My husband and I recently attended this school for one week and thought it was excellent. The garden setting is delightful and the instructors were terrific. I stayed at a hotel but my husband stayed with a family where most members were not present at meals so he was disappointed about the lack of opportunities to speak Spanish. Nonetheless, it was all pretty wonderful and we hope to go back. The owners of this school, Catalina and Diego, are especially great teachers but all of the instuctors seemed competant, experienced and professional. Plus Antigua is fantastic! Cindy Lowe Zihuatanejo, Mexico

Salut a tous J ai étudie l espagnol il y a 1 an a Antigua ,j ai été très satisfaite ,les professeurs étaient très bons et l ambiance très agréable,je la recommande a tous ,le directeur parle français ,cela ma beaucoup aide pour avoir des renseignements sur le Guatemala , la première semaine j ai étudié six heures avec deux professeurs ,quatre heures le matin avec Lety ou l´on a travaillé la grammaire et l´après midi deux heures avec Diego ,conversation corrigée,là on a fait que discuté,Diego est très intéressant il a quarante cinq ans ,et il a connu la guerre civil qui a eu lieu au Guatemala dans les années quatre vingt ,très triste souvenir ,mais conversation très intéressante ,la deuxièmes semaine j ai pris seulement quatre heure le matin,parce que le directeur "qui parle français " organise des activités plutôt sportive en générale l après midi.Tour en bicyclette aux alentour d´ Antigua dans les villages indiens et dans les" finca" de café ,les marches dans les montagnes au pied d Antigua oú l´on découvre une flore exceptionnel et le must, quatre ou cinq heures de marche sans voir un touriste ,le week end c´est l´ascension des volcans ,toujours organisée par l école, le premier samedi j ai fait Pacaya et la semaine d´après Agua ,les premiers étudiants sont montés en 3 heures et demi des derniers on mis 6 heures ,moi j ai mis 4 heures mais oú j ai pêne le plus c´est la descente 2 à 3 heures .Bon que dire de plus ,ç´a été deux semaines de bonheur,des profs sympa ,une ambiance chaleureuse, si vous voulez apprendre l´espagnol et faire un peu de sport ,une bonne adresse a retenir.

Hallo, Ich habe in der Sprachschule, Don Pedo de Alvarado in Antigua Guatemala, Spanischunterricht genommen. Dieses 4 Wochen lang, 6 Stunden pro Tag. Ich habe 2 Lehrer gehabt. Einer morgens, ein anderer nachmittags. Das Ambiente in der Schule ist sehr angenehm, mit dem grossen Garten, die professionellen Lehrer und den verschiedenen sehr interessanten und zum Teil lustigen Aktivitaeten vergeht die Zeit schnell. Leicht und schnell wird da gelernt. Waehrend der 6 Wochen Unterricht habe ich, privat, bei der Familie Zamora gewohnt. Ich habe mich bei dieser Familie wie zu Hause gefuehlt. Diese Unterkunft wurde mir ueber die Schule vermittelt. Moechten Sie Spanisch lernen? Ich kann Ihnen diese Schule waermstens empfehlen!!! Jorge

Great, sympathetic, patient, knowledgable teachers. Superb position in the town, right next to La Merced Church, near the Arco. Four blocks from the Parque Central. Gardens within the school are tranquil and a wonderful environment in which to study. Activities are varied and enjoyable. Weekly fiesta is great fun, and the director is also a great cook! Homestay was clean, and the family helpful and very friendly.

Studied here for a week in July; while my teacher was good, I felt that the school was trying to make a profit from its students. (Any school's shuttle service from the airport, for example, is extremely overpriced, but it may be worth it in the end to avoid haggling at the airport.) Many of the prices posted in the school for activities were advertised incorrectly; check cheaper travel agencies like the one just across the street. These things left us with the impression that the school was making a profit as middleman -- for the homestay, activities, transportation, and tuition. I would recommend a school with socially and/or environmentally conscious goals over Don Pedro.

I had a fantastic teacher at Don Pedro, she has 20 years of experience and I learned a ton with her. All classes are held in the school´s beautiful garden setting outside, so there´s a sense of open space while learning. I didn´t have the best experience with my host family, however - there were 5 other students staying there including 6 family members, I experienced racism with the host parents and they did not make the effort to include all students in conversations during the meals (as everyone is on different levels). I was at first put off by the administrative director, who didn´t appear too friendly (never took the time to talk to students, just asked for their money), but after some time the interaction eased up. The director of the school (Kathy) is lovely and cooks delicious meals for students once a week during the get-to-know-you event (but you have to pay). There is not much in the way of social activities thru the school so you have to make more of an effort to find things to do, which shouldn´t be a problem since Antigua is so small!

I loved learning here. Every day was interesting & fun.Great teachers & lovely people Adios Amigos

I studied at Don Pedro for a week, and had a great experience. In particular, I loved working with my teacher Helida Ordonez. I am an intermediate speaker and requested lots of oral communication as a way to use what I had studied. Helida and I spoke a lot, and as we did, she skillfully identified errors to work on, and incorporated these areas into our lessons. I thought Helida was a wonderful teacher ( I'm picky - I teach ESL), and I looked forward to working with her everyday. I also had a terrific homestay family that I would recommend to anyone. Teddy and Astrid have a lovely house and are wonderful hosts. They really strive for a family feeling. Astrid is a great cook too! I'm off to Xela for a different experience, but I certainly would consider returning to Antigua again to make contact with the great people I met.

Hola! I just returned from a fabulous two weeks in Guatemala; one week was spent travelling around the country and during the other week myself and my boyfriend took spanish classes at Don Pedro de Alvardo Spanish School near La Merced in Antigua. We had not registered ahead of time, but just popped in to enquire about classes, but we were so impressed by the beauty of the school and the convenient location that we decided to sign up there and then. We moved into our homestay together and it was clean and tidy, with a comfortable bed and a private bathroom. We even had wi-fi access there which we didn't expect. The family were all really nice and the food was good. It was an easy walk to the school. I am training to be a nurse so I asked my spanish teacher to go over some medical spanish terms during our lessons. During the course we practiced pronunciation and vocabulary, grammar (pronouns in particular), and conversation, mostly about nursing and current events. The only problem we had is that the afternoon activities didn't always have enough interested people to run, but the administrators always were happy to give us suggestions about things we could do and places to go. The fiesta on Thursday night was quite good fun, and I had a chance to practice dancing with the salsa teacher who gives lessons on Tuesday evenings as well. We had a great time and will consider attending Don Pedro again if we ever get back to Guatemala.

excelente école je la recommande à tous

Jeg har studeret spansk på mange forskellige sprogskoler båder i Spanien,Costa Rica og Guatemala, men Don Pedro de Alvarado er den eneste jeg ervendt tilbage til. Jeg har gået på Don Pedro de Alvarado som nybegynder, brugt den til at forberede min afsluttende spansk eksamen på Handelshøjskolen og da jeg senere skulle forberede mig til min udstationering i El Salvador. Skolen er ideel for spansk studerende på alle niveauer fordi ledelsen forstår at sammensætte lærere og elever således at de både menneskeligt og fagligt for det bedste frem i hinanden. Det er en meget vigtig egenskab for en skole når undervisningen foregår en til en - altså en lærer pr. elev. Udover at have et højt fagligt niveau er skolen også karakteriseret af afslappet og meget hyggelig atmosfære samt smukke omgivelser. Ulla Lo mismo en Español: He estudiado en diferentes esculas de ideoma en España, Costa Rica y Guatemala, pero solamente a Don Pedro de Alvarado he regresado. He estudiado en Don Pedro de Alvarado como principiante, para preparar mi examen final deespañol en Copenhagen Business School and antes mi estacionamiento en El Salvador. La escuela es perfecto para estuantes de todos niveles porque la gestión tiene la capacidad de combinar estudiantes y profesores en unamanera que maximiza el provecho para ambos. Esta calificación de combinarpersonalidades es muy importante cuando las clases se dan uno-a-uno (unprofesor a un estudiante). Aparte de tener un nivel alto de enseñanza la escuela tiene un ambiente relajado, agradable y bonito. Ulla

