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Spanish course Panama Boquete

Spanish Course Panama: Feedback from Boquete

Panama is a fantastic place to learn Spanish and here, a student from our partner school Habla Ya gives us first-hand feedback from her 6-week Spanish course in Boquete learning Spanish for work

“I’m a native English speaker from the U.S., and my Spanish was at a low intermediate level when I started at Habla Ya. I really enjoyed my time at the location in Boquete, and I learned a lot. I am now quite conversational (of course I still make tons of mistakes!), and I am able to speak Spanish with my clients at work. I consider many of the Habla Ya teachers good friends after my experience at the school, and I am thrilled to have Facebook as a way to keep in touch with them.

Spanish Course Panama – Learning Spanish for Work

Spanish course Panama Boquete schoolI attended Habla Ya for six weeks, and I was extremely motivated since I need to be proficient in Spanish for my job. The professors at Habla Ya took this seriously and helped me focus most on conversation and my comfort/confidence level. Through some strange (probably uncommon) circumstances, I think I had all but maybe two of Boquete’s Habla Ya professors while attending the school. This was a terrific experience for me because each teacher has a different style and some focus more on specific things than others. I especially liked the teachers who corrected me when I made the same mistakes repeatedly, as I learned a lot from this. It can be a tough balance because correcting every single mistake would slow the flow of conversation, but the corrections were always very helpful.

It wasn’t easy to be away from home and income for six weeks, but I feel like I really turned a corner after around week four, and weeks five and six were amazing since I could actually hold a conversation and improve my fluency and confidence level. I know it’s hard to get away for so long, but I highly recommend it if you can. I also recommend you take your learning into your own hands too. Bring supplemental materials and study them. Habla Ya can sell you an excellent language dictionary, but I also highly recommend the book 501 Verbs, the Practice Makes Perfect workbooks (they are available in hard copy or downloadable format), basic children’s novels in Spanish, movies (depending on your level, you can work your way up to watching with Spanish audio and Spanish subtitles), and especially podcasts like Buenos Dias America, Notes in Spanish, and Coffee Break Spanish. I would have been lost at times without these supplemental materials, as the Habla Ya texts don’t provide a lot of explanation. The teachers do, but when you’re back at your homestay trying to study or do your homework, it’s nice to have other helpful materials. And it was a serious luxury for me to be able to study Spanish around the clock, so I tried to immerse myself in Spanish constantly, even back at my homestay after dinner. (Also, a tip: if you need office supplies/notebooks, etc. while in Boquete, I recommend going to La Reina.)

Spanish Course Panama – Homestay Benefits

I highly recommend doing a homestay during your time at Habla Ya. My Spanish would not have advanced nearly so far if I hadn’t been speaking it every day, all day. I stayed with a lovely family in which the parents spoke almost no English, and that meant I had to use my Spanish to communicate and couldn’t slack off once classes were over. It was also wonderful to experience the culture of Boquete and the culture of Panama in a family setting.

Spanish Course Panama – Best Places To Go

Boquete is a lovely town, and I was glad I stayed in one place while I studied. I’ve taken Spanish classes elsewhere at a time in my life when the travel part of the trip was more important to me than the language acquisition part of the trip, but for my time in Boquete I was very focused on my studies. Boquete was a good choice as a place where I could concentrate. You just have to be careful you don’t spend much of your lunch and free time at American-owned establishments where you can speak English – it’s easy to fall into this, but it definitely doesn’t help in the long run.

Spanish course PanamaIf you can spend a couple of days in Panama City before heading to Boquete, that is very worthwhile. A trip to see the canal and spending some time in Casco Viejo would be my two top recommendations in Panama City.

If you can get to David while you’re in Boquete, you will see a very different type of city from Boquete, and I enjoyed that too. Taking the bus to David isn’t difficult, and anyone at Habla Ya can tell you how to do it. The excursions are also really fun (you can do these with Habla Ya or a number of other outfitters around town), and Giselle at Habla Ya is amazing at helping with travel booking, rides to and from the bus station, etc. I felt like Habla Ya took really good care of me while I was there. I felt very safe in Boquete, and the people were incredibly friendly. I fell in love with the place and hope to return.

