Intensive Spanish course + Volunteering

I warmly recommend Academia Uruguay to anyone wanting to learn Spanish. The classes are inspiring and you can learn a lot. The school's little library is a great opportunity to get to know Latin American literature and the staff gives you good advices to find a book suitable for your level. The Academia has a central location so it's easy to find, the class rooms have air conditioning which helps to survive and learn even in hot summer days!

I had a very good teacher who taught interesting lessons. It was varied and fun!

I had a great experience during my week at Academia Uruguay in Montevideo. The classrooms were great environments in which to learn. My teachers were very patient and made the lessons fun. It felt more like we were having a conversation rather than a rigid process of going through a lesson plan. The class materials were well organized and very helpful. The activities outside of the school were great too (seeing live music and visiting an art museum). Overall a great experience!

I went to Academia without speaking a single word of Spanish. After 8 weeks I am now able to have conversations and I understand quite a lot. The outcome was way better than expected.

The school also offered many social event or excursions. In general they arranged something two times per week.

The school gave a great introduction to Uruguay as a country, and you get to know more about the culture and history of Uruguay.

All in all a great experience.

The director and instructors were good about providing a correct course to meet me at my level. The activities were very educational and interesting and provided an excellent opportunity to meet other students.

Classes/Teacher: I enjoyed the classes, time for them to star was great. My teacher Mariana was sympathetic, fun, polite, always eager to help us learn and to share information about Uruguayan culture. I just missed that sometimes she would gently stop students that were talking for too, so that other students could speak and practice more.

Location: School is located in a very easy to arrive place in Ciudad Vieja, in a nice building, close to lots of interesting historical points to visit.

Facilities: Facilites are great, but school is small, there are not many different groups, so less students than in other schools I've been too.

Activities: I went to only one of the two activities, and it was great, because we went to Cerro de Montevideo, a place that's not easy to go by yourself, and Fernanda, the one who organizes and takes us is a history teacher, witch is great to learn more about Uruguay's history.

Housing: I didn't use the housing provided by the school, I stayed in a hostel nearby that was great, comparing prices, I think staying in a hostel is best cost efficient.

All my arrangements were done in very last time although the school made all efforts to accommodate me as new student.

The teachers were very engaged and did all they could do to overcome all the difficulties they observed. The equipment of the school was sufficient and then contents of the book is very good. What I missed in the book are the solutions of some parts of the exercises.
I think seldom all parts of the book could be down. But it would be nice, if they could provide correct solutions, so I could learn by my some parts which could not be teached in the school.
The school offered some nice facilities which I enjoyed very much.

I loved my time at Academia Uruguay. The administrative staff was always pleasant, helpful, and genuinely kind. They went above and beyond their job descriptions to make sure that I had the teacher that I wanted at the times that I preferred in the classroom that I desired! They always made me feel like I was their most important student.

My teacher, Santiago, was equally as wonderful. I am assertive and confident, so when I asked to go faster through our course materials, I expected my teacher to oblige my request. However, he didn't. He made me stay on track, be patient, and really learn the language rather than just continue to speedily fill out the workbook. It takes a lot of personal and professional character to tell the truth rather than to say what people want to hear. Because of his character, warm personality, and talent as a teacher, I actually LEARNED Spanish. I went from a very basic Spanish word blurter (I could order off of a menu) to an Independent Speaker. I still have a long way to go with my second language, but I am learning the right way with the right people. Oh, yeah- they are going to continue my lessons via Skype, so I can continue to study with them from Houston, Texas. Have I mentioned how wonderful everyone at Academia Uruguay is?

I cannot say enough wonderful things about the people who worked there. They are fantastic, and my money was well spent. I never once felt like a "customer" because they always treated me as a friend.