Those who have decided to make Costa Rica their home for a few months, a year or even permanently soon realize the importance of establishing a base in the language which they encounter each day.  Whether interactions be...

When I sat down to write this initial blog, I simply pulled up a single picture from 2008--my first summer spent in Costa Rica--and let my mind fill-in the rest.

The picture shows the day my university arrived at the San Jose airport to begin our study abroad trip, and I can be seen grinning broadly while

“Sí…bueno…sí….claro. Oki. Chau.”

I hung up the phone in the Groups office of CPI and stared, wide-eyed, around the room. Oh no. It was my first day as a Grupos CPI chaperone, and I had just gotten off the phone with my boss who had given me a list of things to accomplish. (Actually, that was just an educated guess because I had spent the previous five minutes pretending to know exactly what she was saying while only catching about 2% of the conversation).

Clearly an important question and the answer very much depends on your linguistic goals.  Most language immersion programs offer a 3 or 4 hour program on week days with some institutes extending classes with sessions of one or two additional hours daily. These extended programs are ideal for those students with specific objectives, whether those goals be personal or professional.