Highly recommended !I studied at a different school my first week and changed for my second .It was a good move .The teachers here are exellent they teach with structure, system and detail at the same time they are friendly, fun and flexible, 6 hours is ideal and living with a family essential, changing teachers in the afternoon another plus Thanks for every thing Don Pedro and good luck learning. Stephanie Patts

I had a fantastic time here ! I would recomend the school to everyone ! Claudia was my teacher and she was very helpful and lots of fun to work with. She was the best language teacher that I have ever had. I hope to come back and study at Don Pedro Escuela in the future. Eddy. Calgary, Canada

I greatly enjoyed my time at the Don Pedro School. My teacher Caty was wonderful ! I did not know any Spanish before coming to Antigua and after on week I have learned so much I know how to describe myself , ask for directions, and so much more. Salsa classes with Herman was fun also! Thank you so much I had a great time and I plan to return next year ! Catherine

I am a primary school teacher; I came to Antigua to study Spanish so that I can better help my young immigrant students in the United States. Don Pedro Spanish School was recommended to me by a friend. I´m glad I took her advice as it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Gaby, Ruben and Diego have been wonderful to work with. All three have been great about correcting my mistakes. They are very patient and have made learning Spanish very enjoyable. We spoke about many subjects including Guatemala politics, culture and about the civil war which ended in 1996. I became quite comfortable with speaking during my lessons, and I used my new skills in Antigua in the market, restaurants and shops, and with my homestay family. I lived very happily with the Carney family for three weeks. I would gladly recommend this school to anyone wanting to study Spanish in a very beautiful and welcoming environment.

Me gusto mucho la escuela, apprendi mucho español en tres semanas y pienso regresar el proximo año con toda mi familia. Muchas gracia Don Pedro, a todos los maestros y hasta pronto. John de Canada

poor quality teachers, have been to many schools..this is the pits! teachers will take up a collection from the students for a "charity"....it's them.

J´ai étudié 5 semaines a l´école Don Pedro de Alvarado , ma plus belle expérience fut de partager ce temps avec la famille Hernandez , ma famille d´accueil a Antigua . Une vraie famille formée d´un couple de 3 enfants, d´une grand mère d´un chien et deux chats, une famille modeste mais très attachante , si vous aimez le silence et la tranquillité c´est pas le bon endroit mais si vous cherchez la chaleur humaine et l´intégration dans le Guatemala profond, c´est la famille idéal , Irma m´emmenait au marché tout les samedi pour faire les courses de la semaine et m´a apprit a marchander (tout les produits se marchandent au Guatemala ) Au nivaux des cours j´ai étudié avec Leti le matin et Lionel l´après midi mes deux professeurs avaient dépassé la quarantaine je n´ai donc pas eu a me plaindre du manque d´expérience , j ´avais demandé a la directrice Caty d´avoir des professeurs plus âgés que moi et avec de l´expérience, quant a la famille , les relations humaines m´important plus que le confort j´avais demandé a vivre dans une famille d´accueil modeste . Tout mes souhaits ont été réalisés , merci Caty, Leti, Lionel et un fuerte abrazo a toda la familia Hernandez. Didier de Francia

Yo soy de U.S.A mi español hablado es bueno,lo aprendi en Universidad, soy hijo de padres de U.S.A fui a la Escuela de Español Don Pedro de Alvarado para mejorar mi escritura. La escuela es muy buena, buenos maestros, Caty y Patricio muy amables,buenas actividades "FIESTA" mi familia buena comida,bonito jardin. Espero regresar el proximo año, es la mejor escuela de Antigua Guatemala. Hasta Pronto!

I have had a really good time here! I think the school is great, and my teacher was excellent ( Raquel). She has been patient with me which is very important! Many thanks to everyone at the school and especially Raquel. My host family has also been very friendly and the food delicious. Marc

I studied here for 2 weeks in January 2013. I had originally planned 1 week but really enjoyed my classes at Don Pedro and my stay in Antigua so I decided to stay an extra week. Classes at Don Pedro are set in a wonderful garden and because the number of students was not overly large (ca. 10), tables were not too close together, allowing you to focus on your own lesson. I was lucky enough to have Caty, the school director, as my teacher. Not only is she a very good teacher, she is a great & fun person too (and a great cook by the way). I also heard positive feedback from most of the other students about their teachers and the general atmosphere during the classes was very positive. There does not seem to be a fixed teaching plan not student syllabus which may be an issue for some. However for me it was more important that classes were tailored to the level of the student which they were. There were good activities in the afternoon on most days except Mondays (salsa classes 2x a week, visit to a Finca and a fun school lunch). The school also arranged a family stay for me and the family was fantastic. They were really hospitable and friendly and there was always at least one member of the family present during each meal (and often more than one). They always turned each meal into an extra little Spanish lesson which was great. Children and grandchildren were often about, giving me a great insight into family life in Guatemala. The "casa" was also diagonally across the road from the school which was very convenient. I remember that a fellow student was also raving about her family. I got the impression that Don Pedro is not the largest school in town, so if you want to meet 20-30 other students, this may not be the place, but i highly recommend Don Pedro for its wonderful & tranquil garden, Caty - the Director of the school, the generally good & friendly other teachers and the family stays they arrange. I hope you will have as good a time as I did. Jacco

I am mostly a self-taught student. I needed a school that would work with my uneven skills. I wanted to concentrate on conversation, pronounciation, and grammer. I did not want to spend two weeks studying ser and estar. As with most schools, the instruction comes down to the teacher. I was blessed an experienced teacher that made learning fun. She also adapted to my special needs. I was that the school was flexible to meet my desires. Some schools follow a rigid lesson plan. That would not have worked for me. In the two weeks that I had, I learned pretreit, imperfect, future, conditional, and command. Prior to my class, I had never left the present tense. I plan to return. My family was great. I probably ate too much they provided such good food I could not resist.

Opiskelin mieheni kanssa Antiguassa Don Pedro de Alvaradon espanjan kielen koulussa tammikuussa 2013 viikon. Kummallakin oli 4 yksityisopetustuntia 5 päivänä. Asuimme sen viikon kielikoulun järjestämässä perhemajoituksessa. Olemme opiskelleet espanjaa Suomessa työväenopistossa usean vuoden ajan, mutta myös aiemmin Antiguassa, Costa Ricassa ja Ekvadorissa. Paljon opimme matkoillamme käytännössä. Matkustaminen latinalaisessa Amerikassa on nimittäin harrastuksemme ja syy espanjan opiskeluumme. Mieheni on hyvä keskustelemaan ja hoitamaan asioita, mutta kieliopissa puutteita. Itselleni suurin ongelma on keskustelu ja asioiden selvittäminen. Löysimme Don Pedro de Alvaradon kielikoulun perjantaina Antiguan turistitoimistolta saamiemme esitteiden perusteella. Keskustelimme koulusta ja sen hinnoista ja sen perusteella sovimme viikon kurssista. Perheeseen pääsimme muuttamaan jo lauantaina. Kumpikin saimme oman opettajan. Ensin keskustelin opettajani kanssa (espanjaksi) tavoitteista ja sovimme, että keskitytään puhumiseen ja jätetään subjunktiivit rauhaan. Tunnit kuluivat nopeasti, kun keskustelimme Guatemalan ja Suomen eroista jne. Illaksi saimme aina läksyksi jonkun kertomuksen kirjoittamisen (lyhyetkin kertomukset kelpasivat). Sain oppia määräävän artikkelin käytöstä, prepositoista, ajan ilmaisuista jne. Tanssikurssilla oli mahdollisuus oppia salsaa patiolla tuntien lomassa. Perhemajoituksessa meillä oli oma huone (TV), mutta suihku ja WC olivat yhteiset muiden opiskelijoiden kanssa. Aterioilla keskusteltiin ahkerasti espanjaksi. Perjantaina sujui asioista keskusteleminen huomattavasti sujuvammin kuin ennen kurssia. Loppumatkamme aikana keskustelu esim. markkinoilla ja hotelleissa sujui jo kohtuullisesti. Kielikoulun patio on suomalaiselle eksoottinen riippuvine orkidean kukkineen ja lintuineen. Virikkeitä riitti. Siellä oli rauhallista opiskella (katumelu ei häirinnyt). Kurssin hinta oli hyvin kohtuullinen. Perheessä asuminen oli hyvä lisä. Suosittelen koulua kaiken ikäisille ja tasoisille espanjan opiskelijoille. Kirsti Röyskö

