Location: The Santa Ana Campus is located on a hilltop about 10 miles west of San Jose.

 

School Size: Conversa's Santa Ana campus includes 30 classrooms.  The maximum capacity is about 120 students.

 

Class Size: Groups are arranged in homogeneous structures where students are close to the same age and have tested into the same level. There are never more than 4 students per class.

 

Timing: The peak season tends to be the summer time when most students are available to register. If you would like to study at Conversa in the summer, it is best to register as early as possible. Please note that Costa Rica has 2 main seasons, the wet season, which is from May through January and the dry season, which is from about February through April.

 

Start Dates: Classes begin on any Monday of the year unless it falls on a holiday.

 

Holidays: Classes will not be held or made up for the following holidays: January 1, April 11, Easter Thursday and Friday, May 1, July 25, August 15, September 15, October 12 and December 25.

 

Duration: Classes run in weekly increments from Monday through Friday. Students start class at 8:30 a.m. and continue with two 2-hour blocks with a 30 minute break in between each block.  In the case of the super intensive program, students come back after lunch for anther 1.5 hours of class

 

Content: Conversa bases its methodology along the Peace Corps language training guidelines.  All courses are conversational, regardless of the level and topics being covered.  This means that even if a student is focusing on one subject, such as grammar, the entire class takes place in a conversational setting.  Because there are never more than 4 people per class, this allows for constant participation on everyone's part, further focusing on conversation.  Topics of discussion are usually driven by student interests with the teacher guiding the conversation to utilize material covered earlier that day.

 

Books: Books were created using several different sources by the Conversa Language School to fit the specific teaching needs of the school's curriculum

 

Homework: Homework is assigned and takes approximately 45 minutes to complete.

Schools Features: Conversa's Santa Ana campus includes a dining hall, a lounge, twenty-five classrooms (twenty indoors and five outdoors), two lodges, a fifty-foot long swimming pool, a volleyball court, a basketball court, a tennis backboard, ping-pong tables, a bathhouse (solar heated showers), two meeting rooms (T.V. and VCR), and lots of hammocks. The views from the campus are spectacular. There are tropical fruits in abundance and very fresh air.

 

College Credit: Academic credit is available through Miami-Dade Community College, and Truman State University. For more information about academic credit through Conversa, please click here. 

  

Excursions/Activities The school offers weekly lectures on verb tenses (delivered by the director), weekly Latin dance classes, and weekly short field trips into and around the San Jose area to view museums and various other sites.  These field trips involve a whole class, along with the teacher, traveling together as an informal class session incorporating culture.

 

Additional Programs: The Children's Program is limited to children (6-10 years old) whose parents are enrolled at Conversa and includes housing with a Costa Rican host-family. Each program is tailored to the child's age and language proficiency.

These programs are taught by experienced instructors and include two hours per morning of formal classroom instruction and two hours or supervised recreational activities entirely in Spanish. These activities may include coloring, puzzles, games, videos, or sports.

Accommodations: Students have the option to stay with a host family, in the on-campus lodges, in a hotel, or an apart-hotel. Those who opt to stay with host families in Santa Ana will be provided breakfast and dinner every day, laundry service, and transportation to and from campus everyday. Those who stay in the lodges will be provided with breakfast and dinner as well as laundry service. There are two options in regards to the Santa Ana lodges: The first is "La Casona", an attractive lodge with six bedrooms, each with a private bathroom. It also boasts a large dining room, two lounges, a reading/study area and kitchen. The second is "La Casita", a smaller lodge made up of two family suites, each with its own bathroom. There is also a shared kitchen and lounge. Both lodges have balconies with spectacular views overlooking the Santa Ana Valley. Click here for more information about Santa Ana's on-campus lodges.

 

Day care: Conversa provides on campus day care for families with children under six years of age.  The charge for these services is $100 per week. Students who require daycare for their children ages 7 and up should contact us to find out about the options available to them as they vary depending on the size of the family and the age of the children.