If a waiter tells you, "everything on the menu is great..." you gain no insight into the quality of the restaurant. If, however, he raves about a particular menu item and shares the details of preparation, then you can understand the soul of the business. So it is wil the Antiguena Spanish Academy. Sure , the overall experience was exceptional. But, to elaborate, I attended for 2 weeks, 6 hours each day. Intensive for someone long out of school and semi-retired! Maria-Lorenzo, my morning teacher -4 hours- worked on grammar and vocabulary through conversations and quizzes. We talked about life, work, family while she guided me through tenses, correct terminology and new words. She was charming, professional and a pleasure to work with. Our discussion subjects varied widely, expanding my vocabulary and ability to actually converse in Spanish. A great Learning experience.
Mario was my afternoon instructor, After an intense yet very rewarding morning, Mario's approach was more relaxed. Still conversational on all subjects but geared more toward using the skills of the morning to work with the language. We played Scrabble (in Spanish) and card matching games focusing on memory and vocabulary. We also took a field trip to a local chocolate factory and winery, listening to a presentation in Spanish and realizing language mastery is a long process. He, too, was easy to work with, and pushed me to understand and speak the language. I'm sure most of the instructors are equally skilled, but I would choose these two again. The school is great, the atmosphere is very comfortable and friendly and all the students - wide range of ages - seemed truly committed to learning in this relaxed environment.
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