J´ai étudié trois semaines dans cette école et j´ai été pleinement satisfaite, mon prof était très patient et la famille ou je vivais était toujours présente avec nous pour les repas ,merci beaucoup pour cette agréable expérience

Je recommende cette école. J´ai apprit beaucoup en peu de temps. Ma professeure était tres patiente et généreuse. Pascale. Quebec, Canada.

de retour de 4 semaines dans cette école . Petite mais amicale et pleine d'activités. Notre famille d'accueil fut tout simplement extra et nous a impliquée dans ses activités quotidiennes et spéciales pour le carême. Du côté de l'enseignement il faut savoir que le personnel essaie de répondre aux besoins des élèves mais ceux-ci doivent être en msure de définir ce qu'ils désirent comme forme de cours. Pour moi ayant déjà une base j'ai insité pour mettre l'accent sur la conversation et la grammaire qui s'y rattache. Ayant un bon vocabulaire ma prof m'a fait travailler les subjonctifs et les verbes irééguliers aux temps les plus usules de la conversation. Pour ma blonde qui avait besoin de vocabulaire le cours fut différent et moins structuré. Elle avait possiblement mal défini son besoin. Je recommande cette école et surtout son cercle de familles où demeurer. Bien choisies et surtout qui ont l'habitude avec les étrangers.

I studied with my husband at Antigua in the Spanish school of Don Pedro de Alvarado in January 2013 for one week. We both had 4 private lessons during 5 days. We lived with a local family for the week. We have studied Spanish in Finland at adult courses for some years, but also earlier in Antigua, Costa Rica and Equador. We learn much in practice during our travels. Traveling in Latin America is our hobby and the reason for studying Spanish. My husband can easily discuss and take care of practical things but has a lot to learn in gramatic. My greatest problem is conversation and describing subjects. We found the Spanish school of Don Pedro de Alvarado at Friday by using the prochures we got in the tourist office. We discussed about the school and its prices and according to this we agreed to have one week course. We moved at the family already at Saturday. At Monday We both got own teacher. At first I discussed with my teacher about the objectives and we agreed we will focus on talking and ignore subjunctive. Time flew while we discussed about differences between Guatemala and Finland etc. As home work we wrote small stories. I learned about the definite article, prepositions, time definitions etc. Dance classes at the school patio gave us an opprtunity to learn salsa. In the family house we had own bedroom with TV, but the shower and toilet were common with other students. At the table there was always busy conversation in Spanish. At Friday conversation was for me far easier than before the course. During the rest of our travel it was quite easy to talk with people at markets, hotels etc. The school´s patio with its orchideas and birds was an exotic learning place for a Finn! It was peacefull without street noise. The price was very reasonable. Living with a local family was a positive experience. I recommend this school for Spanish students at all levels and ages. Kirsti Finland

In November I went to Guatemala as a volunteer interpreter for a Vancouver based surgical team, arriving in Antigua a few days in advance to get my head back into Spanish at Don Pedro Spanish School. I'm a professional woman with a background in 2nd language teaching and was very pleased with the wonderful reception & professional instruction I received at Don Pedro. On the strength of a short notice email, a corteous driver met my plane promptly & gave me an entire "lesson" in Mayan culture during the drive to Antigua in a modern van. I was delivered to my homestay where a tasty dinner awaited me along with 3 other students. Director Cathy Galindo did an admirable job of trying to get me up to speed for my work at a clinic in the highlands. When my team members arrived, she arranged for Spanish coaching for several of them. I will be returning to Guatemala regularly & will make a point of returning to Don Pedro whenever I can. I would not hesitate to recommend this school. Lynda West Vancouver, Canada

Un petit mot pour dire combien ma femme et moi avons grandement apprecie la qualite des enseignantes et aussi l accueil chaleureux de Cathie la directrice et Letie deux personnnes dynamiques toujours pretes a vous aider. Les petits dejeuners du mardi et les diners du jeudi sont 2 moments precieux dans la semaine qui nous ont permis de rencontrer les autres etudiants de l ecole et de mettre en pratique l espagnol nouvellement acquis. Nous avons frequente cette ecole 5 semaines et nous vous la recommandons chaudement. Nous croyons etre de retour l an prochain pour approfondir notre espagnol.Le rapport qualite prix est excellent et la famille recommandee par l ecole dans laquelle nous vivions nous a permis de faire de belles rencontres avec d autres etudiants de notre ecole. Gilles Charest, Quebec

Hi, We spent 2 weeks recently in Don Pedro de Alvarado, and we really enjoyed the environment of the school, which is very nice, and the atmosphere. There are some activities very nice, such as the dinner shared on Thursday evenings. Also, on the second week, we participated to a volunteer program to teach English in a school located in Parramos, a small indigene school. This was really interesting. Regards, Jean Francois Douet jfdouet@hotmail.com

A wonderful school! I spent 2 weeks there and the teachers helped me a lot to learn grammar, verbs and to practice in an nice environment, discussing interesting topics. People are really helpful and I could participate to nice activities as during the semana santa. marioncouture@hotmail.com

"J'ai trouvé l'école Don Pedro de Alvarado basée à Antigua grâce au site www.123teachme.com ... Et je n'ai eu aucun regret ! J'ai été accueilli très chaleureusement par toute l'équipe des professeurs et sans perdre de temps nous avons commencé les cours. L'école propose exclusivement des cours individuels qui ont l'énorme avantage d'être d'une efficacité redoutable! En effet être en tête-à-tête avec un professeur pendant plusieurs heures est le meilleur gage de progrès: les étudiants apprennent à leur rythme, le professeur s'adapte aux connaissances et aux envies de l'élève. Etant débutante je devais apprendre les bases, mais personnellement j'ai préféré parler (du moins essayer au début) et échanger sur la vie quotidienne, l'histoire, la culture du pays avec ma professeure plutôt que faire des exercices de grammaire. D'autre part je recommande vivement de choisir le programme d'hébergement chez des familles. C'est une occasion unique de partager et découvrir la vraie vie de guatémaltèques, ainsi qu'une autre façon de pratiquer et améliorer son espagnol. Pour ceux et celles qui veulent aller encore plus loin dans l'intégration j'aimerai signaler qu'il y a une multitude d'associations et d'ONG travaillant à Antigua qui seront ravies de recevoir de l'aide - quelques heures par semaine suffisent. J'ai notamment fait du bénévolat auprès de la Casa Jackson - ONG Nuestros Ahijados - qui vient en aide aux enfants souffrant de malnutrition (à noter que je n'ai aucune compétence médicale particulière ... un peu de temps à donner c'est déjà énorme). Maryline.Chabanis.Paris, France N'hésitez pas à me contacter si vous souhaitez plus d'informations : Maryline mchabanis@hotmail.com

Great one on one instruction in a pretty courtyard. This is a great school and very fun and unique environment to learn in. They provide a lot of services (lunch/dinner parties, dance lessons) free where I think most places would charge extra. I spent 3 weeks there and will most likely return.

If you decide to experience immersion in Spanish, the school Don Pedro de Alvarado in Antigua (Guatemala) is what you need. His program is flexible and adapts to your needs. The delightful instructors of the School will know exactly what to focus on to make you move to another level of language proficiency. We recommend that you develop your grammar skills to benefit fully from the rich and diverse discussions with your instructors. These discussions may even lead you to develop friendships for life, as was the case for us with Evelyn and Angela. In addition, managers of the school, Lety and Caty, will do everything to make your experience memorable beyond your language learning. Get ready for communal meals and outings which will mark you. Bon voyage and please, forward our good feelings to the whole team... Thanh & Yacine, Montreal

I brought a group of 9 students from Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY and we set up a for credit program offering three different levels of Spanish. Don Pedro bent over backwards to accommodate us in every way, the instructors were great, the students learned a lot and absolutely loved it. I am planning to return with more students in May 2012. Feel free to message me if you are thinking about bringing a group or would like to know more about our experience.

