HABLA YA SPANISH SCHOOL

Posted by Aryn N. (Austin - United States)

on August 2010 - United States

I came to Habla Ya! Spanish school after studying Spanish for eight years, and I learned more in six weeks at Habla Ya! than during my entire time living in Mexico, Spain, working on my Spanish degree and even teaching the language! Habla Ya! Is an amazing school with effective methods that work! Habla Ya! Is not only the best Spanish school in Latin American, it is the best Spanish school in the World!

While in college I chose to study abroad in Mexico and Spain through university programs. During these programs I found the constant problem was a school full of Americans who want to speak Spanish inside the classroom and English everywhere else. At Habla Ya! you meet people from around the world, all wanting to improve and perfect their Spanish. I focused on only speaking Spanish while in Panamá and it was definitely attainable. I was always able to find students with the same goal as me and I have built extremely strong friendships with these people based on the fact that we both refused to speak English to one another. Through home-stay and 4- 8 hours of classes a day, I was able to pack about 16 hours of Spanish into my day! Furthermore, I have found after studying in Spain and Mexico and having professors from all around the Spanish-speaking world, the Spanish in Panamá, particularly from Boquete, is the easiest to understand!

Everyone that works at Habla Ya! is so friendly and just wants to help the students succeed! They have become my lifelong friends and I will be forever thankful to them for the impact they have had in my life! The school director, Lorena Pitti helped me out so much during my time in Boquete; she treated me like a daughter and a best friend. She is always there for the students and she always puts them first. She is such an excellent teacher, mentor and friend!

During my six weeks at Habla Ya! I had private lessons with Mónica Vargas each morning and it was always the highlight of my day. She is the Queen of Grammar! She was always quick to correct me and give me lots of positive reinforcement. She loves applauding students so much that her eyes sparkle when she does it. I learned more from her than I ever thought possible.

Arelis Mendoza was my B2 group teacher. Everyday was a blast; we were constantly playing games that got us away from boring grammar drills and vocabulary lists that I had found in another schools. She got us to use the pluscuamperfecto del subjuntivo (crazy insane grammar tense) in our everyday conversation. Arelis was made to be a group teacher, she always got her students to interact with one another and she always made sure we were having fun because she knew that is how we would learn best! She is such a beautiful wonderful soul!

Along with Mónica and Arelis I had shorter experiences with five other teachers. All of them were amazing and each teacher was unique in their own positive and wonderful way.

The school also has an adventure, eco-tourism side to it, Explora Ya! Even though I am not much of an outdoorsy girl I managed to find fun hikes and tours to go on. At Explora Ya! I met my Boquete big brothers. From Day 1 Nodier, Gerardo, Armando and Alvaro treated me with such kindness as though I was already part of the Habla Ya! family, and while they all speak English, they always spoke Spanish with me and were all essential tools in my language development outside the classroom.

As someone who has studied abroad many times in effort to locate the perfect school and the perfect Spanish learning experience, I can tell you I found it in Boquete, Panamá at Habla Ya! You will love every minute of Panamá and you will learn so much! Habla Ya! has programs for people of ALL ages and levels. No matter where you are at in your Spanish development, the very beginning or near fluency, Habla Ya! will have a program for you!

Posted by Michael V. (Netherlands)

on August 2010 - Netherlands

¡My Habla Ya Experience!

When i arrived at Spanish school Habla Ya i immediately knew, this is great!

After I had passed the oral test with results as conversational level B1 i went looking for my classroom, my Spanish teacher and my new classmates.
Ismenia Perez, my teacher for the first weeks of my group 4 course, had a very professional and motivating way of teaching, alongside a piece of essential grammar we mainly played a lot of games and we held many conversations to not only learn Spanish but to actually use it.
My second teacher Arelis Mendoza has also become a good friend, I have had several Spanish teachers in the past but the personal attention and the way of teaching from the teachers at Habla Ya have an unprecedented level, i never expected to develop my Spanish as quickly as i did in just a couple of weeks.
In addition, this small town is THE place to practice your Spanish, you'll have to because few people will understand your English, add a stay with a local host family and an immersion in the Spanish language is complete.

Now anything other than Spanish lessons ,...... Boquete!
Imagine a small, lovely and cozy town, hidden high in the mountains of Panama with an eternal spring climate that makes everybody smile, greener than green, an oasis of peace while an adrenalinebomb for those seeking an Eco-adventure.
People that welcome you with arms wide open, world-class coffee hand-picked by Ngöbe Bugle
Indians in the cool mountains in the area, the chance to spot the resplendent Quetzal and to meet friends for life make it the perfect Spanish study location for me.

During the Spanish classes, the traditional Panamanian dinners, the hikes through the mysterious mountains, lazing on the most tropical islands, gliding through the treetops, rafting Panama's wildest rivers, (made possible thanks to the organizational skills of Habla Ya's tour department), I often realized what a privilege it was to be able to study with this excellent Spanish school, and I wondered whether there might exist a better place to learn Spanish in Latin America.

