Intensive Spanish Course

I'm a 64 year old who backpacked the world in her twenties and just needed to do something exciting again. So why not study Spanish in a beach town?!
I really didn't know what to expect with the school and the location, but Centro Catalina Cartagena turned out to be a pretty good choice. It's in the San Diego neighborhood, with tons of restaurants, grocery stores and fancy Serrazuela mall only minutes walk away. There is a youth hostel next door, and the school has some student apartments down the street and also outside the wall by Marbella beach. I did not stay in their housing, though the apartment I saw down the street was nice, and it had a decent kitchen with a washing machine.
The school facilities were perfectly adequate, with air-conditioned classrooms and an open air courtyard where students gathered for break. Admin and teachers I dealt with were friendly. Since I was an absolute beginner, I appreciated that they were able to speak English to answer questions. Standard classes were 9:00-12:45 with one 15 minute break, with many opportunities for additional classes in the afternoon.
I had the same teacher--Ronald--all three weeks I was there. He was good at explaining things and had a great sense of humor, which is important when you have to listen to a bunch of beginners butcher the language for hours every day. The youngest in my class was 19 and the oldest was 72, with most people in their 20's and early 30's. Swiss-German was the most represented, with at least one Swiss-French, English, German, American & Dutch during my time there. It was an interesting mix.
In considering how to rate the school's teaching style overall, I feel (for me) there were two negatives. One was that the pace of the information was very fast, and we didn't review concepts before moving on to the next topic, which made it a bit like trying to drink from a fire hose. This leads to the second negative, which is their teaching packets were lacking information so we had to write in every definition, every conjugation, etc. ourselves. Yes this is a learning tool, but only if the pace is slow enough to assimilate what we are writing. It would be much better if they would give pre-labeled definitions and conjugations so that we could actually PRACTICE and LEARN THEM instead of writing in definitions and then going to the next topic.
As for activities, every Monday there is a free welcome city-wall walk and Salsa lesson and a Wednesday salsa dance on the Movich hotel rooftop. There was also free football, volleyball, and other paid offerings on other nights which I did not do because I just loved walking around the city and the beach. Such a colorful, exciting, fascinating, noisy town!

Because the school was very busy, my classes were all at the Alliance Francaise so I cannot comment on the classroom.
The classes
At times the information seemed to leap forward without some of the lessons fully sink in. More practice before moving ahead would have helped.
I feel that I did come away with a lot more Spanish than I had to start.

Teacher
Kayla was helpful and full of energy. I am not sure that she fully understood when students were struggling nor how to help them.

Location was great very central.

Activities
I addended just two of the events - dance classes were really fun and a good way to meet other students. The Saturday trip to Carnavale was really badly organized - left late, we did not know where the buses were

+Die Klassengrössen waren optimal
+Die Lehrpersonen waren angenehm, offen und zu meist motiviert
+Die Ausstattung der Klassenzimmer waren in Ordnung
+Die Location liegt in einem zentralen und ruhigen Ort (Obwohl eine Bausstelle im Nebengebäude war)
+/- Die Aktivitäten waren meist interessant jedoch etwas redundant für die Personen, die etwas länger vor Ort sind (Animator ist relativ neu und braucht noch etwas Erfahrung oder Unterstützung)
-Bei Personen die länger vor Ort sind kann es vorkommen, dass Schulstoff wiederholt wird, weil es zu wenig unterschiedliche
Klassen-Niveaus existieren (Auch gar nicht möglich aus Sicht der vorhanden Ressourcen).

I stayed there for 4 weeks and achieved Level B1 after just starting with the Spanish language. The teachers were all very young and extremely friendly. Apart from the great classes in the morning with 5 to 9 students (9 was a bit too much) I also had class in the afternoon which helped me a lot to improve my speaking skills. Now I am able to have a good conversation in Spanish and use my learnings. I would recommend Centro Catalina to everyone who wants to learn Spanish and enjoy the Caribbean breeze with a good Colombian vibe. The afternoon/evening activities were very nice and I could connect with other students as well as practicing my Spanish.

Friendly interactive course with a motivated group

Do not attend this school if you already know some Spanish and are looking to learn more. Let's start with the fact that there are no books so you don't know what you are studying, where you are going, or where you have been. Classes are basically conversation. I found that beginners with no Spanish progressed rapidly for about two weeks. Those of us with more experience, to a person, felt that we learned little and were frustrated. I started in class with two young men who had been studying intensively at the school ( morning and afternoon) for 6 weeks. They were just starting to conjugate irregular verbs in the preterite (simple past), In 4 weeks at other schools I had already done the present, preterite, imperfect, conditional and future tenses. I went to more classes to learn more about the imperfect and conditional, and made that clear to the teachers. That did not happen and in fact I think I speak less now than before I went to Centro Catalina. This is not the fault of my teacher who was great. It is the system.

With respect to accommodations, as it turned out, my roommate and I were the only students with air conditioning (other than a few who did home stays and paid extra for it). I don't think I would have survived without it. Our apartment was lovely, with an ocean view and a pool. But the location wasn't great. It was not near any other students and we were the only students in the building. Also, the internet did not work for most of the time we were there and we had to complain every day before it was fixed. Further, the apartment was poorly maintained. All it would have taken was a screwdriver and some WD40 to fix most of it, but in the time I was there the lock to my roommate's bedroom broke and she was locked out, the handle in the shower broke, most of the cabinets needed tightening, the lock to the front door stuck several times, the tv never worked and one plug stopped working.

What the school excelled at was activities. Due mostly to their social director the school was fun. There were tours, tastings and David had weekly BBQs at the School-owned house. David went out with the students most nights dancing, drinking, seeing the sites and truly made the school seem like a family. Further, it was a great group of students from around the world.