I arrived in Antigua as a virtual beginner. (I had taken a 7-week continuing education course 6 years before.) Don Pedro was wonderful! My teacher, Evelyn, was intelligent, warm, funny, and highly effective. She made learning fun! The curriculum was excellent. No books were necessary. I would recommend, however, purchasing a small dictionary that you can carry around with you. The school had a real sense of community. It hosted a weekly lunch, as well as a weekly dinner which gave students the opportunity to meet other students and interact with the teachers. During my time at the school, the students were largely English and French speakers. However, most students made an effort to speak Spanish to one another. Age-wise, there was great diversity. I studied for three weeks total. I arrived planning to do just a week or two, but ended up studying for three weeks (with a week on Lake Atitlan in the middle). My host family was great. They lived about an 8-minute walk from the school, although there were families that were closer. My host mother made a tremendous effort to speak to and teach the students she hosted. After studying at Don Pedro, I traveled through Central America for two months. My Spanish is now conversational which blows me away!

I attended classes for two weeks in February and one week in April. My host family on the second visit was terrific. The first family was very nice, but I was the only student, was somewhat isolated from the family, and frequently ate meals alone. The shared bathroom also presented problems that I hadn't anticipated. For my second visit, I requested a family w/other students and a private bathroom. This stay was "perfect." The relaxed atmosphere at the school is lovely and teachers work with each student one-to-one at the level of the student. If there are problems, the school works with you to resolve them. I highly recommend Don Pedro de Alvardo for students at all levels--Marie

My 18 year old daughter and I recently attended this school for four weeks and we both thought it was an excellent experience. I had originally planned for two weeks, but really enjoyed staying with our host family, and the truth is that my daughter and I fell in love with Antigua. That is the real reason that we decided to stay two extra weeks. Our original plan was to study for the first two weeks and then travel for a further two weeks.Staying and studying in Antigua two extra weeks was a good decision, because Guatemala is so small that it is possible to visit most places in a weekend, leaving on Friday afternoon and returning on Sunday night. We visited many places; Copan ruins in Honduras, Lake Atitlan, Monterrico beach, and of course, Tikal by plane. We studied six hours per day; 4 hours each morning and two hours in the afternoon with a different teacher. Our instructors and host family were amazing. I recommend this school for Spanish students of all ages. Susie Martin.

I chose Don Pedro de Alvarado because of the consistently high ratings it had received. I spent two weeks studying at the school and stayed with a local family (my new friends!). I definitely recommend this school because the teachers are professional, competent, caring and patient. Everyone at the school was very flexible and accommodating with my desires, time line, and my changing schedule. Guatemala has an excellent reputation for Spanish language schools and Antigua has numerous schools (a lot of competition). I visited a few other schools while in Antigua and then was even more confident that I had chosen wisely when I enrolled at Don Pedro de Alvarado.

J'ai vraiment apprécié mon temps à apprendre l'espagnol ici. Les professeurs sont vraiment superbes. Je vous recommande de prendre 6 heures de cours avec 2 professeurs ,4 heures le matin et 2 heures l´après midi, l´après midi avec ma prof Leticia on faisait que de la conversation, les cours se passent dans un jardin magnifique, l´ environnement est paisible et malgré mes 62 ans je ne me suis jamais senti fatigué ou ennuyé. La propriétaire Caty et la directrice Lety sont deux personnes merveilleuses, elles sont toujours prêtes a vous aider lorsque vous avez besoin de quoi que ce soit. Il y a de nombreuses activités et des possibilités de bénévolat. Je suis resté dans la famille Darce Pineda , une expérience vraiment génial. La chambre que j'avais était confortable et privé, après quelque jours je me suis senti comme partie de la famille, quand j'étais là ils étaient toujours disponible pour parler (Je pense que en plus du travail en classe, le temps que j'ai passé à parler avec ma famille d´accueil a été essentiel pour mon amélioration à parler espagnol). Je suis une personne assez exigeante, quand je pense au progrès que j'ai fait dans la langue, ce que j'ai appris sur la culture et le peuple Guatémaltèque, mon expérience inoubliable dans ma famille d´accueil, je ne peux être que satisfait et recommander chaudement a tous cette école. Merci a ma famille d´accueil Darce Pineda , mes deux professeurs Leticia et betty ,la directrice Lety et Cay la propriétaire de cette charmante école d´espagnol. Si vous souhaitez des informations sur Antigua écrivez-moi. Alain Man. Email: bezon75@hotmail.com

J'ai grandement apprécié le professionnalisme de mon professeur, le style décontracté de l'école, les occasions d'échange avec les autres étudiants et professeurs, les activités sociales et aussi la qualité de l'hébergement dans ma famille d'accueil. Je recommande sans hésiter cette école!

J'ai passé 4 semaines en février 2013 à étudier l'espagnol avancé à l'école Don Pedro de Alvarado. L'école a complètement répondu à mes attentes: Réponse rapide à mes questions avant inscription, inscription gratuite, réponses rapides aux questions pré-voyage; accueil parfait à l'arrivée, excellent professeur (Amabilia), programme structuré, lieu de travail sympathique dans un grand jardin, collations+2 repas hebdomadaires excellents, ambiance agréable, activités variées avec accompagnatrices sympathiques, et hébergement hors-pair dans une famille (option avec salle de bain privée et wifi). En plus Lety, m'a trouvé un professeur de guitare super! Antigua, c'est génial pour passer un mois. On ne s'ennuie pas du tout!

My teacher, Enriqueta Pellecer, was organized, motivational,and friendly, providing instruction which was structured, as well as practical and conversational. She was able to take me from zero understanding and use of Spanish to a comfortable level which met my daily needs. I enjoyed my daily interaction with her and looked forward to our lessons. The overall feeling of the school was positive and happy. The teachers and administrators worked hard to provide a pleasant learning environment, along with rich social experiences, including field trips, delicious meals prepared and served at the school, and time for interaction among fellow students. I would definitely study again at Don Pedro de Alvarado School. I have some concerns about my home stay experience, which did improve when I changed homes. I'm not sure if I would do a home stay again unless I could have more information prior to my stay, possibly photos and sample menus of typical meals. Overall, I had a wonderful experience at Don Pedro and feel confident in recommending this school to others.

I have recently returned from a seven week stay in Antigua, Guatemala, which was spent studying Spanish at the Spanish school “Don Pedro de Alvarado”. I had a rough idea of the theory of Spanish before my visit but in practice was unable to put two words together to express myself. Taking the bull by the horns I enrolled at this school for six hours study a day, six days a week for seven weeks. The morning session, four hours, I spent with Claudia, warn and sympathetic and with a fantastic sense of humour, she built up my knowledge of Spanish grammar bit by bit, all the time making sure I was confident before embarking on the next step. Her teaching skills and coherent presentation were just what I needed. The afternoon session, two hours, I spent with Osbilda, a charming lady who with her skill and patience gave me the confidence to talk, incorporating the grammar points we had covered in the mornings. There was no standard formula; each day was new, based on the next natural step. The school organised lunch and evening dinner one day a week, giving an ideal opportunity for all students to meet socially and practice their Spanish. The school also arranged many small outings, always accompanied by the teachers. The general atmosphere at the school was of friendship where the teachers genuinely loved their job and enjoyed each others company. I am looking forward to my next visit!

Rosa Mendez and Bety Najera are excellent instructors

Meine Lehrerin Maria Enriqueta Pellecer hat einen sehr professionellen, interessanten aber auch witzigen Unterricht gestaltet. Sie hat sich sehr auf meine schwächen eingestellt und mir somit auf wunderbare weise sehr viel beigebracht. Der schöne Garten in dem man lernt, die familiäre Atmosphäre hat uns auch beim zweiten mal überzeugt.

I have attended the Don Pedro Spanish school five times. I have also attended schools in other countries. Don Pedro is my favorite. Why? I like the one on one instruction. When I started at Don Pedro, I knew very little. Now I can hold a conversation. I know the present, past and future tenses. Their method works well for me. The teachers are experienced and dedicated. One area that makes Don Pedro stand out is the enjoyable quality of the school when classes stop. Compared to other schools, Don Pedro does a good job making sure students get to know each other. They plan activities that are fun and further your Spanish. Learning Spanish in a different culture can be stressful.. Having a network of friends and the option of organized activities is a big deal. Don Pedro excels at this. The student ages at Don Pedro is very diverse. People of all ages attend. The students are from all points of the globe. I have found my fellow students to be very interesting people. While I have never had a bad teacher at Don Pedro, I do highly recommend two, Betty and Enriqueta. Both are very personable and go the extra mile to make the lesson plan interesting.

