| School description: |
Founded in 1988, Proyecto Lingüistico Quetzalteco takes teaching very seriously. All teachers have training and experience in teaching Spanish as a second language. Their interests and backgrounds are varied, but all share a common vision of social justice, sustainable development, and peace in Guatemala.
To ensure teaching quality, the school limits enrollment to 50 students.
There is an excellent library (1000 books and 120 videos) and the school has two projects in which students can meet and help locals.
There is an extension: the Escuela de la Montaña, where students live in families in a rural setting. There is also a very well established project to teach children arts, music and English.
Level of immersion in Quetzaltenango: excellent, if you don´t hang out with other students.
Highly recommended! |
There are 30 teachers with excellent training and experience that earn an excellent salary of US$83 per week plus all the worker benefits established by Guatemalan law. No emergency teachers are used. Students have been very happy with teachers here.
See details for recommended instructors! Teachers′ salaries here are better than in any other Spanish school in Guatemala. Also, all teachers are always employed, since the school is always full. This allows teachers to make Spanish teaching their career, so you have experienced teachers instead of young university students. Teachers here are individuals. There are, among others, an ex-guerrilla, a singer, and a seventy year old lady. These teachers bring their whole lives into their teaching.
Teachers sometimes attend trainings on Saturdays. You generally get a new teacher every week, although you can also insist on staying with the same one. |
| Study area is the patio and walkways of the schools building. Some call it Spartan considering the school′s fame in teaching. Kitchen: simple. The school is located in a nice colonial style building. You can choose to learn in separate rooms or together with other teacher-student teams in the sunlit patio or adjacent walkway. Located within walking distance of Central Park. |
| No official textbook, but there is a neat board with about 50 different verb and exercise lists waiting for you. Library: excellent. Video library: excellent. Internet gratis. Teachers use sheets of paper instead of blackboards and students receive these afterwards. My teacher supplied me with a beautiful account of the subjunctive, very clearly structured. The school has also produced lists of irregular verbs etc. which are very well done and helpful. Another GREAT resource is the library, by far the best of any Spanish School in Guatemala. Also great videos. |
Good talks on interesting topics in Spanish, round table discussions, hikes, videos, visits to local villages and attractive sites, local food cooking course, board games, Salsa and Merengue courses. During weekdays, you can watch selections and movies from PLQE′s large video library including documentaries on important Guatemalan and Latin issues like the invasion of Panama, or alternative movies from Cuba, Spain etc. You also can take part in trips and hikes to nearby communities like Zunil and Almolonga, and outings to the Georginas hot springs and Aguas Amargas. In Quetzaltenango you can visit institutions like the workers union or a community radio station. Every Friday afternoon a teacher explains the most important news on the national agenda, and then there is a round table discussion with students. Every Friday night there is a graduation party. The teachers give a little concert with traditional instruments; bottles crowd the tables and any serious conversation turns into hilarious fun! Weekend trip options range from the touristic (the beach!), to spontaneous workshops in rural communities, to institutions in Guatemala City which play an important role in Guatemalan society.
If you study in the afternoons activities take place in the mornings. |
