Spanish Schools in Bolivia

By Tammy Portnoy

Bolivia is a great place for anyone at any level to start or improve upon their Spanish skills. The Spanish spoken in Bolivia generally is considered to be pretty standard Spanish, a clear pronunciation of every letter, reminiscent of the Spanish brought to the Americas by the Conquistadors. In addition to the clarity, Bolivian Spanish is reputedly spoken much slower.

Bolivia is also a good choice for studying Spanish based on cost. Go learn Spanish in Latin America¡s cheapest capital at La Paz’s Instituto Exclusivo Spanish School. This school seems like they have one of the best programs put together out of many language schools. Instituto Exclusivo states that if you progress slower than expected, then you can take additional lessons for free. Check out their website (www.instituto-exclusivo.com) to do one trial class, practice Spanish and organize your class schedule. When you are done, you can even arrange to have conversational exchange with Bolivian students via Skype. You can pay based on hours or results.

While in Sucre there are many, many options for Spanish schools. Look into Academia Latinoamericana de Español (www.latinoschools.com). This language school a block away from the city center has thought of every little detail for you, ranging from who will pick you up from the airport to accommodations and laundry service to suggestions of gifts to bring for your host family. Plus, in classes that are never bigger than four students you can get the conversational interaction and personal attention needed to strengthen your language skills. Although, if you are looking for a learning situation that is specifically one-on-one, then take classes from Patricia Romer (www.unlimited-adventure.com), who is rumored to have a contagious enthusiasm that makes learning easy, especially when starting at the bare bones. If you are continuing on to Brazil, Patricia can help you pick up a little Portuguese, too.

Get out of the big Bolivian cities, all relative, and learn Spanish in Cochabamba with Volunteer Bolivia (www.volunteerbolivia.org/spanish.htm). Really, really interesting is that not many language schools want their “students to speak and understand Spanish within a political, social and cultural context.” Additionally, if you are feeling like learning Spanish is not challenging enough, then add a few classes in Quechua to your schedule. It is one of the 39 indigenous languages suspected to be still spoken in Bolivia.