(Panamá | Panama )

Habla Ya Spanish Schools

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Boquete, Bocas del Toro & Panama City , Panamá (view map)
94% (32 reviews)
      

About Habla Ya Spanish Schools

Habla Ya is Panama's premier network of Spanish schools with campuses in Boquete (Pacific mountains), Bocas del Toro (Caribbean beaches) and in Panama City.

With Habla Ya you'll not only learn Spanish and meet people from all over the world: you'll LIVE a once in a lifetime experience taking back home unforgettable memories of one of the most incredible language travel vacations that you could have ever imagined!

And you can also volunteer to help others while learning Spanish too...

Featured in the BBC Travel Show, The New York Times, The Study Travel Magazine, all major guide books from The Lonely Planet and Frommer's to Moon Travel, as well as numerous travel blogs, Habla Ya has been rated in the past decade by thousands of students, with a perfect 5 star score more times than any other network of Spanish schools in Latin America.

Habla Ya Spanish Schools in Boquete, a town famous amongst outdoor enthusiasts in Panama's western mountains, and Bocas del Toro, Panama's top beach town in the Caribbean, are part of the select group of accredited Spanish schools in Latin America by the Instituto Cervantes, the worldwide authority for teaching Spanish as a foreign language.

Habla Ya Panama City is also in the heart of its location, and is an Official DELE Examination Center as are Habla Ya Boquete and Habla Ya Bocas del Toro.

TRAVELING CLASSROOM: Boquete and Bocas del Toro are so close to each other (less than a 4 hour commute), allowing you to perfectly study Spanish at both locations before or after your Spanish program in Panama City. You'll usually enter or leave the country through Panama City so that is where your program should end or start. How much time at each location? It's really up to you, depending on what you love more: the beach, the mountains or the city. But if you can, you really should give each a go as each destination will give you a very different flavor of Panama.

Learn Spanish in 3 dream setting locations, full of friendly faces and exciting adventures. AND if you're also into making the world a better place, we can learn from each other, and do some community work together.

Accommodation

  • Host family accommodation
  • Host family accommodation without students of same native language
  • Own apartment
  • In hotel/guesthouse

Additional Services

  • Student counselling
  • Facilities for students with disabilities
  • Airport/Station transfer
  • Water sports

Sports

  • Climbing
  • Surfing
  • Diving

Activities

  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Sauna / Wellness
  • Dancing
  • Film
  • Literature
  • Cooking
  • Cultural tourism (theater, museum, etc.)
  • Hiking
  • Historical sightseeing
  • Volunteering
  • Rock climbing
  • Local cultural events (festivals, etc.)

Work and Further Studies

  • Further academic studies available on campus

Courses

General Spanish

94% 27 Reviews

This course is for students aged: 16-70

Levels: Advanced, Basic, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate

Class Sizes: Medium, 6-10 students, One-to-One, Small, 2-5 students

Weekly Hours: General 15-25 hrs/wk

Location Type: Town/City , Seaside, Rural/Countryside, Mountains

Spanish Exam Preparation

0% 0 Reviews

This course is for students aged: 14-70

Location Type: Town/City , Seaside, Rural/Countryside, Mountains

Class Sizes: One-to-One

Levels: Advanced, Upper Intermediate, Intermediate, Basic

Weekly Hours: Intensive 25+ hrs/wk, General 15-25 hrs/wk, Relaxed 10-15 hrs/wk

DELE Exam Preparation Course for all levels offered through private lessons or as add on to group lessons.

Our 3 schools in Panama are Official DELE Examination Centers.

The amount of hours you'll end up purchasing is the exact amount of hours that you'll need to prepare for your DELE Test and get your DELE Diploma.

The cost is the same as for private lessons, from $14.50 to $25 USD per hour.

Business Spanish

0% 0 Reviews

This course is for students aged: 18-80

Levels: Advanced, Upper Intermediate, Intermediate, Basic

Weekly Hours: Intensive 25+ hrs/wk, Relaxed 10-15 hrs/wk, General 15-25 hrs/wk

Location Type: Town/City , Seaside, Rural/Countryside, Mountains

Class Sizes: One-to-One

Spanish online

92% 1 Review

This course is for students aged: 10-70

Levels: Basic, Advanced, Upper Intermediate, Intermediate

Weekly Hours: Intensive 25+ hrs/wk, General 15-25 hrs/wk, Relaxed 10-15 hrs/wk

Location Type: Town/City , Seaside, Rural/Countryside, Mountains

Class Sizes: One-to-One

Professional Spanish

0% 0 Reviews

This course is for students aged: 22-70

Weekly Hours: Intensive 25+ hrs/wk, General 15-25 hrs/wk, Relaxed 10-15 hrs/wk

Location Type: Mountains, Town/City , Seaside, Rural/Countryside

Class Sizes: One-to-One

Levels: Advanced, Upper Intermediate, Intermediate, Basic

Tailor made Spanish courses

94% 3 Reviews

This course is for students aged: 10-70

Class Sizes: One-to-One

Levels: Advanced, Upper Intermediate, Intermediate, Basic

Location Type: Mountains, Town/City , Seaside, Rural/Countryside

Weekly Hours: Intensive 25+ hrs/wk, General 15-25 hrs/wk, Relaxed 10-15 hrs/wk

Medical Spanish, Legal Spanish, Spanish for Business, Spanish for Teachers, etc.

