The full intensive summer program of AFS Costa Rica is a combination of Spanish Language lessons, High School experience with Costa Rican classmates, integration with a local volunteer host family and, just before the end of the program, a recreational bus trip with other international students to two natural attractions of Costa Rica.
The first part of the program is a two-week Spanish Language Course with other international students. The location of this camp is in an agro-ecological farm & language school in the mountains of the Cartago province, near the Orosi Valley. During the camp, the students will stay in the rustic-lodging shared dorms of this tropical farm, supervised and supported by AFS volunteers and the staff of the language school.
The Spanish Language course includes 60 hours of lessons, plus additional intercultural activities in order to learn the language and improve practical communication. The international students will have a language proficiency assessment test upon arrival in order to determine the course’s level better suited for each person (beginners, intermediate, advanced). Then the students will have Spanish lessons in small groups according to their language entry level and also shared different activities with all other students.
The second part of the program is a five-week home stay with a volunteer host family and integration in regular high school lessons in a local school with Costa Rican classmates. This is the chance to experience the life and culture of the people of Costa Rica from within. It is a full immersion into the living of the local people.
The third part of the program is a five-day recreational bus trip with international students and AFS supervision to two touristic attractions in Costa Rica. One of the destinations is in the northern mountain cord in the middle of Costa Rica. The other destination is the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, where the students will have the chance to relax and enjoy the waters of the topical ocean.