Spanish Course Panama – Teachers & Classes

As I said, I had many teachers at Habla Ya, and I thought they were all very good. I enjoyed both the group and the individual classes. I started with group classes plus one hour of individual instruction each day, and the last week or so I had three hours of individual classes per day with no group classes. I didn’t plan it this way, but it worked out really well.

The group classes are great for learning grammar, learning from questions that other students ask, making friends, etc., and the individual classes allow you to ask all of your own questions, even when they don’t pertain to what you’re studying at the moment, and to talk talk talk talk talk (the most important thing you can do!).

boquete staffI’m very happy with how my experience at Habla Ya played out, as the last week or so I was literally just conversing with my individual instructors for one or two hours at a time, and this is just what I needed. And it was such fun to get to know them and hear about their lives and families and dreams. I highly recommend each of the teachers I had. Tamara was my individual professor for nearly the entire six weeks, and she helped me focus on legal terminology and the language I would need in my job. We did role plays so I could practice working with clients and get more comfortable in that format, and she helped me develop my conversational skills a lot. She is very good at correcting you without interrupting the conversation, and conversations are so pleasant and useful that the time just flies by. She speaks English well, which was helpful when I wanted to know how to convey a specific idea or sentiment in Spanish and couldn’t really explain it in Spanish.

Yubal was my group class professor, and he did such a great job keeping the group cohesive and making sure everyone had the same opportunities to share and practice their Spanish. He is very inquisitive, so it was fun to talk with him in Spanish about different political issues, problems, cultures, etc. In fact, that was one of my favorite things about the school. The lessons were structured so that we were studying and talking about major issues like capital punishment, drug trafficking, etc. The subject matter was fascinating so studying was interesting and kept your attention.

In a very short time I learned so much from Ericka and Widad. I felt like they took my Spanish up an entire level just in my last week or so. Yaira spent hours with me just chatting, which is the best way I’ve found to improve my Spanish, and she corrected some mistakes that I had been making over and over. I only had Irasema for my first week, but that was a great way to get adjusted to speaking Spanish daily, and she was very kind and patient. I think Arelis was my teacher for only one or two days, but she was an excellent teacher and a great friend and spirit throughout my stay in Boquete. Lorena, Maritza, and Alberto were very helpful and generous with their time, and I always felt like my progress learning Spanish was everyone’s biggest priority. They all speak Spanish and English, but no one ever tried to switch to English when I was taking forever to say a simple sentence in Spanish.

I definitely recommend Habla Ya, and I’m very grateful to the school and its amazing staff and professors.”

Thank you to Tiffany from Denver, Colorado, for contributing her feedback, and to Habla Ya for providing images.

Spanish Course Panama: Cactus offers Spanish courses in the thriving capital city of Panama City, the Pacific mountains of Boquete and the idyllic Caribbean beach location of Bocas del Toro.

Spanish courses are also available across Spain and Latin America.

Cactus Foreign Language Evening Courses Video

Find out what it’s like to take an evening course with Cactus with our foreign language evening courses video.

Featuring first-hand interviews with a teacher and a student, the Cactus foreign language evening courses video shows you the benefits of an evening course if you’re learning a language for work, love, relocation, a love of the culture or for personal achievement.

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Watch > Cactus foreign language evening courses video

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Providing plenty of practice for speaking in social situations, and keeping to small groups with an average of 8 students, our courses will give you the confidence and skills you need to use the language in real life. From Spanish courses and French courses to Mandarin courses and Arabic courses, there is a course for everyone.

Foreign language evening courses: locations

Our evening courses are available in 19 locations across the UK (10 locations within London), with the aim of bringing language learning close to you. Courses fit easily into the working week, offering one 2-hour lesson on one evening each week for 10 weeks.

Learn a language in: London, Manchester, Brighton, Bristol, Edinburgh (coming soon), Oxford, Leeds, Liverpool or Sheffield.

Be inspired and book online!

If you have a language learning or language teaching query, please visit our blog or get in contact with us either by Facebook or by Twitter. Alternatively, feel free to contact us here or call to speak to one of our advisors on  00 44 (0) 1273 830 960.

Spanish course Barcelona – a first-hand review

Spanish Course Barcelona: Creative Web Manager John Biddulph takes a break from PHP and Javascript to learn a different language – Spanish in Barcelona

I took a Spanish beginner course in Barcelona last October, and my first day was very organised and welcoming. I met five other students in my group of different nationalities and ages.

