| |
| Address |
BioItzá Eco-Cultural Spanish School
Barrio El Progreso, San José
Petén
(+502)-7928-8056; (+502)-4882-2107
|
Registration
Write to the school
Location Map
|
| Rank |
77% |
| Prices |
160 USD for 20
hours per week including host family
100 USD for 20 hours per week without host family
Study one hour daily more or less: add or subtract about USD 10 per week.
|
| School Size |
2 - 25 students |
| Openings |
This school currently has openings! |
| Summary |
This school is located in a welcoming and tranquil community named San Jose, on the shores of Lake Petén Itzá in Petén. The School was created as a project of the Itzá Biosphere, a communal forest reserve of 36 Square kilometers, located, northeast of San José. As a non-profit organization, it is working for the conservation of the Itzá Culture and the local environment. The school protects a rainforest reserve and you can partake in conservation activities.
Profits of the school helps support the conservation of the Itzá Biosphere.
Maximum of two students per host family! There are special discounts for students that stay longer than five weeks. From March to May/June, it is the hottest time of the year in the area.
Founded in 1991, as a non-profit association.
Total immersion in San José; excellent conditions to learn Spanish, because there are not many tourists! |
| Registration |
It is recommendable to enroll at least two weeks in advance; earlier, if you are coming during a high season like, end and beginning of year and summer, to allow time for arrangements. If you study 2 weeks or more, you get a free tour to the BioItzá Community Reserve for one day.
You also have the option of studying in the BioItzá reserve, the cost is $215 per week. |
With a timely registration, the school can assign you the best teacher from its list. (Contact us for group discounts). |
|
|
| Teachers |
There are 18 teachers with a normal standard, and earn about $40 per week. To recognize your accomplishments, you will be given a certificate at the end of your session.
See details for recommended instructors!
[Show Details] |
|
School's specific Information:
Teachers got a quite formal training by experts from Quetzaltenango and had to pass an exam before they were employed by the school. For such a remote town they earn a good salary. They also receive a tourist guide training.
Some good teachers have been wandering off into the big administrative body of the school. Some teachers teach a rudimentary Maya Itzá, but they are not really native speakers, since this is nearly, an extinct language. Every two weeks teachers and families meet to discuss their work.
Recommended teachers: Marisol. |
General Information:
Spanish language teachers in Guatemala are mostly young people like University students who do this job for very little salary (US$30-$60 per week) and are trying to continue their education. Teachers in our recommended schools have undergone a formal training and know how to make students enjoy learning. By enrolling in advance, you are likely to get a better teacher. This holds especially true during high season.
If you are not happy with your assigned teacher, don’t hesitate to ask the director for another teacher. How to get a good teacher.
|
| Methods |
This school employs the effective one-on-one teaching method, which has been proven to be very helpful in the students' rapid progress in the learning of the Spanish language. The curriculum is the similar as in most schools.
Students also have the opportunity to learn Spanish in an exceptional situation with direct contact with nature, where only the birds songs is heard in the tranquility, peace and ecological harmony in the BioItzá reserve.
[Show Details] |
|
School's specific Information:
First, students pass a very detailed exam in order to determine their status. They can opt as to their learning preferences. Also, they get a half hour insider′s tour to San José. The average day starts at 8:00 revising homework. Then the subjects of the previous day are revised. Then the new grammar is explained and practiced. After coffee break, you converse about the interesting history of Petén, go for a walk, or return to grammar. Then you play a game like scrabble in order to practice in an entertaining way.
|
General Information:
Spanish Schools in Guatemala promote the most effective 'one student one teacher' method. You spend your time talking and listening with your own personal teacher. This is why Guatemalan schools are probably unmatched in the world. Go to a good school, and get the grammar right, too.
A typical school day:
8:00 to 10:00 Grammar and exercises
10:00 –30 -minute break for coffee, tea, and socializing with teachers and other students
10:30 to 12:00 - Conversation, pronunciation, reading comprehension
After 12:00 - lunch with your host family
Afternoons: previously scheduled activities and homework
(See your curriculum of learning Spanish)
Most schools offer a diploma stating the amount of time studied and the level of Spanish attained (minimum of two weeks).
