SPANISH FOR UNIVERSITY CREDITS: more than just credits!

SEPA Spanish Language School Students Take to the Air!

SEPA Spanish School Students Take to the Air

SEPA Spanish Language School and Mt. Hood Community College students finished up their collaborative ‘Spanish for University Credits’ program last week with far more than a year’s worth of valuable language credits! The students’ ability to speak Spanish grew trigonometrically week by week until by weeks 5, 6, and 7 they were soloing amongst the Tico people, with amazing success, not only in San Isidro, but around the beautiful country of Costa Rica, as well.

HOW DID THEY LEARN SPANISH SO WELL?

How did they learn Spanish so well?

These Mt. Hood Community College students ‘grew their Spanish’ through a full immersion program involving SEPA’s highly acclaimed Spanish language classes and homestay program. After one week of intense training at Mt. Hood Community College students travelled to San Isidro de El General in Costa Rica where they joined us at SEPA Spanish Language School. Here they experienced 7 weeks of total immersion by taking intensive daily Spanish classes on campus, as well as living with a Costa Rican family to learn Spanish. And they came away with more success than they had believed possible!

HOW DID LEARNING SPANISH HELP THEM IN DAILY LIVING?

Besides covering the traditional college curriculum that one needs to complete in a ‘Spanish for University Credits’ program, SEPA’s Spanish classes are designed with the right vocabulary to meet anybody’s daily life communication needs. How to withdraw money from the bank, how to order food in a restaurant, how to interact with your special family, and many other situations, were addressed during the Spanish lessons. Before long, the college students were managing their daily living with little trouble.

HOW DID LEARNING SPANISH HELP THEM TRAVEL?

Having sufficiently mastered daily living necessities, SEPA’s Spanish classes give our students just the right vocabulary to make anybody’s traveling smooth. Before long, our college students were traveling freely, sometimes as a group, sometimes on their own.

CAN YOU REALLY LEARN SPANISH AND TRAVEL AT THE SAME TIME?

Absolutely you can you learn Spanish and travel at the same time. As a matter of fact, it’s the real life situations that really kick the learning down home. And travel, they did!

For some the favorite was the unique 11-mile hike up Chirripó Mountain, where you hike through one micro-climate after another as you rise higher and higher. From jungle and waterfalls to barren wasteland at the very top, you climb the highest mountain in Costa Rica, clocking in at 12,532 feet above sea level.

Manuel Antonio Park (where some scenes from the original Jurassic Park movie were filmed) was a special treat. Students looked for, and found, many exotic animals. One student captured the amazing picture (above) of a mother white-faced monkey and her baby hanging out in the trees of the park.

A horseback ride to Nauyaca Falls followed by swimming in the cool, green, bubbly water was a special favorite. If you are a ‘Survivor’ show enthusiast you will be sure you have somehow landed in a ‘Rewards’ episode! Many students counted this adventure as their personal favorite.

For others, it was the thrill of zip-lining through jungle canopy that brought the trip alive. Getting pampered at a seaside resort was another highpoint. Visiting the beach at Dominical, spending time with the native Bribri people, gazing into the cone of a live volcano and walking the cloudbridge were just a few of the other high points.