The times of my classes were just great, starting at 2pm in a spacious air conditioned classroom. There was one day when I was unwell and was unable to go in, so I contacted Cactus who were very helpful and contacted the school for me.

My teacher, Isobel, was lovely. She was very helpful and we all had fun reading and acting from our activity book and also had time for a few language games.

Being a complete beginner to Spanish, I would advise taking a short evening course beforehand to learn the very basics. This means that you can learn some proper Spanish on your course and practise using it out and about in the city.

Barcelona is an amazing city – there are plenty of nice places to go sightseeing and some great tapas bars and cafes for food and drink. It’s easy to get to and it was a great starting point for me learning Spanish. I can’t wait to go back again!

Cactus offers Spanish courses in Barcelona and in many locations across Spain and Latin America.

Learn some Spanish before you go with our Spanish evening courses in London, Brighton, Manchester and other major locations across the UK. Courses start in January, April, July and September in over 20 languages and at many levels.

Learning French in Lyon: language course review

Cactus Office Manager Claudia Ohde tells us about her French course in Lyon in April 2015

Usually a big fan of any city near the seaside, I had never really considered to visit Lyon – but a tango festival near Lyon at the weekend inspired me to take a language holiday in Lyon the week before the festival.

I was positively surprised by the city. The first two days there was an icy wind but the rest of the time we had the most beautiful weather and I enjoyed discovering the city by bicycle (many French cities have bicycle schemes that allow you to use a bike for free for up to 30 minutes of every ride).

lyon_waterfrontI spent a lot of my time at the Rhône and Saône, sunbathing on stone sunbeds next to river, walking along the river or taking a boat trip. There are also houseboats and restaurants and clubs on boats so I really didn’t get to miss the sea after all.

The language school was not far from the Rhône in a very central and relaxed area of Lyon. The school was small with a very personal touch. We were welcomed by the Director of the school who talked to everyone in the group of newcomers to informally assess our oral level (we had taken a written test beforehand online). We all were given little notebooks with a pen and some chocolate Easter eggs (it was the week after Easter)!

I was placed in the C1 level class and felt that the other students were at a very similar level and that the group worked well together. The teacher was very experienced and made learning easy and fun, but also encouraged everyone to study additionally at home.  The lessons  concentrated on vocabulary, listening comprehension, speaking and of course grammar. For those who had booked an intensive course this was then followed by a writing workshop.

I had a really good time and I can highly recommend a language trip to Lyon!

Claudia took a General French course of 15 lessons per week in Lyon. Prices start at £107 for a one week course.

Cactus also offers French courses in other locations across France and Canada, as well as 10-week French evening courses in the UK.

Cactus case study – the story behind 13 courses in 8 years

Cactus talks to Naomi Sharp about her impressive history of 13 courses in 2 languages over 8 years with us

It’s not often that we get a client who has taken more than a handful of courses, so to find one who has taken 13 courses, in not just Spanish but also French, is an exciting rarity. I was keen to chat to Naomi to find out her motivation behind studying two languages and where it was all taking her.

The inspiration behind Spanish

For Naomi it all began after a holiday to Costa Rica back in 2004. Inspired to take up Spanish, she enrolled on an Open University course and decided to supplement this with immersion trips abroad through Cactus. Her first trip was to Alicante and since then there has been no stopping her, with Spanish courses now taken in Cuba, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina and even Bristol, to keep up the language on home soil.

In this time Naomi has progressed through the levels from elementary to intermediate and even thrown dancing into the mix, taking a Spanish & Salsa course in Havana, a Spanish & Salsa course in Malaga and a Spanish and Tango course in Cordoba, Argentina. She admits that this is what first attracted her to Cactus – the ability to learn a language and enjoy the local culture at the same time. She has thoroughly enjoyed her dance classes as many were on a one-to-one or small group basis with dance professionals – and of course they provide a perfect excuse to practise the language further.

