Spanish Adventure Summer Camp for Teenagers

As a parent, one of the things I appreciated most about Intercultura's Teen Camp was that I was able to experience the school myself while my daughter attended the camp. I was taking adult Spanish classes at the same time, which gave me a unique perspective on the quality of the program and the people behind it. My daughter absolutely loved her experience. She made friends from around the world, improved her Spanish, and came home with a level of confidence and independence that surprised me. Every time we connected, she was excited about a new activity, excursion, or friendship. What impressed me most was the balance between structure and fun. The students were immersed in Spanish and Costa Rican culture, but the program never felt overly academic. They were learning naturally through activities, outings, and daily interactions. The staff created a warm, supportive environment where teens felt safe, included, and encouraged to step outside their comfort zones. Because I was also studying at Intercultura, I got to see firsthand how dedicated the teachers and staff are. The same welcoming atmosphere that I experienced as an adult learner was clearly reflected in the teen program as well. By the end of the program, my daughter wasn't ready to leave. She had formed meaningful friendships, gained confidence in her language abilities, and created memories that she still talks about. As a parent, that's exactly what I hoped for when we signed up. I would wholeheartedly recommend Intercultura's Teen Camp to any family looking for a safe, enriching, and genuinely life-changing international experience for their teenager.

When it came time to send my son to a Spanish language program in a Spanish- speaking country, I started by reconnecting with Intercultura. I studied at Intercultura in 1994, and it was an experience that has stayed with me for life. I loved the school, the teachers, my host family, the leap I made in speaking Spanish, and the beautiful country. After reading the recent student reviews and the biographies of the qualified teachers on their website, I was happy to see that Intercultura continued to thrive for over 30 years. I felt very comfortable sending him there - some of the wonderful administrators I had 30 years ago were still there! My son studied at Intercultura for two weeks in 2025. He spent one week at the beach campus in Samara and one week at the campus in Heredia. The class sizes were small - he was one of 4 students at the beach and one of 3 in Heredia. The classes were very interactive and he had plenty of focused conversation time. He said the school also offered lots of activities outside of class time and he was never bored. One of the things he loved the most was making friends with Costa Rican kids that were at the school studying ESL. He is still in touch with with a few kids there. His confidence speaking Spanish greatly improved and he had a lot of fun and a great experience at the same time.

I signed up for a homestay at the beach for the second week without really thinking about it bc I wanted to contribute to the community, and I have tto admit it was a little awkward for me at first. It was so different there and the houses are extremely basic, which I wasn't prepared for even tho i saw all the pictures, and I'm shy anyway so when I first got there it was just kind of a shock and embarrassing bc i couldn't really remember anything from class the week before haha But my homestay mom was SO nice, and when i saw here the next day after class it was way less weird (or probably i was) and long story short, that ended up being an AMAZING week for so many reasons and living with Abril (homestay mom) helped my Spanish get so much better! No exaggeration like 3x better. I didn't want to leave!

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The teen immersion program is a fun way for kids to gain confidence, and increase proficiency. My son learned so much and excelled when he was in class this year. He made friends easily and learned so much about the culture of Costa Rica. All the teachers were great un his experience.

A couple of years ago, my son Mason spent six weeks in the teen program at Intercultura’s Sámara campus. It was truly one of the most rewarding experiences he’s ever had. It went far beyond just learning a language, he lived with a local family and fully immersed himself in the culture. This experience helped him grow tremendously as a teenager. He made new friends, learned to surf, and came home not only feeling more confident in his Spanish, but feeling more confident as young man.

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I have recommended this program to other teens who are looking to go a little outside their comfort zone and improve their Spanish! The fact that we had classes in addition to everyday in Spanish I interactions helped to improve my Spanish more than months of my high school class. Also, the trip was so fun!