I'm really happy with my experience at Centro Catalina. The school is very well organised, has plenty of students (in March, we were between 25 and 40 students) to split into small group with homogeneous levels. Teachers were really good, structured and organised. The team is lovely. The school is well located in the touristic centre of Cartagena (perfect spot for an extended stay, with beautiful historic city, fab weather, lovely fruits). I studied there for 2 weeks but could easily have done 3 or 4 if I had time. Some social activities are offered for the afternoons.

I enrolled in the Intensive+ course for one month, I was highly motivated, this was not a vacation or leisure trip. I needed to improve my Spanish for my job. I didn't know if this was the correct choice but it turned out to be as close to perfect as I could have ever dreamed

The instructors were outstanding. I cant say enough positive things about Tanya and Adrian. Yes they are fabulous teachers but they really want you to learn and will do what it takes. They have a real personal interest in your studies. They pushed me, challenged me and constantly motivated me to improve my language skills. As long as I was willing they were there to do everything they could to help. That might not be what other students want but for me I was in the right place.

The only thing critical thing I might say is that this may not work for a student with no knowledge of Spanish. All instruction is in Spanish so I would suggest a solid background from Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone first. But for a student with a some knowledge and a willingness to work your abilities will explode. I entered as a low A2 and left as a solid B1. By the end of my classes I was speaking with Tanya for over an hour with only a few uses of Google Translate for vocabulary words.

Housing ( an apt.) was the only negative. It was more than adequate (clean ,safe, location etc) but the Wifi was poor. I really needed it to study and it was so irregular I would have to go to a near by restaurant to connect. It finally was repaired but only two days before I left.

I loved the school! It's located within the the walls of the historic city center of Cartagena, such a charming city. The teachers and the school staff are very nice folks, cheerful and make you feel very welcome. I loved my experience there and recommend it to anyone that wants to learn Spanish!

The instructors were very knowledgeable, professional, and really made you feel welcome. The planning of the lessons was very logical and was a good mix of new material and repetition/games to help cement in the material previously learned.

I studied Spanish for three weeks, and in my opinion, everything was perfect.

Everything was perfectly arranged. It was in a good location, very central. They had a nice patio where a hammock was present, and there was a canteen where you could get fresh orange juice every day. The staff was very cheerful, very kind. They had a house cat which created a warm feeling. The classrooms were fine. The teachers were good. They wanted to help with everything. What I did find annoying was that some teachers did not speak English. It was hard when you did not understand what she explained.

Furthermore, the family was very sweet. Less than in Bogotá, much less involved. Everyone had his / her own life. They spoke no English and my Spanish was not at the right level for the right to speak so it was hard to communicate. The mother of the house was super sweet. It was a nice apartment, good room, and good facilities. Everything was all right.

I liked Wilson very much. He was a good teacher and was very friendly. I learned vocabulary and verbs.

I liked Ray because he was friendly, but he did not speak too much. There were many exercises. The better it was for all.

Juliet was a very good but very shy teacher. David was very sympathetic and he organized many things.

The one thing I did not like much was the North Sea because there was noise as the windows were open. The building is a bit far too. It was very windy by the windows. There was no hot water at the shower, but the cleaning lady was very friendly and the kitchen had many things.

I plan to go back next year but not to the North Sea.

A thousand kisses to all,
Isabelle

Well, the staff is great, and so is the location and the school. I really loved the activities that the school provide, such as bike riding, movies, etc.
But I don't think the test is efficient, 1 page of test and 3 questions are not able to fit me in the right level, and even after when I moved level, I don't think the teacher was pay attention if I was on the right level, less or more advanced of the other students.
The first teacher I had was amazing, really dynamic and with several activity that made everything so easy and efficient.
The others teachers don't seem like they have a methodology to teach, each day treats a different thing, and I had the same subject repeated over and over again.
Spite of the messy line of learning, I had my Spanish improved a lot.
Other thing that made me very uncomfortable at school, is that there were a lot of students from the same country that kept speaking in their own language at school, in class, in activities. You never know if they are talking or laughing at you, besides, how can we practice if they are always speaking other languages?
It should have a policy of Spanish only at school.

I had a great time in Cartagena with the teachers, the class and the several activities I joined. My homestay family was just lovely and I can only recommend of doing that wich helps you to improve your speaking Spanish. Cartagena as well is a lovely city and you can easily spend a few weeks there without getting bored. Overall a great experience!

School has a very good and safe location. It is right in the old city and not too far from house location. There are many choices when it comes to transportation in Cartagena and they are not too expensive. School and teachers left overall an excellent impression. They were always very pleasant, accommodating, often with a great attitude and smile on their faces. My special recognition and thanks to Mr. Andres and Mr. Jorge for their professionalism and friendly approach. There were plenty of different types of activities each week, something for everyone. Hosting family was very welcoming, friendly and helpful. The only suggestion is to have in option (additional charge) an AC in the room when choosing a hosting family.

The teachers of the school are great! Sindy especially! They are welcoming, nice and very good at their jobs. I am a teacher myself and it is clear that they know what they are doing!

There are too few levels and that means that a lot of people of very different levels are put together in the same class. When I was there we had a group of Americans from a college there to do a summer course. Their grammar knowledge is very good as they have been studying spanish for a long time at college. They do, however, have no real training in language use and it became quite frustrating trying to have real speed conversations with them. Maybe this could give an idea as to what you could do in terms of differentiating.

The housing I have already reviewed before I left the school. My host mother was unwelcoming, gave us hardly anything to eat for breakfast and we (me and the girl I shared family with) were not satisfied.

Cartagena is a beautiful city and I loved it. Would be happy to come back if I could be more challenged in the language next time.