A change of career paths with French

So where does French come in? Naomi’s long term goal is to teach English overseas with the voluntary service, and for this it is useful to have knowledge of French. Naomi used to be in the Air Force and as part of her resettlement package, in 2012, she enrolled on a 3-week French course with Cactus in La Rochelle. Subsequent courses in Antibes and Vichy last year took her up to intermediate level, equivalent B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

Naomi has clearly had a wonderful few years visiting different parts of the world and working towards her long-term goal of teaching abroad. Language-wise, her sights are on the DELE and DELF diplomas in Spanish and French, while work-wise her next step is to teach English in Sri Lanka before heading to Spain or Latin America.

Tips for other language learners

Given all her experience learning languages over the years, I asked Naomi if she had any tips or advice for anyone else learning a language. First and foremost she recommended spending time in the country where your target language is spoken, and taking every opportunity you can to speak with the locals. People are always friendly and willing to chat, and it doesn’t matter if you make mistakes as this is all part of the learning process. Having said this, Naomi found her evening classes in Bristol to be a good complement to her overseas courses, as the class size was small and the teacher a native speaker, making it not too dissimilar to her overseas experience.

One other factor that is likely to have helped Naomi’s immersion into the many cultures she has experienced has been her preference to stay with local families where possible. For her, living with a host family gives an extra opportunity to chat in the language, coming together at mealtimes for example. Some people may shy away from this option, believing their language isn’t good enough to stay with a family, but Naomi pointed out that families are used to receiving students of all levels and as such they know how to speak to you.

If there was ever a way to combine your love of languages with work and travel then surely Naomi has found it. The great thing is that there is never really an end to language learning and there are many different ways to make it work for you, wherever you are – of which Naomi is a perfect example. Many thanks to Naomi for taking to time to talk to us and we wish her all the best with her future globetrotting and linguistic adventures!

Cactus offers language courses in over 20 languages in destinations all over the globe. We also offer 10-week evening language courses in London and across the UK which are great preparation for an overseas trip and ideal for long-term learning.

Italian Language Course in Florence: A great way to learn the language and understand the history

Giles Picciotto, a Hatha yoga teacher from London, tells us about his 26-week-long language holiday in Florence, Italy, and how it has given him a greater understanding of this fascinating country’s culture, history and language.

Giles’s passion for Florence is evident, with comments like: “The world without Florence and the Renaissance isn’t possible frankly – totally unimaginable.” This, combined with wanting to do something different to your average holiday abroad, led him to choose a language holiday in Florence. Cementing his decision to study in Florence as opposed to Rome was the fact that he lives in London and did not really want to study in another large city. He had also heard from friends that Florence was slightly cheaper and if he was going to be staying there and studying for six months, this was an important factor.

When Giles landed in Italy he knew nothing of the Italian language. Starting as a complete beginner, over the course of six months his Italian language skills and vocabulary grew immensely. Throughout his course he met many interesting people of all ages and backgrounds and, although he felt that the fully immersive teaching methods were great to develop his Italian, he also felt that in cities such as Florence and Rome many people speak English, offering him fewer opportunities to practise what he had learnt in class.

Giles really liked the language school in Florence, as it was local and in a fantastic area with great teaching staff. His favourite part of the course was learning something new each day, which would stay with him long after he departed Italy. Staying in a shared student apartment, Giles enjoyed the freedom that came with it and practising his Italian with the lady who owned the apartment who came to clean it every two weeks.

Learning Italian Giles felt that he was able to understand further Italy’s rich history and culture. This, teamed with his belief that Florence is the most important and influential city of the last 1000 years, and not to mention his passion for the food and the wine – which he thinks are awesome! – meant that a language holiday in Florence was the perfect choice for Giles.

I asked Giles if he had any language tips for future students looking to study abroad and he thought some basic knowledge of the language beforehand would help, suggesting at least a vocabulary of a 1000 words and 30 phrases. For him, studying in Italy as a complete beginner and with the fully immersive method used in class, it was sometimes a struggle to process everything. He would also encourage all future students who wish to study in Florence to walk the city every day, go and see something every day, and come to understand how a city so small became so great.

Giles strongly believes that Florence is the most important city in the world and that no city except ancient Athens ever produced so much greatness at one time. Florence’s list of important people includes: Michelangelo; Dante; Boccaccio; Botticelli; Machiavelli; Leonardo and Galileo, all native to the region of Tuscany and almost all from Florence itself. He believes every one of those influential people still resonates powerfully today, many are buried within the walls of the city and there are more current inspirational people such as Gucci and Ferragamo who come from Florence that Giles can identify with.

