Please see this flyer for detailed info on

program and prerequisites

Click here: span234Costa Rica flyer

For updated information on costs please go to: https://wp.stolaf.edu/international/international-and-off-campus-study-for-first-year-students/

Info from:

http://wp.stolaf.edu/spanish/interim-courses/

Spanish 234 Intermediate Spanish in Costa Rica

Spanish 234 (the equivalent of 232 on campus) provides students with the opportunity to complete their fourth-semester of Spanish in Costa Rica, a Spanish-speaking country in Central America. Students will continue to develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in Spanish through living with a Costa Rican family, acquiring and processing information about Costa Rica, attending classes and participating in field trips and excursions. Special emphasis will be given to description and narration, comparison and contrast, and explanation and analysis of such topics as the following:

1. Costa Ricans (Ticos) and their physical environment: the urban landscape of San José, the capital city, and the diverse ecological systems of two coasts and the mountains and valleys in between, including a volcano or two.

2. Family, kinship, race, gender and social relations in urban and, to some degree, rural Costa Rica.

3. Education, work and leisure activities in San José and, to a lesser degree, outside of the capital.

4. Cultural similarities and differences between groups within Costa Rica and between North American and Costa Rican societies.

Family Homestay in San José (Guadalupe):

All students will live in private homes in the San José area during the interim, except during excursions. The homestay will provide an experience in language immersion and allow students to observe and participate in family life in Costa Rica. Few homes will be in walking distance of the ACM center, where classes will be held; hence, most students will take public transportation (buses) to get to class.

Excursions:

We will take two overnight excursions, one to the province of Puntarenas on the Pacific coast and the second to the province of Limón on the Caribbean coast.

Among our cultural conversations and trips will be included:

Talks with professors on culture, history, politics, bio diversity, eco-turism, local music, cacao, chocolate and coffee production, dances, etcetera.

Here are some links to the places that our students visit, as we visit most of the 7 provinces of Costa Rica:

Cahuita: http://www.anywherecostarica.com/destinations/cahuita

Cahuita national park: http://www.anywherecostarica.com/attractions/national-park/cahuita

Puntarenas: http://www.visitcostarica.com/ict/paginas/puntarenas.asp

Coffetours: http://www.coffeetour.com

Monteverde: http://www.monteverdeinfo.com