Intensa Language Institute

We (F49 and teen girl 16) opted not to do the homestay. Nobody from the school reached out to us the Friday prior to classes starting which surprised/unsettled me.

Thankfully, we found our way to the campus just fine and the teacher met us and took us to our class. We had signed up for the small group, but we ended up in a class of just the two of us. That was unexpected and very nice. The location seems to be in a very safe part of town near great restaurants and nightlife.

The teacher was so encouraging and explained everything so well. Kudos to her!

The facilities are nice. I was grateful for a fan in the room.
We didn't do any activities with the school except for a 30-minute cultural exchange with students learning English. I really enjoyed that time. I wish we did that a little longer one afternoon after class got out.

The coffee machine was broken one morning, but I was permitted to get coffee from the teacher's lounge. That was very much appreciated.

Everyone was helpful and kind.

A mi, me gusta la professora. Ella tiene una personalidad muy simpatica and fue muy facíl que nos hicimos conversacíones. La structura de la clase me ayudó practicar el preterito y aprender muchas nuevos palabras. Yo tengo confienza en mi habilidad para hablar español con otras personas.

La Casa Torres exceeded my expectations. Great conversation, location, and care is taken during the stay. I really enjoyed my time with Marlene and Maria and Janet in the house!

The facilities were under construction every day, and for the first week and a day, I moved to a new class each morning. The construction was loud and disruptive to the learning environment. Once we were able to move to the B building, it was much quieter and better for class.


I did not prefer the exercises always, as they were somewhat confusing in the structure and instructions. I do not recall being offered additional social activity options.

When I arrived in Costa Rica, I had very little knowledge of Spanish.
Some friends recommended me Yoahnna and I called her to start private lessons.

She is a teacher at Intensa. After the first class, we were already friends. With her, I learned Spanish, I learned the culture, the habits, the food, the way things work and so much more! She is an amazing teacher and a great human being!

I started Intensa after trying two other programs while living in Costa Rica. Yohanna made the program fun but most importantly she was able to adapt to each student and teach the content accordingly. Her ability to communicate with someone learning Spanish made progress faster. Intensa created a learning program designed to encourage speaking and vocabulary which is critical. I tried many apps prior to relocating to Costa Rica but those don't focus on speaking which is the key to learning a language.

I enjoyed my many hours at the Escazu location. The staff was always friendly as I entered the building. I always looked forward to conversations about my work week or Costa Rican life in Spanish with Yohanna. I would highly recommend the program and will take refresher courses in the future now that I am back in The States.

I worked in San Jose Costa Rica for three years as a financial controller and office manager for a large international fruit export company.


When I arrived, I had no Spanish whatsoever. I needed to learn Spanish quickly as a number of my staff did not speak english and I also needed to visit fruit farms in various parts of Central America where Spanish was the only language spoken.

Yohanna Araya was the co-ordinator for our company but at that time was also providing some Spanish Classes for Intensa.

She was very well organised and engaging and tailored the Intensa program to my needs, for example, working on specific vocabulary and scenarios that I would come across in my work and focusing on those areas.


I initially had an intensive program of 4 hours per day for a period of 6 weeks and at this point I was able to converse with my colleagues on some simple work tasks in Spanish as well as having more detailed general conversations.

As we progressed, I opted to have 2 2 hour classes per week and in 12 months I had decent working Spanish.

Thanks to Intensa for their hard work and skill.

I had private Spanish classes on Intensa Escazu. Spanish was new for me. I could learn it with joy during classes that were relaxed and fun. The printed and audio visual material is very well prepared, easy to understand and with varied subjects. I could as well learn many things about Costa Rica.

We were so very fortunate to do the Intensa program. Yohanna was an amazing instructor and the curriculum was great. We learned so much and enjoyed our class time.