Adventure Spanish Camp in Costa Rica for Teens

Course Description: Adventure Spanish Camp in Costa Rica for Teens

Summer Camp in Costa Rica

Expand your Horizons through Language, Culture, and Adventure

Through Intercultura Costa Rica’s Teen Spanish Summer Camp, teens experience true cultural immersion through daily Spanish classes while living with a local Costa Rican family, participating in daily activities and service-learning and adventure tours around the country. An owner-run language school founded in 1993 by our Costa Rican and European/US directors, Adelita Jiménez and Laura Ellington, Intercultura has offered the Teen Spanish Summer Camp since 2003. Our internationally recognized programs are fully insured, provide a 1:8 student-chaperone ratio, offer multilingual support staff and credentialled professors and trip leaders.

Our camp takes place at both our campuses, Heredia City and Samara Beach, providing teens the chance to experience the varied landscapes of Costa Rican culture in a traditional university city, followed by a week at our beautiful tropical beach school. In addition, they will visit the many different natural landscapes Costa Rica offers, from mountainous rainforest to indigenous communities to lowland jungle. We are first and foremost a school, not a travel agency; as such we keep our program prices accessible, and we offer two need and merit-based partial scholarships for each teen camp.

THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE:

We keep parents and teens informed, with a pre-arrival online orientation and a group parent chat before and during the program, as well as daily photo postings during the camp on a private platform.

The maximum number of participants for camp is 24, minimum is 12 (student-staff maximum ratio 8:1)

Spanish classes are held in small groups of maximum 6 students, placed according to age and Spanish ability (average class size is 4)

Intercultura is students “home away from home”, and they enjoy hanging out with their new friends at our beautiful campuses, with lots of social area, study rooms, student kitchens and outdoor space with hammocks!

SCHOOL STAFF:

Intercultura was founded in 1993 and has been receiving student groups since 1994. Our experience and recommendations from past participants speak for themselves. (include link to group refs and teen refs here)

In addition to our Teen Program director and homestay coordinator, we have two dedicated, 24/7 bilingual chaperones for the camp.

At both campuses, we have a full staff of multilingual coordinators and experienced, dynamic professors who are specifically trained to give young adult classes by our Academic Director (include link to Marcelo-s bio here)

ACCOMMODATIONS:

The first week students are in carefully selected homestays at our city campus, a short walk to school. Our full-time homestay coordinator is available at any time for advising or any emergency needs.

The second week students are at a Samara Beach hotel, 4 blocks from school, with AC and pool, in shared, same-gender rooms.

At homestays, all students have their own room, and may request to be the only student at their homestay. Or, they can request a homestay with another same-gender student (separate room), or can request to share a room if travelling with a friend. Homestays are all within a short walk of school (max. 10-15 minute walk)

The school and our homestay families are accustomed to hosting students of all ages, ethnicities, religions, gender-identity and sexual orientation. Campers are encouraged to write to us with any special concerns we should take into account while choosing a homestay family.

Homestays can provide vegetarian food. Vegan supplements are also available upon request.

Campers must have travel insurance, bring a debit card for emergencies, and have cash on hand for extra expenses (repellent, sunscreen, snacks, souvenirs, etc)

WHAT IS INCLUDED:

• Pre-arrival orientation session and placement exam

• 4 hours of group Spanish per day

• 3 nutritious meals per day

• Daily snacks during activities

• Homestay accommodation for the week at the city campus

• Hotel accommodation for the week at the beach campus

• All tours, activities, transport and lodging for the duration of the program

• Service learning activities

• Graduation and course certificate

• Dedicated platforms for parent-staff communications and postings pre- and during camp

* Airfare, personal/self-care items and spending money are not included (students typically bring between $100-$130 for the 2 weeks.

CAMP ITINERARY:

Pre-Camp Online Orientation:

Parents and teens are invited to join us for a pre-arrival orientation, approximately one month before the program start date. We will answer any questions participants may have and give an overview of the program, things to expect and what to bring.

Sunday Arrival Day:

ARRIVAL AT SAN JOSE AIRPORT (all day, preferably before 5.30pm):

Students arrive at SJO airport, where they will be picked up by their host family and taken the house to get settled in, receive their keys, connect to wifi and have a snack.

MEET & GREET WELCOME (6.30 to 8pm):

The family will then walk you to school, where you will be welcomed by our bilingual chaperones and meet your fellow campers. We will have some ice-breakers, followed by a pizza party and delicious local ice-cream and sorbets. After dinner, your chaperones will return you to your host family for the night so you can rest before your first day of classes!

Monday to Friday, Week 1, Heredia:

After your delicious, hearty breakfast at the homestay you will walk to school with your host family (first day) and other campers. On Monday, you will have an orientation about school and the culture in general, followed by a tour of the lovely town of Heredia where you will visit the marketplace, central plaza with its colonial architecture, the Olympic swimming pool, and more. After the tour, you will have a Latin cooking class which is also your lunch!

AFTERNOON: Spanish classes are held in the afternoon (leaving the sunny mornings free for activities and tours), after which you will return to your host family for dinner, before heading out for your first evening activity with the group.

Over the next few days, you will enjoy tours to an indigenous community, waterfalls, tropical animal rescue center, roller-skating and volunteering, and a party with local students!

Weekend Trip #1:

This weekend is action-packed…you will see a live volcano, zipline through the cloud forest, enjoy waterslides and hotsprings at night, take a boat-trip across a lake, ending up in Samara for your next week of classes at our beautiful campus right on the beach! You will check into your hotel, where you can relax at the pool before dinner at a local restaurant and a walk around the town.

Monday to Thursday, Week 2, Samara Beach:

Monday starts with surf, Latin dance and beach time, followed by afternoon Spanish classes, dinner at a local restaurant, and a bonfire on the beach with s’mores, weather permitting. Classes alternate mornings and afternoons for the rest of the week, with activities the rest of the day that include Zumba or indoor soccer with locals, dolphin-watching, snorkeling, beach volleyball, and more. At the end of the week, you will have a graduation celebration at the school.

Weekend Trip # 2:

You will leave Thursday after class for one of Costa Rica’s amazing national parks, where you will rappel down a riverside cliff, bathe in the natural hotsprings right at your hotel, go tubing down the river, ride horses and swim in a clear blue waterfall! You will return on Saturday night for your last night back at a hotel close to the airport for your last night with the group, where you will enjoy a farewell dinner and one last night at the pool!

Sunday Departure Day:

Camp is over, bags are packed, and our bilingual chaperones will be accompanying the students to the airport in groups according to their departure time. We hope you have learned a lot and to see you back in Costa Rica soon, !Buen Viaje y PURA VIDA!