of the most excellent Spanish teachers I′ve ever had, Oscar Azurdia, with whom I had the pleasure to study for 3 weeks. Also, if you want any help, I′d be happy to. Thank you. Sincerely, James (Jamie) Simpson. |
Louie and Karin Zaragoza
zaragozal@bellsouth.net
08 / 2006 |
My son attended Escuela de español La Union for one week. |
Shauna Dahl
r-dahl@sbcglobal.net
08 / 2005 |
My son and I ended up studying with Centro Lingüistico La Union for 2 weeks. I chose this school as there were 2 people who had recently used this school. We had a very positive experience. The teacher at our school was excellent, and she used a variety of techniques (reading, writing, games, transcription, homework). We also stayed with a wonderful family who had 2 young children, one of whom was like a little teacher (4 years old). The parents were very helpful also teaching us grammar and conversation. I am looking forward to returning someday. |
Arly Helm
arlyhelm@pacbell.net
05 / 2005 |
I decided for La Union in Antigua I study for one (1) month I had two very good teachers, but decided to just stick with the one because we had so many interests in common. My family they were very kind and the food was excellent. Thank you so much! |
Sarah Rankin
rankinsj@charter.net
01 / 2005 |
I attended La Union Spanish School for 2 months (January and February 2005) in Antigua. For 7 weeks I had a wonderful teacher who was patient, attentive, fun, ready to bike and speak Spanish, go to the market and demonstrate how to bargain in Spanish, take a walk, point out upcoming events that might interest me, take me to a soccer game, etc. He spoke some English but not much. This was actually very helpful not to be able to lapse into English. I started with a teacher that was having some personal problems. I could understand the Spanish but did not know enough to respond appropriately. I was able to make a change without any problem. I had 4 hours of Spanish lessons 5 days per week. More hours per day were available but I found 4 hours per day to be all I could really learn from. The school has 2 sites- one near the park central and the other 5 or 6 blocks from downtown in a quieter area. I did a home stay for 2 weeks with a wonderful family-- a 35 year old widow With 2 great children ages 6 and 8. She had room for up to 5 students and was a wonderful cook. I continued to have lunch there daily thru out my stay in Antigua. I found a small house to rent for the rest of the time which I preferred because there wasn′t any common space in the home stay. I had just my room with a private bath and the rooftop. I felt that Antigua was a safe place to be using common sense .The school became a little crowded during some weeks when large groups would arrive. Cost were very low, very reasonable for everything. The school offered trips to sites of interest and afternoon activities of all sorts. There were volunteer opportunities at a school and a residential facility for handicapped individuals. On the downside there were many "gringos" in Antigua and it was too easy to lapse into English rather than struggle in Spanish in ones free time. But the climate is perfect and it is a beautiful place to be. |
Anastasia Vasilieva
nastjava@yahoo.com
08 / 2004 |
Your site is very good. I loved it. Yes, I was in the school. I went to La Union. I stayed in the school for 5 weeks. My teacher was the best one. I learned a lot. My family was also very good. I had a great time in Antigua. But I realized one thing. It doesn′t matter which school you would go to. What matter most is the teacher. If you get a good teacher, you will learn a lot. If not, it doesn′t matter your school. Hope it will be helpful to you. |
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