I've been to this school twice and I recommend it highly for beginners and those who wish to improve their Spanish. My teachers were Enriqueta Pellecer, Bety Najera Lopez, and Angela Galindo, and I learned a tremendous amount from them. The individual instruction is excellent, and I recommend six hours a day, with 2 teachers. Everyone at Don Pedro is friendly and helpful in every way. If you go I hope you enjoy your time there as much as I did!

Don Pedro is a fantastic Spanish school - I'm a business school student who spent one month there in the summer of 2012. I took classes 6 days a week for 6 hours daily, primarily with Enriqueta Pellecer, who was the best language teacher I've ever had. My spoken Spanish skills improved considerably with her - besides teaching all of the necessary grammar, Enriqueta spoke with me nonstop about a variety of different topics to improve my fluency. I owe my ability to speak Spanish at such a high level (advanced intermediate) almost exclusively to Enriqueta and Don Pedro language school.

My wife and I have studied at Don Pedro de Alvarado twice in the last year and a half and have had a great experience both times. We are planning to return again this coming summer (2013). The one-on-one teaching is great, I can recommend my two teachers wholeheartedly: Maria Enriqueta Pellecer and Lhena Juarez. The school is well-run and there are numerous activities in the afternoon to experience what Antigua has to offer. In the past, we have studied in similar programs in Oaxaca, Guanajuato, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Madrid. Don Pedro de Alvarado is at the top of the list. Our homestay with Rene and Sincrid was great, they are a very welcoming family. Highly recommended.

I vastly improved my Spanish in 3 weeks, thanks to the 1-on-1 teaching; rather than a rigid program to which you need to adjust, it is the other way around, i.e. completely catered to your needs. It was done so in the most comfortable and supporting setting (I was by myself with little to no Spanish language skills). Special thanks to my teachers Osbilda & Maria Enriqueta - it certainly went beyond just learning a language!! From the difficult past and present situation in Guatemala, to grabbing a coffee at the nearby espresso bar and chit-chatting about the more simple -but no less important aspects- of daily life. The supporting staff of the school made life very easy with arranging everything from airport pick-up, accommodation (see below) to organising activities, at times in combination with the young children they take care of after school (who are also happy to chat with you; I had a 5-year old child correcting my Spanish with a big smile. Trust me, that's a lesson you won't forget easily:-). Accommodation was in a large, beautiful new house in colonial style (2 more rooms rented to other students), conveniently located at a 5min walking distance from the school, clean, private room & bathroom, wifi (thank you Teddy & Astrid!) and soon the cooking will be a destination in itself on the Antigua foodie map (thank you Diego!).

Bonjour, Nous avons passés 6 semaines d'études temps plein à cette école il y a 5 ans. Nous sommes retraités et de différent niveau de langues . Mon mari était débutant et j'étais plus ou moins de niveau intermédiaire. Nous avons adorés notre expérience. Je suis repartie du Guatémala, tout a fait cappable de m'exprimer en espagnol et j'ai voyagé sans guide en pays hispanique et même travaillé en espagnol par la suite! Enriqueta, mon prof, très aimable et compétente, m'a donné beaucoup de travail, je l'ai fait et cela m'a aidé à atteindre mon objectif. Pour mon conjoint, l'expérience a été différente. Il a plutôt apprécié l'atmosphère détendu de la terrasse, les excursions du vendredi alors que nous voyagions chacun avec notre guide à travers la ville et les environs....tout en espagnol. Il a pris ce voyage plutôt comme une rencontre avec un autre culture, a appris les bases de l'espagnol sans pression avec un prof très patient dont j'ai oublié le nom malheureusement. Le proprio n'est pas sympa mais, on a eu très peu d'occasion de le rencontrer. Nous nous étions logés par nos propre moyen, c'était....de base bien propre. J'y retournerais avec plaisir!

I completed a lot of online research before I picked a country, and then a school in which to study the Spanish language. I finally decided upon Don Pedro de Alvarado in Antigua, Guatemala, and I am very glad that I did. My reason for choosing this school was its excellent reputation: it had consistently received the highest ratings, and only the highest ratings, from previous and current students. I spent two weeks studying and staying with a beautiful local family and now I can personally recommend both. Don Pedro de Alvarado's staff met with me and we discussed my language skills and goals, goals of lessons and how many hours of instruction I wanted. (All instruction is private, one-on-one.) I chose to study for six hours/day my first week and eight hours/day the second week. In retrospect, I took on too many hours of instruction per day; I would recommend no more than four hours, and two to three hours/day might be ideal. But I have great praise for the instructors and the school staff for making me feel welcome, valued, and even relieved on days that I had a severe headache. All of the "classes" are held outside, on a covered patio and garden area, at small tables. I had one instructor for my morning sessions, then I'd go to my homestay for a very delicious lunch, and return to learn from a different instructor. (Students can chose to have only one instructor, or to try other instructors, depending on the student's schedule.) I stayed with a family of four to eight people, plus some other DPdA students, so I got a lot of extra language practice. "My" family also treated me to three meals a day, except for Sunday, and those meals were the finest that I had in my three weeks in Guatemala. My accommodations provided me a private bedroom with ensuite full bathroom, free WiFi, and cable TV. I had my laundry done there, too, for a small extra fee. I had a key to the house so I came and went as I pleased, and privacy when I wanted and company when I needed it. The Don Pedro school is very easy to find, right next to the huge, yellow cathedral, and very well located. There are coffee shops, bakeries, small markets, casual and fine dining restaurants, and transportation, all within easy access. The school has a very inviting feel and I instantly felt I had made the right decision to study there. Because of the caring and attentive instructors, I really learned a lot of verb tenses, vocabulary, and useful phrases. I feel that I have true friends at the school and in the town, and I know that I will return someday to visit them. I do highly recommend Don Pedro de Alvarado and the homestay option.

Very accomodating school and very helpful and friendly. Loved Corina Vidal - gerat patience and always correcting my Spanish, which is what I wanted!!! Though really all the teachers do this - with my great appreciation (Naty, Marian, Angela and Kristy...). Very much enjoyed my time there - do iwsh a little more on grammar / exercises; as well as the weekly activties to have more variety and engagement. But its about the teachers and they are great.

I had a wonderful time during my two weeks taking Spanish classes at Don Pedro de Alvarado. The experience was superb because of the excellent teacher I had, Enriqueta Coronado. Enriqueta was such an amazing teacher and out of any Spanish learning experiences I've ever had I learned the most from her. Her skills teaching Spanish one-on-one are really effective and she is very patient with you as you practice and learn. My experience at Don Pedro was unique and special because of the care, attention, and support I received from Enriqueta so if you take classes from this school I recommend that you ask for her! You will have a great time. Enjoy!

I just returned from Antigua Guatemala and I studied for 3 weeks at Don Pedro de Alvarado Spanish School. I went there with a very basic level of Spanish, however by the time I returned I could basically understand everything in Spanish and could use most tenses with ease. (If I did the homework I would be at a much higher level). The quality of instruction literally blew my mind, and I was practically in love with my teachers by the end of my three weeks. I studied for 4 hours in the morning, and 4 hours in the afternoon for six days a week, and 4 hours in the morning on Sunday - and never once did I get bored. In the morning my professor was Corina Valle, and in the afternoon my professor was Angela Galindo. They both had the best sense of humor, an infinite amount of patience, and had no problem showing me around Antigua. I laughed so much with Corina, in and out of the school, and she taught me so much about the history of Guatemala. Angela is one of the most pleasant people I have ever met, so very kind. I really felt like I lucked up and got the best two teachers in the school. If you study with either of them you will not be disappointed, in fact when I return next year I am going to request (no demand, lol) the same two professors. I cannot wait to return, they are amazing!!! The school is absolutely wonderful, it was like studying in a garden which always was calm, tranquil, and cool. The lunch on Tuesday's and the dinner on Thursday was so much fun. I literally don't ever dance, but Angela taught me how to salsa, lol. Antigua felt extremely safe, as safe as NYC, and the school is in a wonderful central location next to the beautiful La Merced church. I always get home sick but this was the first time I was actually sad to go back home, for real!!! If you have any questions feel free to email me at bigpip513@aol.com. ~ Brandon NYC.