I don't think so........This is Paradise!


PS if you're not convinced yet just visit the website:
http://www.hablayapanama.com/

Posted by Amber L. (Panama City - Panama)

on July 2010 - Panama

Habla Ya is a wonderful school!
I was only able to attend for 2 weeks but left with a great foundation of spanish. I learned more than I expected to and felt completely comfortable the entire time. My teacher, Aralize, was great and allowed me to practice until I knew it perfectly.

Posted by Alex C. (United States)

on July 2010 - United States

My three weeks in Boquete, Panamá were some of the most amazing and adventure-filled days in my life. My friends and I wanted to study Spanish abroad and chose Habla Ya because it was one of the highest-rated Spanish language schools in Latin America - a fact that I can fully endorse after my time in Panamá.

I have taken many years of Spanish in school, and I learned more during my two weeks of lessons at Habla Ya then during the last few years of high school Spanish combined. Habla Ya truly emphasizes conversational practice, a necessary component of language acquisition that was sorely missing from my high school Spanish education. With only four students to a classroom each student is guaranteed individualized attention. Instead of mind-numbing worksheets and endless grammar practice, my teacher Ericka taught the language through carefree storytelling and engaging games such as charades and Scrabble in Spanish. By the end of the two weeks I was able to converse and think fully in Spanish, something I had never before thought possible. The full immersion environment helped with this as well, as I spoke Spanish at school, around town, and at home with my host family.

Habla Ya staff are extremely helpful and friendly. Soon I thought of Ericka and the other teachers not simply as teachers but as friends as well. Our volunteer director, Roy, gave us a tour of Boquete and took time to ensure that we found our bearings when we first arrived. Carlos, Swan, Gerardo and the rest of the Habla Ya staff always greeted us with smiles, whether we saw them at Habla Ya, around town, or at one of the eco-tours (whitewater rafting, ziplining, coffee tours, trips to the crystal-clear beaches at Bocas del Toro). The school director, Lorena, offered to drive fifteen minutes to town to pick us up when we were stranded without a taxi. The town is very safe and people are always willing to help. One of the most powerful memories that will always stick out in my mind was volunteering and playing with the local children at Casa Esperanza. Nothing beats the knowledge that you are helping to provide for the well-being of these kids while bringing them a little fun, something that they may be lacking at home.

I cannot think of a single reason not to recommend Habla Ya Spanish School. Whether you come for a single week or for several months, when you will leave you will carry with you a life-changing, memorable experience that cannot be matched, and the knowledge that you have a home-away-from-home several thousand or tens-of-thousands of miles away. Immerse yourself in the local culture, eat Panamanian food, get to know the people, and explore the nearby mountains and beaches. Hopefully I will be able to return in the future to spend an entire summer in Boquete - with what I've gained in these three weeks, who knows what will happen in three months?

Posted by Hannah P. (United States)

on July 2010 - United States

Upon arriving in Boquete, we were immediately dumped off at our host family's home without any directions, instructions, or idea where we were. We were confused and lost. But when our host family opened the door, they kissed us on the cheeks, welcomed us, showed us around their home, and fed us dinner. From this moment, we knew we would be welcome in this town and that everything would be okay.

Everything about Boquete and Habla Ya: the home stay program, the zip-lining, rafting, classes, teachers, and solely the environment to which all this is in, is AMAZING. The coffee is delicious, the town is overly charming, and the temperature is to die for. 

The classes were more beneficial than anything you would take in high school, at least, and the dynamic of having only three other people in one class allowed you to learn from them while at the same time receiving the attention you need to develop your own Spanish skills. My teacher, Ismenia, was hilarious and always brought a light mood to our class, which made it less intimidating to hold conversations in Spanish. Ericka, another professor, and Ismenia always found ways to make us enjoy our experience more, by taking field trips or playing "charades".

The whole staff at Habla Ya could not have been friendlier or more welcoming. Swan and Lorena helped us mucho when we didn't have a clue what to do when we first arrived. Carlos always made us laugh with his crazy personality. Roy, our volunteer director, took time out of his day to make sure that we saw the beauty of Boquete that he sees: the food, the mountains, the people. Even staff that we didn't know paid attention to us and started conversations with us that allowed us to practice our developing Spanish.

There is not one thing that would have made my experience at Habla Ya and in Boquete any more amazing. It's hard to write down everything that my three weeks there has meant to me and the experiences that I have gained from it, so for all the potential students out there, here is my advice: just go, experience EVERYTHING, and start conversations with everyone you meet. You'll meet some great people and learn so much about Panama, the culture, and about how people think, and in the end, you'll grow so much yourself from it.

Everyone at Habla Ya, thank you for caring so much about us and for making us feel so much at home. Vamos a regresar pronto y les queremos mucho y les extranamos mucho :)