See more information about diplomas and university credits.
|
| Materials |
No official textbook but verb and exercise lists. Teachers develop their own materials. Small library, no video library.
[Show Details] |
|
School's specific Information:
There are blackboards, dictionaries, and the student receives well structured exercise material. Also, the school has several board games and a library. The founders of the school edited a textbook for Maya Itzá Language.
|
General Information:
At most Spanish schools in Guatemala, teachers write examples and grammar on paper; at others, blackboards are used. And at some, students receive a notebook for their own use. Teachers generally have to supply their own teaching materials. The most widespread book is AMSCO “Spanish Three Years” (Nassi, Levy), a very helpful grammar and exercise book in three levels, written in Spanish and English. A few schools have good libraries, video collections, and many have board games like Scrabble and others, to make teaching more entertaining.
If you are not an English speaker, you may want to bring grammar- and exercise books in your language. In any case a good and small dictionary is very helpful for homework.
(See recommendations on good Spanish Textbooks.)
|
| Special Programs |
Childrens´ program: There is a lot of space for children, a garden, and San José certainly is a safe place.
[Show Details] |
|
School's specific Information:
The school has a special program to take care of children, and there are also, families with children for families that bring their children, so they can interact with them. |
General Information:
Special Programs are available for medical students and nurses, lawyers, missionaries and business people. You study Spanish as any other student, but with emphasis on the vocabulary of your profession or interest. Schools also get you in contact with Guatemalan professionals of your field and organize practical courses upon request.
A few schools have good programs for children. Guatemala365.com recommends schools in safe places and with a garden or ample cubicles. This way the children feel free to play while learning.
|
| Location |
The school is located on a hill near the shores of Lake Petén Itzá. Study area consists in a hall and a patio-garden. No kitchen.
[Show Details] |
|
School's specific Information:
San José is a beautiful little and tranquil town at the tropical lake of Peten-Itzá near Flores in Petén. It may be the cleanest and safest spot in Guatemala since the long time mayor asphalted roads, built schools, a big town hall, and created work. The school oversees the lake, catching fresh breezes. It consists of a well ventilated study area, a medical plant garden, and the shampoo manufacture. Student teacher teams share a hall or the garden to study. |
General Information:
Many schools have big halls or patios in a pleasant environment, with tables that seat two. You can often hear teacher-student conversations from nearby tables. Some schools have separate cubicles for each teacher – student team. Most schools have small patios or gardens to relax and get to know each other at break time. Some schools also have a cafeteria or even kitchens where students and teachers meet to cook local or food from their home countries.
|
| Activities |
After school activities include, cooking typical food of the area, typical embroidery, presentation on the natural, medicinal plant products of the Itzá, tour to the medicinal plant garden, among others. Additionally, there are organized weekend trips to visit archeological sites and tour the Chicle (gum) trail among many others.
[Show Details]
|
|
School's specific Information:
There are different activities from Monday through Thursday, between 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm, that includes: learn to weave baskets, make necklaces with tropical seeds, learn how to prepare local foods (e.g. mushroom pie), visit the medical plant garden, take classes in Maya Itzá language, make shampoo of aloe, mahogany etc.
Every Friday there is a guided tour to one of these destinations: the schools rainforest, Mo′tul Maya Archeological site, Petencito Zoological Garden, caves, Cerro Cahuí Reserve, and an NGO for reintroduction of endangered species, etc..
|
General Information:
During afternoons, a school staff member takes you to the most beautiful places, interesting projects and Maya traditions of the
area, where you have the opportunity to practice your newly learned Spanish and get to know teachers and other students. These activities make your stay a real holiday. Some activities like weekend trips have an additional cost.