I have attended this school several times, for at least 1-2 weeks at a time of 4-5 hour classes a day. I LOVE the school and have learned SO much. I started out with Bety, who was excellent at teaching a beginner the basics of the sounds and grammatical structures of the Spanish language. Then, I began learning with Maria Enriqueta Pellecer (Enriqueta) for conversation and grammar. She is an EXCELLENT teacher and I would go back to her any time. Enriqueta is highly intelligent, fun and interesting to talk to about real-world events and is excellent at explaining grammar points, which she knows "inside out". My only wish is that I could study for longer periods of time when I am there! P.S. Caty, the owner and Lety, the manager are wonderful as well. Lety plans fun excursions and keeps everything running smoothly!

Hi! I just wanted to share my experience at Don Pedro school. I studied here for 4 weeks and loved every minute of it. My teacher was Helida who was extremely kind and patient. She was an excellent teacher and catered to my needs. She made sure to do a variety of activities and a balance of grammar, listening, speaking, reading and writing. I really enjoyed the warm friend atmosphere at the school as well as all the extra activities they provide for the students. One of my favorites was the lunch and dinner each week at the school. This gave you an opportunity to meet some of the other students and practice your spanish. I also loved my homestay family. They were also very warm, welcoming and had great patience with my spanish. They were very caring and made sure I had everything I needed. I would highly recommend Don Pedro to anyone who is looking to study spanish. I loved everything about Antigua and the school. :)

My husband and I have studied at many language schools in many countries over the last decade, and Don Pedro is the best one I have ever attended. I have now been there three times, and the quality of the one-on-one instruction is consistently top notch. Request Helida Ordóñez if you want an outstanding instructor. She is organized, patient, warm, and able to adjust the class to just the right level for each student. I recommend her highly and urge all reading here to ask specifically for her to be your teacher when you book your classes. Also, if you do a home stay, request Rene and Zincrid for your family. Their house is comfortable and clean; they spend time helping students; the food there is delicious, and they have hot showers. In sum, you will love Don Pedro, especially if you study with Helida!

I attended Don Pedro in Antigua, Guatemala for 8 weeks about one year ago. I needed to learn Spanish for my job as a deaconess in two bilingual churches and had a short amount of time to learn enough to be able to communicate with Spanish speakers. I had learned some Spanish in high school but I was definitely a beginner when I arrived in Antigua. For 7 of the 8 weeks, I had Miriam Gonzalez for my teacher. I cannot begin to describe just how excellent she is and how much I owe her with how she helped me not only learn but love the Spanish language. Every day we would have conversation in Spanish which is the best way to learn. She was compassionate and determined to help me learn and conquer my fear of speaking Spanish in front of others. After practicing conversation for about 2 hours, she would teach me a grammar lesson for the second half of my morning. After about a month, I finally could start understanding and speaking at a faster level than before. Miriam was very patient and never used English with me which helped my confidence and helped me to learn faster. I definitely recommend Miriam for a teacher because of how much she cares and all of the experience that she has from teaching Spanish. After 8 weeks, I could have lengthy conversations with people in Spanish and could understand a lot of what others told me in Spanish. This school just was so great as well- we had field trips and dinners with salsa dancing every week. So not only did I learn the language but I learned the culture and got to know so many of the teachers, students, and staff! What an awesome summer I had--I want to go back!

I can highly recommend Don Pedro de Alvarado Spanish school. My family of five, with children aged 9,12 and 15 years, had classes for five weeks the Summer of 2013. All family had tremendous benefit from the time at Don Pedro. Teachers were fantastic! Wonderful people. The ambience at school is great and it is run professionally. We felt very welcome and well taken care of by all staff, and the outcome in terms of language is very satisfactory. I would not hesitate to recommend Don Pedro. Excellent for families.

I attended this school for three weeks. My teacher, Ceci, was wonderful. She was a delight to work with. I was a high beginner and she was very good at helping me with learning sentence structure, verb tenses, and vocabulary. She included some fun games to break up the monotony of intense practice. The school setting includes a patio where students and teachers sit for one-on-one lessons. The school hosts a dinner and Salsa dance lessons every Tuesday evening and leads multiple cultural excursions(textile factory, coffee farm, macadamia nut farm). They arranged for my pick-up from the airport and home-stay with an excellent host family. I met students who were returning again to this school because they liked it so much. The location is great and you have easy access to the whole city of Antigua. I will plan to return again and work with Ceci.

I studied for two weeks at Don Pedro. In the luck of the draw, I was assigned Maria Enriqueta Pellicer as my one-to-one teacher. I suspect the other teachers are quite good, but I'm certain that Maria is the "pro" among them. If you go, and you should, do yourself a favor and ask for Maria.

This was one of the best experience of my life. My spanish lessons were top notch and my teacher Enriqueta Pellecer was very competent and refuse to speak english so I was totally immersed in spanish and had to practice and learn. We also did life situations in the city and learn that way. The school is flexible and it is easy to become part of the family. Activities are daily and varied. I would recommend the scholl to everyone who want s to learn spanish

After reading numerous positive reviews for this school I contacted the management about studying at the school and living with a local family for one week- I spoke with the manager several times by phone and even went into the school to meet with her in person once I arrived in Antigua to make sure the school was the right fit for me (I visited 5 other schools as well). Because of the positive reviews I had read online I decided to go with this school. I asked to be placed with an interactive family that would only speak Spanish with me at all times for full immersion, I also requested an experienced teacher who knew about Latin American history, culture, and who would be highly interactive as well. Unfortunately on my first day I was placed in a home that was essentially a hotel, there was NO family living there-- only a single male owner of the home who although nice was more like a hotel manager and immediately began speaking English with me even when I spoke to him in Spanish. I was very surprised as I had specifically emphasized the importance of being placed with the a family for "Spanish Immersion" several times over the phone AND in person. I called the school after realizing the situation and thankfully they immediately switched my accommodations to live with an actual family. I was very surprised that the school overlooked my multiple requests and emphasis on living with a family for Spanish Immersion. It was a terrible oversight. However, the largest oversight was the teacher I was given. Again, I spoke with management several times over the phone and in person about the importance of the type of teacher I needed for my skill level. I was VERY clear and beyond specific about my needs. I had already been studying in several other schools in other parts of Guatemala- Xela (Celas Maya, Utitlan) and in San Juan Lago Atitlan for over 2 months. The teacher I had at Don Pedro de Alvarado was the worst teacher I have had in all my studies in Latin America-- and I have had a total of 5 in different schools/cities in Guatemala and in Ecuador as well. While attending the school, I heard complaints from 2 other students who had my same teacher and either requested to change instructors or were too polite to do so (and this was just in one week). I made a small complaint before one class, and she seemed to be more attentive that day, however the next day it was like I was alone studying a book without a teacher, there was no explanation of anything, aside from what I could read in her handbook. I could have been at home learning Spanish on youtube. It was a huge waste of time and my money!! For the great reputation that the school seems to have online, it's shocking that the level of instruction myself and others received via this teacher was as bad as it was. I would recommend that they put such instructors through a more thorough training program. To be fair, most of the people I met at the school liked their teachers and were quite happy. However, from my experience, I would never return to this school and would not recommend this school to anyone.

This is an ok school. The one on one teaching is great and the garden setting is lovely, especially for students coming from northern climates. The teachers all seem to be very friendly, but of course, some are better and more experienced than others. If you are lucky, you may get one of the best, Maria Enriqueta, or you can ask for her. The website of this school is a little misleading re accommodation description, as it states that "C" level is at or surpasses North American standards. This is far from the reality of the homestays. In some of the homestays, the students do not share meals with the family, so there is not much of an opportunity to practice the language. Also, while the teachers are friendly, the office/administration is not. The owners/admin are not welcoming or friendly with the students. They are invisible except when it is time to pay. An "ok" experience, but next time I may try another school.