When asked what inspired Giles most about his trip, he replied that it was just an amazing all-round experience and he was grateful to have had the opportunity to call Florence his home for 6 months, speak Italian to a good standard after his course and meet interesting people during his language holiday in Italy.

Giles is very keen to return to Italy soon and continue his studies, but first he has booked a 2-week Mandarin course in Hong Kong with Cactus. Giles is a true language enthusiast who enjoys travelling the world and learning about a country’s art, culture and history. He loves the way in which society used to work and function both intellectually and physically, believing that practising yoga and learning languages are life skills and the modern world has lost touch with that, relying too much on comfort and technology. He believes the brain must continually be challenged as well as the body.

Many thanks to Giles for taking the time to tell me about his experience and to hopefully inspiring others to do the same.

Cactus Language Training offer Italian courses in Florence and in many locations across Italy. Evening courses in Italian are also available in the UK and we also offer private language training.

Italian Language Course in Florence: A great way to learn the language and discover a beautiful city

Shirley Critchley tells us about her week-long language holiday in Florence, Italy, and how it has given her even more of a passion for the language, culture and the beautiful country itself

Shirley Critchley is a private tutor of Spanish and French in the North West of England and has always had a flair and enthusiasm for languages since her school days. Shirley started studying Italian in 1999 after falling in love with the Italian language and after several holidays to the stunning Lake Garda. She took her Italian GCSE but did not feel confident enough to teach privately to adults.

As the requests for her language tuition were pouring in, she decided to take a language holiday abroad in Italy. This would be her first trip alone since sadly losing her husband the previous year. With so many recommendations for Florence as a fantastic destination to visit – with quality Italian tuition, free time to explore the beautiful sites and soak up the rich culture, and plenty of delicious Italian food and wine to enjoy! – this seemed the perfect opportunity for Shirley to improve her Italian and enjoy a relaxing holiday. Her mind was made up.

Shirley really liked the local Italian language school, as it was easy to find in a lovely building overlooking the Arno River, just up from Ponte Vecchio. The teachers and staff were very friendly and dedicated to improving their students’ Italian. Being a private tutor in Spanish and French and looking to tutor in Italian, Shirley really enjoyed the Italian language lessons as she was able to pick up many tips for her own lessons. She also liked the way the Italian lessons were structured and how they were pitched at the right level for the whole class.  Her class consisted of her and six other students – a  couple from the Ukraine, a man from Israel and three women, one from Belgium, one from Japan and one from South Africa.

The main focus of the lessons was on conversations and listening which made the language learning experience practical, with real life scenarios and Italian phrases that included language games and listening exorcises. Shirley really appreciated the full immersion teaching experience and thought it made a huge difference to her overall learning and language progression – not to mention her much increased confidence as the week progressed.

Shirley made the most of her language holiday by exploring Florence and the local area and speaking with native Italians at every possible opportunity, from ordering in restaurants to asking directions. The Italian people were so helpful that one gentleman even helped her with her homework!

Shirley particularly enjoyed travelling to Florence in February as the climate was cooler and allowed her to climb the 414 steps of The Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore), the main church in Florence, which offers stunning views of the city and the surrounding mountains.

Shirley particularly enjoys holidaying in Italy due to the friendly and welcoming nature of the Italian people and the laid back lifestyle and, when asked if she had any travel tips for future students wanting to study in Florence, she said ‘Use every possible opportunity to speak the language’. She also found staying in accommodation near to the train station allowed her to explore the surrounding area with ease.

Shirley felt most inspired by the way her native Italian teacher included everyone in the classroom; particularly being a teacher herself, she can understand how difficult this can be and is now using some of the teaching methods in her language lessons back home in the UK. She continues to study Italian at home and is hoping to take another language course next year as she learned so much in such a short space of time whilst on her language holiday abroad. All in all, she would highly recommend a language course abroad to anyone looking for an adventure!

Many thanks to Shirley for taking the time to tell me about her experience and to hopefully inspiring others to do the same.

If you would like to learn more about Shirley Critchley’s language holiday abroad in Florence then she has written a detailed blog of her experiences.

The photo at the beginning of this article was kindly contributed by Shirley; she took it whilst at the top of The Duomo, Florence, Italy.