Note: small schools have fewer activities during low season.
|
| Host Families |
Families earn about $45 per week. Student′s reports about host families are mostly good. Most families are welcoming and prepared to take care of tourists of all parts of the world as far as preparation of meals.
[Show Details] |
|
School's specific Information:
The school has 16 families. They sustain a very charming small town atmosphere. Bio-Itzá grants families credits in order to improve service. Students have well ventilated little compartments with locks, and there are hot water showers in every home. |
General Information:
Generally host families provide each student with their own private little room and three meals a day/six days a week. On Sundays, most families provide no meals. There is nearly always hot water and electricity. It is recommended that you bring your own towels, soap, shampoo and other personal care from your country or you can buy it here. Your host parents help you with any problems and encourage you to talk Spanish. It is pretty interesting to see how people live in Guatemala.
A word on food:
By looking at what families earn at different schools you can assess the quantity of food given. The range is from US$30 to $85 per week. If you are in a $35 host family, please do not complain about beans every day. Just eat out now and then.
If you do not want to stay in a host family, we recommend you to visit www.guatemalastory.com for a list of good hotels in Guatemala City, Antigua, Atitlan, etc.
|
| Volunteering |
You can volunteer in the BioItzá medicinal plants garden located on the outskirts of San José and a processing center, where they manufacture varieties of soaps, shampoos, lotions, cough syrup, pills for diabetes and tea from plant ingredients. This project is managed by a group of local women.
[Show Details] |
|
School's specific Information:
This school has very serious own projects. One is the 36 square kilometre rainforest reserve. It is full of Maya ruins, and it has been a real effort to preserve it. San José′s mayor wanted to distribute the reserve among his followers, and it took a long local conflict to finally attain protected area status. In 1998, a fire destructed half of the reserve. The school pays for three wardens who monitor the forest and for an agricultural program for neighbouring settlers. Volunteers can work helping the wardens to monitor the rainforest reserve.
There are also projects which benefit the member families of Asociación Bio-Itzá, like the shampoo manufacture. Volunteers can work weeding the medical plant garden or in the shampoo and soap manufacture. |
General Information:
Most schools have only loose contact to volunteer social projects or have only poor projects on their own.
If you want to volunteer, it is best to rely on PMG (Antigua, Rio Dulce and Cobán), or Entremundos (Quetzaltenango) or other non profit organizations in order to find an organization that suits students' interests.
More information on volunteering and jobs in Guatemala.
|
| Airport Pick-Up Service |
For an affordable fee, Bio-Itzá school fetches you from the International Airport in Santa Elena, Petén. Please call before leaving Guatemala City or upon arrival to Peten!
[Show Details]
|
|
School's specific Information:
The school can arrange to pick you up at the international airport in Santa Elena. Please call the school and provide your flight details. |
General Information:
If you don?t want to worry about closed banks on the airport, late night hotel search or unsafe zones of Guatemala City, take advantage of the airport pickup service of your school.
For hotels in Guatemala City please see www.guatemalastory.com.
|
How to get there 
|
Send yourself an e-mail with information on how to get to BioItzá Eco-Cultural Spanish School.
You can get to Peten by airplane or you can take a long bus journey thru the verapaces or the caribean.