An absolutely fantastic school! There was a real desire to see everyone do well and I think this is why I liked the school so much. My teacher, Claudia Muñoz, was absolutely fantastic. She knew I was not one of those that wanted to study the grammar rules, so she found other ways to teach me the grammar so it didn't seem like grammar. I really liked the interaction with all the teachers, their patience with everyone and how they helped me improve the details that I was missing. I only have good things to say about this school, and if you do get a chance to study here be sure to ask for Claudia Muñoz. You will have a great time, but most important is that with Claudia you will really learn because she takes the success of her students seriously.

J'ai étudié dans de nombreuses écoles d´espagnol dans de nombreux pays au cours des 10 dernières années, et je pense qu’Antigua Guatemala est certainement le meilleur endroit pour étudier l´espagnol. Il ya beaucoup de bonnes écoles à Antigua. Mon école préférée est l’école Don Pedro. J'ai choisi cette école pour deux raisons, ils vous demandent de payer a la semaine et ils sont les seuls a offrir la méthode deux professeur un étudiant, six heures par jour, quatre heures dans la matinée avec un enseignant et deux heures l´après midi avec un autre professeur. Avoir deux professeurs différents est une bonne méthode car elle vous permet d´entendre deux voix différentes .Le personnel était très professionnel et ma famille d'accueil était super, ils s´appellent Zincrid et René Pineda . Il existe différentes options de chambre chez l’habitant, j'ai opté pour le plan C, une salle de bains privée, le wifi et une télévision avec le câble dans ma chambre. J'ai payé un peu plus, mais ça valait le coup. La nourriture y était excellente et la famille partageait tous les repas avec nous .Le seul jour où ils ne fournissaient pas de repas c´était le dimanche, mais il y a beaucoup de bons restaurants à Antigua , ce n'était pas un problème . Bon séjour a Antigua. André Marti, n'hésitez pas à me contacter si vous souhaitez plus d'informations : andremarti67@outlook.com

My experience at Don Pedro Spanish School was great! The administrative staff is very professional, flexible, and helpful and I was especially happy with my two teachers; they were wonderful. Thank you Don Pedro Alvarado Spanish School. Claire Marie.

I spent great 2 weeks starting in February 2014 at Don Pedro. My Spanish improved thanks to the special talents and patience of Helida Ordonez. She was my 4/hour/day teacher, and I highly recommend her. Signing on for an extra 2/hours/day for the second week and being diligent about doing homework every day also contributed to my learning. The friendly staff, garden setting of the school, and afternoon activities were all an added bonus.

Hello! I am Silvia and I studied three weeks at Don Pedro de Alvarado Spanish School, Antigua Guatemala.... it was a great experience and my teacher Claudia was wonderful - I learnt a lot but also laughed a lot! great atmosphere and very kind and helpful staff - including Lety and all other teachers! would greatly recommend it!

I studied here for two weeks. I’ve attended seven different Spanish schools in Guatemala and Mexico over the years and this one is the best. The classes are held outside around a small courtyard, next to La Merced Church. Students sit at small tables with their teachers. My needs were very specific, as I’d studied Spanish before, but need some review and lots of help with my pronunciation. My teacher, Helida Ordoñez very quickly picked up my needs and proceeded to review the needed materials. She was very professional, patient, as well as friendly, with a great sense of humour, which made learning a multitude of verbs much easier. In addition, Helida helped me with my desperately needed pronunciation. This is very important, as some of my problems came from previous teachers who failed to do this. In language learning, once you learn the wrong pronunciation, it’s much harder to correct. After two weeks I noticed a big difference in my ability to talk, be understood and to understand Spanish. I highly recommend Helida. She is truly an excellent teacher and I don’t say this lightly as I’m a very experienced English as a second language teacher myself. Beyond the classes, the atmosphere in the school is great. There are field trips regularly to different sites, fincas (farms) and other places of interest around Antigua. Unlike any other school I’ve been in, they had one lunch and one dinner every week, complete with salsa lessons, dancing and drinks, including rum and tequila. These were lots of fun, as was socializing with the other students and teachers.

J'ai suivi des cours d'espagnol à l'école Don Pedro à l'été 2014. La cour intérieure est un magnifique endroit pour apprendre l'espagnol. Les activités offertes par l'école sont bien organisées et nous permettent de mieux connaître la ville d'Antigua et les environs. J'ai beaucoup apprécié ma professeur Maria Enriqueta . Ses cours sont bien structurés, sa méthode d'enseignement est claire et elle a su s'adapter à mon niveau. Maria est une professeure à l'écoute avec une belle personnalité et je la recommande fortement. In summer 2014, I studied Spanish in Don Pedro School. The interior courtyard is gorgeous and the activities organized by the school are well organised and interesting. I really appreciated my teacher Maria Enriqueta. Her classes are well structured, and the way she teaches makes it easy to understand. She was able to adapt to my level and I learned a lot! Maria is a great teacher and I highly recommend her.

1 on 1 teaching was amazing. Learned more in 5 weeks than I ever expected. Staff was very friendly and planned lots of fun events. Homestay was a but outside the central part of town but the family was great. Highly recommend!

I am currently completing a seven-week stay in Antigua where I studied at Don Pedro daily and lived with a host family. This is my fifth time studying at Don Pedro, and I have been to language schools all over Latin America and also in Spain. Truly, Don Pedro is the best of the best. The school provides one-on-one instruction in a garden setting. There is no pressure and no entrance exam; instead, teachers get to know you and develop a program to fit your needs and your desires. Instruction is individualized in the most positive fashion. Furthermore, should you wish to change teachers, change your host family, or adjust your class schedule, there is no problem doing so. The school desires to create a positive environment where true learning takes place. I have studied with many of the teachers in the school, but I must say that I find Helida and Claudia to be the strongest. Both have unending patience! Helida comes to every class with a sensible lesson plan, but she also includes lots of time for conversation. She is warm and caring, and a great conversationalist. Claudia is skilled, smart, and funny, and like Helida, provides clear instruction every day. Both of these maestras really listen, and will work with you to create the class you desire. I urge you to request Helida or Claudia as your instructor when you register with the school. Concerning home stays, you should request Rene and Zincrid, who provide a wonderful family-centered home stay. The food is great, there is hot water, you will have a clean and comfortable room,with Wifi, and Zincrid will even do your laundry (for a small fee). You will love this family and the home they have created. It is a lively household with two adorable kids, and the family really interacts with students. In some home stays, one finds that the family remains distant, with minimal food and even less interaction; they are taking in students to supplement their income. That is clearly not the case with Rene and Zincrid; they become friends with their students and the return rate for students in their home is very high. So, take it from me, a university professor (and master teacher) who has spent years traveling and studying Spanish: Don Pedro is a very strong school; Helida and Claudia are great Spanish teachers, and Rene & Zincrid provide a top notch home stay.

Assets: library of Spanic grammar books and garden like atmosphere with food (for extra price!) Available Cons: Disappointing homestay placements and varying quality of teachers. Felt as if my teacher was bored snd not focusing on teaching me. At the home of Ana de Santiz the cook and maids were the family and ofcourse more interested in completing thier job than interacting with you. Family never ate dinner with you and there were 7 other guests staying at the house basically a mini hotel where practicing spanish was not easy. The food provided became progressively worse throughout the week and was not provided Saturday night even though that was included in the fees. There a less expensive Spanish schools with better quality home stays...go find time..latino Spsnish school etc.

My husband and I have studied Spanish all over Latin America and Spain for over a decade, and we agree that Don Pedro is the best school we have encountered. One-on-one instruction in a beautiful garden, along with skilled teachers and lots of activities, make the school a great value. We have now been to Don Pedro six times over the last four years, and we have studied with many of the teachers; we have never been disappointed. Our home stays, with Rene and Zincrid, are comfortable while offering a great family experience. Rene speaks five languages, so in a pinch you can speak your first language with him, but the family really works hard to provide a full immersion experience, with Spanish spoken all the time. The house is clean, bright, and lively, and the family interacts with students every day. The teachers have boundless patience and will meet you where you are in your study of Spanish, creating a plan that fits your level and desires. I especially enjoy studying with Helida and Claudia, and my husband enjoys studying with Maria Enriqueta and Elena. The school also provides various meals throughout the week to help students become acquainted with each other, and the Thursday night dinner party is not to be missed. In addition, the school has begun a project to aid local children with their educations, and there are two meals provided free each week to help students engage with those local kids. (We are invited to donate to the cause after the meal, but the donations are voluntary and all the money goes to the kids' project.) All in all, Don Pedro provides professional service and always goes the extra mile to make your visit a great one. Don't hesitate to ask for a family or teacher by name, and come prepared to learn a great deal during your stay!

