SPANISH LANGUAGE SCHOOLS
QUETZALTENANGO
Celas Maya

[ Spanish Courses Abroad: Home ] [ Choose your School ] [ FAQ ] [ Search ]

Introduction

Celas Maya is a Spanish School founded in 1999. Since that time the school has been dedicated to teaching Spanish as a foreign language. Our primary goal is to offer a high quality service so that our students learn the language while they can experience our culture, share our history and exchange knowledge

Celas Maya offers consultancy services to other schools inside and outside of the country, that have required our experience to be able to face up to the challenges represented by the standards that are being set for this activity in Latin America.

We incorporate a system of Total Immersion which means living life in another language, in this case "Spanish". Even though our teachers have Basic English and some of them speak fluently, we teach in Spanish unless the situation requires speaking in English. Each student has their own teacher, so that their knowledge is accelerated in each individual case.

Celas Maya has resources to make the student's activities a lot easier, for example a library with grammar textbooks, exercises and readers for different levels such as: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. We have thousands of books relating to History, Anthropology, Human Rights, etc., which are used by our students, teachers and the general public.

Our students have free access to our Internet Café, fully equipped with Skype, webcam, wireless connection, and international calls at a low price, together with our aromatic and delicious coffee.

Useful Facts

• School founded:1999
• Average number of students enrolled: 21-40
• Maximum number of students enrolled (summer): 80
• Nationality mix: U.S.A. 50%, Netherlands 10%, Rest of Europe 20%, other countries 10%
• Minimum qualification teachers: 3 years of experience and Spanish as a second language degree
• Accredited by: Guatemalan Ministry of Education

Courses Offered

One-on-one courses

• Levels offered: Beginner to Advanced
• Classes per week: 25
• Minimum course length: 1 week

For more information on these courses, please visit the school's website: Celas Maya Spanish Language School Guatemala.

Accommodation Offered

Home stay
Celas Maya has 50 families in its database that receive students from our school. Each have different characteristics and not too many members. Some of the families have pets and others don't. There are families with and without kids. Some have space for one, two or three students.

• Homestay: 7 days a week
• 3 meals every day, except on Sundays
• Walking distance to the school: between 5-20 minutes
• Purified water is provided by the School.

Guest House
We also offer the option of living in our Guest House with a totally equipped kitchen. We have 6 rooms.

• Rooms with private restroom: 1
• Situation: Right around the corner from Celas Maya

Activities and Excursions

Activities
Each week Celas Maya presents its activity program in different ways.

The Celas Maya Video Collection is shown each week in a big screen format. Some of our titles include: On the bitch life, Sparsely, Minimum Histories, The Dark Side of the Heart, Carandirú, Midnight Express, etc. Our documentaries include: When the Mountains Shake, The America's School, Commandant, 50 years of the FARC, When the Embassy from Spain was Burned. We also have dramatic movies that include: Open your eyes, Thesis, Blue Velvet and over 200 more.

Every Friday we have a graduation party in which we give the students a diploma that indicates that they have finished their studies and then we eat dinner together. The party is very enjoyable because right after dinner we turn on music and some students dance salsa to practice their lessons that have received each Tuesday night.

On weekends we always have activities such as the following:

• Trip to Champerico beach Tulate or Monterrico. After a long week of hard work with the language it is normal that at the end of the week we take a pause to rest a bit and enjoy the warm weather at the Champerico beach or Tulate, both are around two hours away from Xela, so it is easy to leave early in the morning and to be back in the afternoon.
• We also have trips to volcanoes such as Santa Maria, Tajumulco or Cerro Quemado. These volcanoes are close to Quetzaltenago, so the activity can be done in one day. The view is amazing, as well as the nature.

Trips
Celas Maya Often organizes trips to the most famous and visited sites in Guatemala. Tikal, Flores Island, Río Dulce, Livingston, Semuc Chanpey, Antigua Guatemala, Monterrico, and more are all part of our programming. Traveling to these places can be difficult for the students to organize on their own; therefore Celas Maya works with the students to coordinate each detail. Those trips are an unforgettable part of your experience here in Guatemala.

During the week activities are done in the afternoons, and many of these trips are closer. This way, students don't miss classes. Some of the activities are:

• A trip to Los Vahos in which you can take a relaxing natural sauna with the steam that comes from the Volcano Cerro Quemado
• A nice dip in the hot springs at Las Fuentes Georginas or Aguas Amargas. These hot springs get their water from the mountains, and re surrounded by beautiful scenery.

School Website

For more information on any aspect of Celas Maya's Spanish Language School in Quetzaltenango, please visit the school's website: Celas Maya Spanish Language School Guatemala.