Alajuela Junior Immersion
Costa Rica Teenager Study Abroad

Program Snapshot Age Range: 14-17 Fun Ranking: Intensity: Some Homework Staff/Student: 1:4 Curfew: 6 pm

Alajuela Junior Immersion

Alajuela, a sizable city with a population of around 100,000, is Costa Rica’s third largest city. However, Alajuela offers language travelers of all ages a relaxed and more traditional “tico” (native Costa Rican) way of life. The combination of pleasant temperatures (average of 74-80 degrees), a more rural setting with a lush backdrop of citrus trees and flora and easy access to San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital (15 miles east of Alajuela) makes Alajuela a wonderful destination.

School Facilities: The school campus is located a short bus ride outside the city of Alajuela and is contained on a large property on a hill surrounded by tropical flowers and fruit trees. The school has mainly outdoor and semi-outdoor classrooms, an auditorium and cafeteria. Although teens participating in this program will share the same facilities as adult participants, all language classes are grouped by age and language ability. Capacity is 160 students/day. Students stay in a homestay with 2 meals/day included.

Activities/Excursions: Organized morning/afternoon activities are available for all program participants (adult and teens). A staff member is always present during organized activities which may include: dance or cooking classes, Spanish movies or lectures, trips to museums, theaters, the bird zoo, snake farm, and to Los Chorros Waterfalls as some examples. All activities are conducted in Spanish. Supervised weekend excursions specific for teenagers are available at an additional cost.

Lodging & Meals: Homestay with 2 meals/day

Supervision: Teen participants will receive group language classes with other teens only. All teens are placed in group classes according to their language ability. During class time, participants are monitored by their language instructor and both the administration and academic directors of the language school. An administrative staff of five is always available for the students while at school. Each day teens will have free time. During this time teen participants may use email at school, explore Alajuela, go to the mall, participate in sports with friends, or spend time with their host family. All teen participants are responsible for getting themselves to and from school/activities to their homestay each day. Outside of the school and homestay teen participants are independent and responsible for making curfew. Curfew is 10:00pm on both weekdays and weekends and is strictly enforced by the host family. The school directors will be contacted if curfew is broken by teen participants. A key to the home will not be given to teen participants. Students who do not abide by school or host family rules will be dismissed from the program.

To/From School: The first day of classes a member of the host family will accompany participants to the school. After first day, participants travel unaccompanied either via walk or public transportation.

Other: This program integrates audio, visual, and dynamic exercises into a highly conversational teaching method, “the natural approach.”

Prices/Dates (for 2013):