Casa Hispana

Casa Hispana is a great place if you want to learn spanish in a friendly atmosphere. They teach you Spanish through real time conversation, group discussion, videos and songs but I particularly like the role playing part where you can really interact and make progress. They have different levels and offer summer trips for youth and trips for adults as well. They also have another business which is translation and interpreting services. From time to time they have special events. more

I found them because I saw an ad on the back of a cab in San Francisco. Sonia & Maria who run the center are fantastic. They will inform you of how much you have left to learn in the sweetest way possible. The focus is on conversational Spanish and classes are a blast. We would bring in Riojas and imbibe some Spanish culture while we learned the language. Anna-Maria, our teacher, was awesome and my fellow students became great friends. Highly recommended. Tell them I sent you. more

I can't say enough good things about Casa Hispana! I took classes here for a 6-month period, and was well conversant at the end of it -- able to do research in Spanish and navigate myself and my husband around Peru. The way it works is that you sign up for a 10-week course, choose your level and the days/times you want to attend, and they put you into a group of up to 10 people, mostly young professionals. You meet twice a week for 2 hrs each time (except the Saturday classes). The teachers are all native speakers with expertise in teaching Spanish as a second language, and they follow Casa Hispana's own special curriculum. This method focuses on getting students to speak very quickly, making you feel like you're at a chit-chat session and not in class. It is really fun -- not kidding! There is some homework involved, but probably no more than 20-30 minutes each time. I think that what makes Casa Hispana work so well (fast learning, great fun) is that the owner, Sonia, has managed to establish a sort of a great family environment. From the type of teachers she hires (all young and fun-loving people like herself) to the coffee and cookies she offers, to remembering every student's name, she makes everyone feel like this is their place -- which provide extra incentive to study hard. All this comes with a price tag of $395 (I think) for the 10-week course, but it's SO worth it!!! more