A Family Adventure in Costa Rica

Learning Spanish is a fun and rewarding activity, as well as a valuable asset in today’s global job market. More and more people are catching on to the idea of combining the pleasure of a vacation in a beautiful destination with the adventure of custom-tailored Spanish immersion courses on location. Another growing trend is to make this process a family affair: many find that taking Spanish courses with family members can provide an intensive bonding experience and create shared memories that will last a lifetime.

Allison Jones Thompson, from California, chose our ViaSpanish partner school in Flamingo Beach, Costa Rica to take a Spanish course with her daughter, who celebrated her 14^th birthday shortly after returning to the US.  Allison was looking for an opportunity to share time with her daughter and do something together, and says that the end result “could not have been better”. 

The Thompsons chose the homestay housing option, and lived with a local family in a good location.  They often all ate dinner together, and afterwards the mother-daughter team did their homework. They went to the school together in the mornings but took classes in different levels; Allison’s daughter was placed in a more advanced class. Even though they both had learned some Spanish before going to Costa Rica, they were able to significantly augment their knowledge through their classes, social interactions in the home, and interactions with each other.

Allison says that studying with her daughter and getting the chance to spend special time together with her was the best part of the trip. Another highlight was the canopy tour that they both did, which involved zooming on a zipline through the trees in the tropical forest. Both of the Thompsons are scared of heights, so it was a huge exhilaration to overcome this fear together.            

Allison’s daughter says that she would like to go back to Costa Rica or maybe do a year abroad in a Spanish speaking country in the future. Both mother and daughter returned home enthusiastic and energized after sharing a very special time together, and Allison says that she has recommended to all of her friends that they do a study abroad with their children.

Children accompanied by their parents are warmly welcomed in all of our 18 ViaSpanish destinations; check us out at www.viaspanish.com for the latest information about all of our amazing options for your next vacation!