Spanish Summer Courses

84% 1 Review

This course is for students aged: 10-70

Levels: Intermediate, Basic, Advanced, Upper Intermediate

Weekly Hours: Intensive 25+ hrs/wk, General 15-25 hrs/wk, Relaxed 10-15 hrs/wk

Location Type: Town/City , Seaside, Rural/Countryside, Mountains

Class Sizes: Medium, 6-10 students, Small, 2-5 students, One-to-One

Spanish Teacher Training

0% 0 Reviews

This course is for students aged: 22-70

Location Type: Rural/Countryside, Mountains, Town/City , Seaside

Class Sizes: One-to-One

Levels: Upper Intermediate, Intermediate, Advanced

Weekly Hours: Intensive 25+ hrs/wk, General 15-25 hrs/wk, Relaxed 10-15 hrs/wk

Junior Spanish Programs

0% 0 Reviews

This course is for students aged: 5-16

Location Type: Town/City , Seaside, Rural/Countryside, Mountains

Weekly Hours: Relaxed 10-15 hrs/wk, General 15-25 hrs/wk, Intensive 25+ hrs/wk

Class Sizes: One-to-One, Small, 2-5 students, Medium, 6-10 students

Brochures

  • Bocas_1.pdf
    PDF | 4MB added 01.16.2019 Download
  • Bocas_2.pdf
    PDF | 4MB added 01.16.2019 Download
  • Boquete_1.pdf
    PDF | 4MB added 01.16.2019 Download
  • Boquete_2.pdf
    PDF | 4MB added 01.16.2019 Download
  • Panama_1.pdf
    PDF | 4MB added 01.16.2019 Download
  • Panama_2.pdf
    PDF | 4MB added 01.16.2019 Download

Reviews

94%
32 Reviews
96%
Courses
94%
Value
93%
Facilities
96%
Service
90%
Activities

What students are saying

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Search results: 10 of 32 total results
Habla Ya Spanish Schools

United States   

studied General Spanish

Learn Spanish in Boquete!

I studied at HablaYa in Boquete for 5 weeks. All of the teachers and staff were incredibly nice and super helpful. My teacher, Alex, did a great job of ensuring that all students participated in and learned from the class. On Fridays, he organized field trips to practice Spanish outside of the classroom and to learn more about the local culture. The classes were interesting and engaging, and my Spanish abilities improved significantly during my time at HablaYa!

posted 4 years ago

Habla Ya Spanish Schools

United States   

studied General Spanish

Spanish Classes in Boquete, Panama

I only spent two weeks in Boquete with Habla Ya, but I learned so much, and cherish my time there! All of the teachers and staff were incredibly nice and helpful. My teacher Alex Cano made learning the grammar basics easy and fun, and he incorporated conversational exercises throughout class to improve my speaking skills. Alex was flexible with class time to include specific things I wanted to learn, and he even planned a field trip to the three waterfalls since I wasn't able to book a tour!

posted 5 years ago

Habla Ya Spanish Schools

United States   

studied General Spanish

Habla Ya - What You Should Know

Habla Ya may not be the best at teaching Spanish, but it absolutely excels at manipulating its online presence to create a sunny impression that is, to some degree, simply mirage. I recently signed up for a four-week course in Bocas del Toro, and the course material and teaching techniques were so heavy on grammar rules and scarce on casual conversation that I found the whole thing detrimental to my learning Spanish. After a week and two days, I dropped the class, knowing I’d have better success with Duolingo. One would hope that if the program didn’t work for you, the school would acknowledge your experience, issue a refund, and try to part with conciliatory words. But that simply didn’t happen. It turns out the owner is filled with so much hubris and sense of entitlement that he thinks he has a right to keep my $700 fee even though he failed to deliver, even modestly, on what I paid for. It is simply worth noting that if you plan to enroll, don’t pay for more than a week at a time, just in case it doesn’t work for you, as it didn’t work for me. Also, be wary of their specials. They’re never quite as advertised.

