Standard Spanish

Victoria was a really good teacher and pleasant person. She explained things thoroughly and well. Actually, every thing about the school was nice, but I just had one thing which I found very inefficient: on the first day, an introduction and placement test was done. This took almost 3 hours and we had approx. 1 hour of lesson on the first day. It was frustrating that basically one of the five days was spent on this - considering that the course was only for one week, it didn't make sense in my opinion that it the test was so thorough and long. Additionally, most language schools normally have a written test prior to the start of the course and then an oral placement test on the first morning. I would have preferred if the first day weren't spent the way it was.

I enrolled my family in language courses, and the school did a great job of placing us in the right groups based on our skills. The teachers were so wonderful - very knowledgeable about language, about Spanish, and about how an English speaker learns Spanish. I could tell that each person at the school - from the teachers to the director to the front office staff - really cares about the success of their students. We enjoyed cultural activities including a cooking class and a dance class. I learned so much while there and very much appreciate ECOS!

Why I went to Colombia and why I wanted to learn Spanish.

I am US Citizen, in my 60's and a Zumba Instructor. I speak French but never really learned Spanish and this was an issue for me with all the wonderful Latin music I was using in Zumba. I have many Latina friends from Zumba as well. The founder of Zumba, Beto Peres is from Colombia and so are many of my favorite singers, such as Carolos VIves. I had been using several apps to learn Spanish through music.. and that was the most I was really doing. I also recently had started doing Duolingo consistently and that gave me more vocabulary although I still could not speak confidently. My husband and I wanted to go on a vacation to Cartagena.. in the end he stayed with me one week in a nice hotel and after he left, I started the school. It worked out well.

I found the school from an online search and signed up with help from Language International. In the end, I was only there one week but it was a great experience. It was mostly an introduction to Colombian culture and getting the basics of Estar and Ser.

I was excited with the school before I arrived and I was not disappointed in the least.

All the staff at the school was extremely friendly and helpful.

The teachers were experienced and consistent. Classes are small. I was with 3 other Beginners from Switzerland, all ages.

I especially enjoyed the extra activities, such as the Cooking Lesson, the Volunteer experience and Salsa Lessons.

I was impressed by other unexpected programs such as their program honoring the women teachers and students on the International Day of the Woman.

The school was easy to find and in a good location in Manga and a short walk to the popular area known as Getsemane.

The home stay was a decent room in a big house very close to school but it was not for me... even though I thought it would be a good fit. As a beginner it was not easy to communicate and except for the Señora, who worked during the day , the rest of the family was not really available or interested in entertaining a visitor. It was lonely! I am sure families are very different.

The school apartment was ideal being on top of the school , so convenient. It was nice being with another student.

On the last day, I was so sad to leave. I want to return to Cartagena and I would definitely stick with ECOS. I highly recommend.