|
Rebecca Glaser
RebeccaH.Glaser@gmail.com
01 / 2009 |
Hello, we decided to go to Escuela de Espańol Bio-Itzá in San Jose, Petén. We studied for 1 week there. Both our instructors were ok, nothing to write about. Study resources were poor. Our host family was AWESOME! the mom′s name was Lola, A+++. The school was just ok. Thank you, Philip. |
Alexis Steinman
12 / 2007 |
I decided to study at Escuela de Espańol Bio-Itza in Peten. I studied for 2 weeks. My teacher Marisol, was amazing. Study materials were good, we used flashcards and Spanish magazines, but mostly talked & lectured. My host family was great. I give the school a 100%. Actually, this school is rated the lowest on your website, which is sad because I had such an excellent experience. Though, I liked the layout of guatemala365, I found the rating system inaccurate because my school was superb. |
Peter Bolitho
11 / 2007 |
Hi, I chose the Bio-Itza Spanish School at San Jose, Peten. I studied there for 4 weeks. I had an excellent teacher, study materials were a bit basic but being one on one teaching, it was mostly verbal teaching and a whiteboard which was more than adequate. The host family was very good. On reflection for the length of time there (4 weeks) I should of have asked for change of teacher and host family at 2 weeks to get variety and experience with other Spanish teacher/speakers. Cheers, Peter. |
Brian Johnson
bigbry@u.washington.edu
01 / 2006 |
Escuela de Espanol Bio Itza: My teachers: first one so-so, second one, good. The teachers don′t have in-depth training in grammar, so advanced students may be limited. The activities superb. The family superb, the community was dynamite. Very few students so the town was very friendly and easy to meet people. |
Valérie Meunier
vmeunier@sympatico.ca
07 / 2005 |
The name of the school is Escuela de Espańol Bio Itzá at San José in the region of Petén (near Flores), northern Guatemala. It was great!!! I really enjoyed the village and the people from the school. I took 5 days a week and stayed in a family. The school is a non profit organisation and is run by Mayas from the village of San José. All the money raised by the school goes to protect the forest and to promote the Mayan culture. There are nice little activities, organised by the school to visit surroundings and to know more about Mayan culture. The family I stayed with was nice, but I felt like they were just waiting for money and no more. This is the only bad thing I can say about the school. But the other girl I was studying with really liked her family, I guess I was unlucky!!! I studied two weeks in total and my teacher was really helpful. The classes are adapted to your needs and basically, the students decide how they want there classes to be organised during the stay. That′s about it!!! If you have more questions, don′t hesitate!!!! Take care! |
Ethan Freid
ethan@ut.edu
05 / 2005 |
I went to Escuela de Espańol Bio Itzá in San Jose on Lake Petén. It was an awesome experience. Great school. Excellent teacher. The family was also great, very nice and helpful. I went for two weeks and took ten days of classes. I wish I could have stayed longer and learned even more. |
Sue Amos
sue@sueamos.freeserve.co.uk
03 / 2005 |
Had a nice week at Escuela Bio Itza in San Jose. as a beginner, i thought teachers were fine, but i don´t think i´d recommend anyone too advanced . the teacher i had was lovely, but just taught out the book, which had some huge mistakes in it. Having said that, i did learn lots of spanish in my week, but I had to make sure i got to speak and understand, as the teacher wasn´t so bothered and just wanted to move on to the next grammatical rule. No real activities- in fact the only real activity we did was to go to their reserve, but in class time, not after. i don´t really count basket weaving as an ´activity´, as the demonstrator did most of it. In all, nice well meaning people, but they need to get out and see what other schools are doing. it wasn´t the cheapest school, but nice surroundings. |
Roger Cantrell
dayindaout@yahoo.com
07 / 2004 |
Escuela de Espanol Bio Itza in San Jose,1 week very good great service - Thanks I will try to send more later. |
Sara Tyler
sara_minx @hotmail.com
07 / 2004 |
2nd school was Escuela de Espanol Bio Itza at San Jose, 1 week. Similar small school, young teacher was a little inexperienced I felt, but very nice, gave me a leaving present! Also a pleasant learning environment. Family less friendly although the food was great. I did tell the school at the time that the family were less welcoming, I ate with the mother at a table while all children ate in kitchen. all the other 5 or students i met while there were very happy with their families, think i was a little unlucky. Also I my Spanish was very slow, it was difficult to communicate & the children just didn′t bother. With a better speaker, I think it would have been easier.The village itself was nicer than the other, with a pretty lakeside area, more little shops, very clean. Frequent swims in the lake. Some bars & nightlife here. similar afternoon activities. I would have been very happy to spend longer there & would recommend it as before to someone who is confident & able to be adaptable. Hope this all helps you!! Use any part of it you like! I found 365 very useful, and honest. |
Christine Schmoz
05 / 2004 |
I studied 2 weeks in Escuela de Espańol San José, at the lake close to Flores. The school is named Bio-Itza, the family was awsome, but the teachers are not that good. But for studying it is okay, there are not many tourists there. |
Atieno Fisher
04 / 2004 |
Escuela de Español Bio-Itza is good - the lake is the best in the country, so pure, but watch out that you get a good teacher, I had sore luck there. I had a room with a view though and a very attentive "mother". |
Anita Pearson
05 / 2003 |
Thank you for the information your site provides, we found it very useful when trying to decide which school we wanted to go to.