posted 5 years ago

Habla Ya Spanish Schools

United States   

studied General Spanish

Boquete is beautiful

My family of five settled in Boquete for 6 weeks to study Spanish at Habla Ya. We were split into classes by age and Spanish level. My husband had never studied Spanish before and so was put into a beginner adult group class. Similarly, my two younger children joined a beginner group class while my older daughter (13) was put into an intermediate group adult class with me because she already had a foundation in Spanish. At times, the school had very few students and my family ended up being the only ones in each of our “group” lessons. My oldest had a harder time because she didn’t fit into the schema that they’ve developed. She wanted to be with other kids her age but the classes were too basic for her. However, the school tried to accommodate our needs as best they could and the teachers really demonstrate that they care about student progress. I studied with Leidys Pitti for 5 weeks. She did a great job incorporating conversation into our daily classes and making note when we had an opportunity to practice new skills.

I am so glad we chose to study Spanish in Boquete because it was the perfect place to settle in for 6 weeks. The center of town is always bustling with friendly activity, people saying hello, shops, restaurants, and, lots of beautiful fresh produce at the outdoor market stalls. In addition, the weather in Boquete is refreshing and always the perfect temperature. On extra warm days, showers would come in and cool the air down to a comfortable range. We also met a lot of friendly people from the area and everyone was willing and generous about letting us practice our Spanish, even though they speak very good English themselves.

The kids loved the variety of extra activities that they could participate in around Boquete, such as white river rafting, zip lining, rock climbing, hikes, horseback riding, and swimming in the mini canyons. If you’re on a tighter budget, the hikes in the area are spectacular and only cost a small fee for the taxi ride to the trailhead. The food was also a highlight for us. We had some really spectacular meals both local food and other cuisines. The family favorite was Colibrí, a restaurant on the gardens of the hotel where we stayed (more about Isla Verde below). Colibrí agreed to teach our family a private cooking class after my husband talked to the chef about his and the kids’ interest. They thought the class was phenomenal and learned new techniques, and how to make some of the best food we’ve ever had.

The traditional Panamanian food of the area includes a soup called Sancocho, rice, beans, a meat, plantains, and a side salad. There were a number of local restaurants that served this food beautifully. Our favorite was Las Orchillas. The other cafe that we really enjoyed was called Sugar and Spice which had great breakfasts and salads for lunch.

Finally, the place where we stayed was absolutely perfect for us. We rented a large roundhouse at Isla Verde. The house was a single room with a loft. It was small but didn’t feel too tight or crowded for our family of five. The house was surrounded by beautiful gardens and fruit trees. The staff was extremely helpful all the time and we met some wonderful other guests from all over the world.

posted 5 years ago

Habla Ya Spanish Schools

United States   

studied General Spanish

Spanish lessons at Habla Ya Panama Boquete

My family and I attended Habla Ya Panama in Boquete for six weeks, in anticipation of a move to Chile for a year. The experience was great.

First, a word about Boquete and surrounding Chiriqui. We visited in July and early August, which is the rainy season, and the weather was great for us. It was never hot, and there was usually a strong cool breeze, just perfect summer weather. In the afternoons, at least in July/August, it often rains, so you might schedule classes for the afternoon. We stayed at Isla Verde, a series of bungalows with kitchenettes about a 3-4 minute walk from the school. They were surrounded by lush gardens, and I was very happy with our stay there. The restaurant at Isla Verde, Colibri, was our favorite in Boquete, but mostly we ate at the inexpensive local restaurants, Sabrason, Amarillas, and Orchiadas. The main part of the town, Boquete Centro, is fairly small, and has a mix of supermarkets, stores, and restaurants catering to locals, as well as more tourist oriented restaurants. Boquete some great coffee and chocolate shops (this is the source for some of the best coffee in the world). The town is surrounded by verdant hills, which is lovely, and you can buy pineapples and other vegetables on the street and in the fruit and vegetable market for inexpensive prices, so it’s nice to have a place to stay with a kitchen. There are fresh fruits everywhere, a few of which I’d never seen before, and many restaurants have batidas (fruit shakes) and fresas con crema (strawberries and cream). Boquete positions itself as an adventure town, and there is a lot to do outside the town, including hikes, coffee, honey, and chocolate farms, Volcan Baru (which I didn’t visit), and ziplining and other trips. For the hikes, you can just take a taxi to a trailhead, and then catch a minibus back to town. My favorite out of town adventures were a rafting trip and two visits to the Mini Canyons, where you can swim and picnic with the locals in lovely warm water. In town, we had an amazing cooking class experience at Colibri, and a chocolate making experience at A Perfect Pair, which we loved as well.