I found the Don Pedro de Alvarado Spanish School, based in Antigua Guatemala, through the website www.123teachme.com, and I have had no regrets! And now it is without hesitation that I recommend this school. The classes are held in a beautiful and inspiring garden. My teachers, Lety and Rosa, quickly adapted to my pace and learning style. I studied with Lety for four hours in the morning and with Rosa for two hours each afternoon. I am glad that I opted to study for six hours per day because the intensive study sharpened my Spanish skills very quickly. The atmosphere in the school is relaxed and friendly. Don't miss the meals prepared by Caty, the Director, and her staff on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with salsa and merengue lessons given as a part of the all-school fiestas. An important part of my enjoyment of the trip was my wonderful host family, Delia and Venicio. They were adorable! Living with them allowed me to learn a lot more about the real, day to day lives of ordinary Guatemalans. In addition, it gave me a further opportunity to practice my Spanish.

I had the pleasure of attending Don Pedro de Alvarado for six weeks. I began knowing very little spanish. I studied six hours a day and after my time at the school I feel I've learned so much from my two teachers, Corina Valle and Osbilda Santos. They are both amazing teachers. Along with necessary grammar lessons, my teachers always found engaging ways to teach me. Their various tactics all related my lessons to topics I was interested in. I was lucky to have them as teachers. The school has a very strong feeling of community; everyone is very friendly and inviting. The activities the school offered were always intersting and a joy to participate in. They were extremely accommodating to any changes I needed to make , as well as made sure my home stay (which I also recommend doing) was always to my liking. This is a wonderful school, I highly recommend it to anyone.

I had the immense fortune of spending 3 fantastic weeks in Antigua with the wonderful people at Don Pedro de Alvarado. While everyone was incredibly welcoming, helpful and fun, I can particularly recommend the 2 teachers I spent the majority of my time with. In the morning I would study for 4 hours with the beautiful Dalia. I cannot say enough wonderful things about her. She is a patient and helpful teacher who helped me advance far faster than I ever expected to, an amazing person, and now I am so lucky to have her as a cherished friend. I miss her so much! She was the perfect teacher to both practice grammar exercises with (she can explain everything so clearly!) and also just to converse in Spanish with. She is so easy to be around and was such a ray of sunshine in my mornings (I am terrible at mornings). She also organizes the daily activities, and she is so fun and knowledgeable about all the places she shows students. Rosie was my afternoon teacher from 2-4pm. I don’t know if I have ever met a wiser person in my whole life! I honestly think she knows everything there is to know. At first I was very uncomfortable at the thought of trying to speak Spanish for 2 hours as my level was so incredibly basic, but Rosie immediately put me at ease and I was not afraid to try or to make mistakes. She is truly a lovely individual. Both of my teachers knew just how to push me and were so great about going for walks with me when my brain couldn’t handle any more information. I really recommend walking around the city with your teachers - Not only is it a great way to practice talking as you see so many new things, but you also get to see many beautiful parts of the city that you wouldn’t find otherwise. The school itself is beautiful. Lovely garden and lovely staff that are always cheerful and friendly. I so miss the Thursday night dinner and fiestas, as all of the teachers and support staff were so fun! I can also not say enough wonderful things about the host family I stayed with – Teddy (Eduardo technically) and Astrid. They made me feel so welcome and I had so much fun with them and their 2 kids. Anyone who stays with them is incredibly lucky. I cannot wait to return to Don Pedro and I can say without a doubt that I will. I hope you choose this school and have the same life changing experience I did!

I studied at the Don Pedro de Alvarado Spanish School for 3 weeks and learned more than I had in several years of class in the US. My instructors, Angela Galindo and Corinna Valle, had well thought out lesson plans to bring me from a very basic level to understanding and speaking at a high capacity. These teachers in particular were very fun! They made, potentially arduous, four-hour Spanish sessions light and fun. We spent much of the time telling stories and sharing about each other’s cultures, and learning Spanish all the while. The atmosphere in the school was great, all the staff and other students were friendly and excited to help with the learning process. The home stay that the school put together could not have been better, the family we stayed with took care of all our needs and were excited to get to know us and talk about their country. Every expectation I had about the school and the experience in general was completely blown away, I had an amazing time and am now able to understand and speak Spanish with people in my community in the US. I highly recommend this school if you want to devote the time to learn the language.

I just returned from a month-long trip to Guatemala, where I studied at the Don Pedro de Alvarado Spanish School in Antigua. I had a truly wonderful experience and learned so, so much. Everyone at the school was welcoming and reliable. The school itself is not, perhaps, as "new" as some other locations may be. But it is clean and bright; the garden setting makes long hours of studying much more enjoyable. And the staff do a wonderful job of creating a sense of community among the students - with activities, shared meals, and dancing. I absolutely LOVED my teachers. Every morning I studied for four hours with Enriqueta Pellecer. I am learning Spanish as part of my job as a lawyer, and I needed to quickly build skills that would allow me to talk with Spanish-speaking clients about their legal issues. With Enriqueta I moved quickly through many points of grammar; her explanations and drills were clear and useful. She was also very patient with my mistakes! I was really surprised at how much I learned with Enriqueta in a short space of time. Enriqueta was very willing to tailor the lessons to what I needed - for example, we spent the last few days of my classes translating documents I frequently use in my work, so that I could review them with clients. In the afternoon I had two hours of conversation practice with Lhena Juarez. The exercises we did built clearly on whatever I had learned that morning - and we had so many interesting conversations about law, politics, history, culture... of Guatemala and of the United States. I also really enjoyed staying with my host family - Rene and Zincrid were very welcoming, looked out for me when I got sick, and helped me, and the other students in the house, practice Spanish at meal times. Their house is full of music (they are musicians) and energy - and can be chaotic at times, but I loved it. I will definitely return to Antigua and Don Pedro in the future to continue my learning.

I studied here for three weeks in December 2016. I had the same teacher the whole time for 4 hours every morning, Maria Enriqueta. She was excellent; she listened to what I wanted and did exactly that. I've studied at 8 other language schools, and that ability in a teacher is quite rare. She was kind, smart, and good natured. By the end, we both felt like we'd become friends. I'd come back to the school just to work with her again. For my afternoon classes, I changed teachers several times just for variety. Claudia and Gladys were both very good. However, I had one teacher, Elizabeth (Betty) who was not so great. We were supposed to practice conversation, but she was not a good conversationalist, so that was a problem. She didn't seem at all interested in me, nor did she listen to what I said. She liked to lecture at me and she was really boring. After a couple of days, I asked for a different teacher and the director complied very quickly and professionally. I didn't complain about Betty or give any details the problem; I just said we didn't click and I wanted someone else. However, when I saw her at the school afterwards, she was rude to me. This is not acceptable. Other than that, I was happy with the school. The facilities are shabby and run down, even considering that Guatemala is not a wealthy country. None of the other 8 schools I've been to have had such bad facilities and they also have all been in developing countries. It appears that the school has no resources for the teachers to use and the teachers have to pay for any copies to use in class out of their own pocket. This also is very different from other schools I've attended. I think the school should support the teachers better. The school provides several meals every week for all the students and teachers, so that is a good socializing opportunity and I got to know more students there than I usually do at other schools. I only went on a couple of the afternoon activities and they were fine. We toured a famous local house and the tour was in English, which surprised and disappointed me, the guide wouldn't even speak Spanish to me when I addressed her in it, but otherwise it was fun.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Don Pedro de Alvarado. The school is beautiful and close to everything in Antigua. The teachers and staff were wonderful, patient, and caring. I studied 6 hours a day with Dalia in the morning and Wendy in the afternoon and the time flew by. I highly recommend them both. Not only did they teach me Spanish but they also helped me get acclimated to a totally different culture. My home stay was with Margoth who owns a panaderia. Despite a language barrier, she and her family made me feel at home. The food was wonderful and they were a tremendous help with my Spanish. I highly recommend Don Pedro de Alvarado Spanish School, in fact I hope to return next summer for a longer stay.