We attended the Bio-Itzá School in San Jose, Petén and would fully recommend it to any other students. Please feel free to add the following comments to your website.
The Bio-Itzá school is very professional. Our Español improved in leaps and bounds. I had virtually no Español before coming to San Jose but they were able to target lessons to my abilities. After three weeks I was able to converse with my family reasonably well! Living with a local family was great and an opportunity to cherish.
As San Jose is quite small the only other foreigners we met were other students, so there were plenty of opportunities to practice Español. However San Jose is only 40 minutes by bus from Flores and Santa Elena, so access to email and other facilities are close at hand.
San Jose was an amazing place to stay in. As a small town it was very welcoming, clean and tranquil. Our afternoon activities included swimming in the lake which is was a welcome relieve from the heat! We were lucky to be in the town for the local fiesta in mid-March.
It is also heart-warming to know that you are attending a school which is a community based project. Therefore you are assisting the community. |
Maline D. Werness
07 / 2002 |
I am just writing to let you know that I greatly enjoyed my trip to the Bio-itzá school in San José. I stayed for four weeks and was able to brush up on my Spanish. I also really liked San José generally, slow paced, which was just what I wanted. It also gave me the opportunity to visit sites on the weekends, which, since I am a graduate student in Maya art history, was very important to me. Everyone was very nice and helpful.
It is hot in the Petén, but if you are used to weather in Texas, for example, it is not so bad. In fact, I don′t think it is quite as hot temperature wise in the Petén (compared with Texas), although the humidity is probably higher. In my experience, the heat didn′t affect me when I was sitting down taking my classes, only when I was out walking about. And drinking lots of water helps of course. While I was there (during the rainy season) it usually rained at least 3 or 4 times a week, although mostly in the evenings, so that it cooled things down without being a real inconvenience. There were a couple of days during my four weeks there that it rained during the day, but as long as you have a raincoat, you′re okay for the most part.
I didn′t get to make any soap, but I did go to the medicinal garden, which is something else. One of the women walked around with us, pointing out plants and telling us what they could be used for, some were of particular interest, ones that helped with mosquito bites, for example:) It is perhaps true that this interested me much more than the average visitor--I am going to be taking a class at grad. school concerning ethno botany and the ancient Maya this next semester. They also have the bio-reserve, which I was not able to visit, unfortunately, because the road you need to use to get there is a dirt road and the rains made it impassable by vehicle and it was too far away to take horses. My friend stayed a couple of weeks longer than I did and he tells me that the reserve is magnificent. I also forgot to mention the lake. It is absolutely gorgeous and almost every night you can see these amazing sunsets! Near San José it is safe to swim, although I hear you don′t want to swim near Flores due to contamination. The water is luke warm and very pleasant.
There is also a very small archaeological site near San José called Motul de San José. The monticulos have yet to be excavated, but there are some you can go up and there are stela... Since the site is so close, it is definitely worth a visit even for non-art historians/archaeologists/anthropologists... (you need a guide and it′s a bit of a walk, but you can rent ponies, or a car possibly). Flores/San Benito/Santa Elena are close as well (1/2 hour to 1 hour bus ride) which can be convenient, you can get internet connections there, laundry, go to the market, eat at a restaurant, or get a room and take a hot shower if you are so inclined....
So that′s all I can think of at the moment, if there′s anything else, just let me know. |
|
|