I came to Habla Ya with no Spanish language experience, and after six weeks I can communicate fairly well, having a conversation with anyone. I’m very happy with the progress I was able to make. My vocabulary is still fairly small, and when native speakers talk with me rapid-fire, I often need to ask them to slow down. For the first three weeks, I worked out of their first workbook, which gave me all of the foundations for the language. It was well organized, and I learned basic past, present, and future tenses, how to conjugate verbs, and a lot of other language structure. The next three weeks I worked out of a second book that added additional tenses, and other concepts. I think the school is very language structure oriented, which worked well for me. For these two books they were essentially laying the foundations for me so that I could add vocabulary later and conceptually know how to use it. The classes we took were from 1-5pm, with a 20 minute break in the middle. I had about 15-20 minutes of homework at night, but then I would generally spend another 40 minutes or so reviewing the day’s work, which was a big help in cementing my learning. Because I was there in the off-season, I had essentially about 3 weeks of private lessons (since there was no one else at my level at that moment), and three weeks with 2-3 other students in the class, who were coming from the US, Germany, and France.

My professor, Pedro Abrego, was great. He’s a quiet person, and fairly reserved, and conveys both humility and an unflaggingly positive attitude. He’s extremely knowledgeable and dedicated to teaching. He keeps the class moving at a quick pace, although he’s happy to work through a concept until you understand it. He will not speak English, which in some cases might have saved some time (it can take me a long time to ask a question in Spanish), but I think that is part of the professors’ training. His explanations were clear, and I couldn’t believe how much I knew by the end. He was a good fit for me, and he pushed me far in Spanish. I appreciated the chance to learn with Pedro.

My professor, Erian Marin, was wonderful. At different times, he taught both me and my kids, and was equally adept at both. He has a great sense of humor, and makes classes fun to attend. At the same time he helped me move quickly through the lessons, he was attuned to the students who might need extra support, and kept us all on the same page. In the case of my kids, he understood how to balance learning with fun and games. My younger son was not as excited about the material as his older sister, and Erian worked hard to keep them both engaged (including the occasional soccer game). I was so impressed with Erian’s teaching skill and charm, and I routinely looked forward to my classes with him.

posted 5 years ago

Habla Ya Spanish Schools

United States   

studied General Spanish

Great place to learn spanish

My experience at Habla Ya Boquete was one filled with wonderful memories and tons of learning! The staff, especially Alex (my primary teacher and an excellent one at that!), Kimberly, Leidys, and Erian, were all wonderful to work with. I spent 2 weeks learning Spanish and exploring the town, and I am so lucky to have had such an accommodating and friendly group of people helping me navigate a brand new experience! It was my first time traveling alone, and my friends there made me feel comfortable and welcome. I hope to go again SOON! THANK Y’ALL SO MUCH!

posted 5 years ago

Habla Ya Spanish Schools

United States   

studied General Spanish

Excellent Spanish School

I had a great time at the Spanish School! I have excellent teachers Iraida and Sergio. They were excellent teachers, I would highly recommend . I had Iraida for most of my four weeks there, she was engaging, thorough in her lectures, and very intelligent. She easily adapted the class to the needs of her students. She really brought to life the cultural aspects of life in Bocas de Toro. The other teachers, staff, and administration were all very gregarious and helpful. I look forward to going back to this school to continue learning more language and Panamanian Culture.

posted 5 years ago

Habla Ya Spanish Schools

United States   

studied General Spanish

Excellent Spanish School

I had a great time at the Spanish School! I have excellent teachers Iraida and Sergio. They were excellent teachers, I would highly recommend . I had Iraida for most of my four weeks there, she was engaging, thorough in her lectures, and very intelligent. She easily adapted the class to the needs of her students. She really brought to life the cultural aspects of life in Bocas de Toro. The other teachers, staff, and administration were all very gregarious and helpful. I look forward to going back to this school to continue learning more language and Panamanian Culture.

posted 5 years ago

Habla Ya Spanish Schools

United States   

studied Spanish Summer Courses

Habla Ya Spanish View

Habla ya in Boquete was an amazing experience. The teachers were phenomenal. I had the opportunity to have 3 teachers while I was in Boquete. I had Pedro and Ladies for my private classes, and I had Alex for both weeks for the group classes. They taught me so much about the culture of Boquete and the Spanish language. Alex’s classes are educational and there is never a dull moment. Every Friday we went outside the school for experiential learning. My conversations with Ladies and Pedro were never dull. They always were able to answer my questions on the homework and advanced my knowledge of the Spanish language. If I had to do it again I wouldn’t change a thing.

posted 5 years ago

Habla Ya Spanish Schools

United States   

studied General Spanish

Great Spanish school in Boquete

All the teachers I’ve met have been very nice and helpful, specifically Alex Cano! Although a little pricey, you get your own course work and a fulfilling class. We did a mini field trip with our teacher one day, so it’s very hands on along with in-classroom. There is also a great range of adventurous activities that the school can connect you to and they don’t charge you extra!

posted 5 years ago

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