Reviews
We are very pleased to reproduce here comments from students who have studied with us. We hope you will enjoy reading about their experiences of leaning Spanish in Panajachel and their travels in Guatemala. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.
Students' Testimonials
"I just left the school and I want to say that my experience was
awesome. Alex was a fantastic teacher, positive, kind and patient
with me! He always smiled and made me feel at easy practicing my
speaking skills. The whole place was welcoming and Gregorio and
his wife do amazing work in the community. If you want to study
while knowing that where you are studying is doing great work,
this is your place!" - Amy Farmer
"Jabel Tinamit has everything a traveling student is looking for -
great teachers, comprehensive curriculum, cultural activities, a
beautiful courtyard and terrace, and a view of Lake Atitlan that
is breathtaking. Run by a local Mayan family, the school is rich
in culture and community. The staff is welcoming and efficient. I
stayed with a local family and was able to experience life
first-hand in Guatemala. The centerpiece of Panajachel (where
Jabel Tinamit is located) is Lake Atitlan, a volcanic lake
surrounded by mountains and extant volcanoes - simply one of the
most beautiful place in the world. Spend your days studying
Spanish, visiting the local market on Calle Santander, enjoy
famous Guatemalan coffee at the Crossroads Cafe or take a "lancha"
and visit the other pueblos around the lake. It´s an experience of
people and place that you won´t forget".
- Susan Breving
"I spent a whole month (4 or 5 hours a day) learning intensive
Spanish at Jabel. My four-year old daughter also spent an hour a
day learning Spanish there. And the whole experience was
incredible. The teachers are great - they are engaged, adaptable,
and patient. They go at your pace and really help you understand
the language and its nuances. With my daughter, the teacher made
sure to try different things to keep her engaged. I am definitely
going to continue my classes over Skype and would love to go back
and take more intensive Spanish. And it is not just the teachers
who are wonderful - the entire place is - they are very kind and
hospitable. I would wholeheartedly recommend the school - you
can't go wrong there!" - Manisha Mehta
"When I arrived at Jabel Tinamit, I had already booked classes at
another school for the following week. However, once I got here,
it was just too wonderful to leave. First of all, the grounds are
marvelous. The garden in which I've taken all of my classes is
enchanting and the view of the surrounding volcanoes from the roof
is just breathtaking. The owners, Candelaria y Gregorio, go out of
their way to make the students comfortable. During the three weeks
that I studied, there were activities for the students nearly
every day. I simply asked Gregorio how I would go about visiting a
local Mayan site and before I knew it, he had planned it as a
school-wide activity! Of course, the reason that I came to
Guatemala was to learn Spanish. Before arriving in Panajachel, I
had studied for a week in Xela and had been very unsatisfied with
the instruction at the school there. I was afraid that I would
find a similar standard of instruction here. Thankfully, I was
very wrong! I studied with Florinda my entire time here and she
was absolutely wonderful. She did NOT just follow along with a
book. I could tell that she was teaching me according to her
assessment of how I was progressing. For example, on at least one
occasion she noticed that, as we were talking, I was still having
difficulties with a certain grammatical structure and she
recommended that we go back to review it a bit more extensively. I
will definitely be coming back to study here in the future. I
could not recommend Jabel Tinamit more!!"
- Alicia, USA
"Having experienced 3 different Spanish Language
Schools in Guatemala Jabel Tinamit was by far the most
outstanding. They have excellent resources, including a library,
Spanish language movies and other Spanish reading material. My
teacher was amazing with tremendous patience and a lot of fun. I
looked forward to my classes each day, not only did I learn
Spanish but also about Guatemala, it's history, politics and way
of life. I felt a tremendous rapport with my teacher, Gladys, and
was truly sad when it was time to leave. I hope to continue my
"Spanish Experience" with Jabel Tinamit through Skype. Thank you
to everyone at the school for a fabulous experience."
- Gill, Australia
"Jabel Tinamit Spanish School - what a great experience. I'm
studying at an advanced level and my teacher was excellent. The
school is lovely and the staff welcoming. The other students were
a great support too! My 'family' stay was simple, comfortable and
delicious food. I've studied at 6 other Spanish Schools in the
past decade and found Jabel Tinamit to be very good overall. I had
a GREAT time! Also loved Panajachel and Lake Atitlan. I called it
the Hawaii of Guatemala!!!" - Suzan
Morgan, Canada
"I highly recommend studying Spanish at Jabel Tinamit. It is the
best Spanish language school I have ever attended. The owners and
the teachers are professional and very knowledgeable of the
Spanish language. The teachers are well trained with knowing
exactly how to gear and direct the classes. They cater to the
needs of the students and focus on what they need help with the
most. The owners are also very helpful and caring. They went out
of their way to make me feel at home. The school always has super
fun activities planned during the week so the students have other
opportunities to practice their Spanish and learn about the
culture and history of Guatemala. The host families are also
great. For anyone wanting a full immersion experience, home stay
is the way to go. The host families are very kind and do
everything they can to make the students feel welcome,
comfortable, and right at home. Jabel Tinamit has a great
reputation and I can honestly say that my Spanish has improved
leaps and bounds all because of my experience here. This has been
an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed and will never forget. I
will definitely be back to study at Jabel Tinamit in the future." - Amber, USA
"I have been taking private lessons online for over
3 months. My teacher is very qualified and patient. We have worked
together through some complicated grammar rules and practiced
conversation. She always makes me feel good about what I am
learning. I recommend this school to anyone interested in
learning." - Patty Dodson, Online
Student
"My husband had been nervous about doing this but he enjoyed it. I
was in heaven speaking Spanish for 4 hours every day! We also
worked on some grammar points, mainly the subjunctive (of
course!). The setting is beautiful and relaxed, as you can see
from the photos. It is professionally run and everyone there, both
students and teachers, all seem friendly and happy to be there. I
highly recommend it!" - Ellen &
Pat, USA
"Candelaria, our Spanish teacher, speaks Spanish, English, and
Kaqchikel, runs the school and tutors, and administrates a
scholarship program in rural villages in her spare time. We met
her two months ago, online, because she teaches lessons on the
internet, using Skype video chat. It's great and affordable, and
we recommend it for anyone who is preparing to come here on a
trip. It has been invaluable for us, and she is an excellent
teacher. Their site is www.jabeltinamit.com"
- Dave, Canada
"During October 1998 I visited Guatemala because I had decided,
finally, to improve my Spanish beyond "Donde esta el bano?" I
tried three different schools in three towns and found Spanish
School Jabel Tinamit to be by far the best. The relaxed and
conversational style of teaching fully met my need to build
vocabulary and develop an understanding of grammar. The Homestay
option gave me total immersion in Spanish to help with practice
and confidence in speaking the language. And the climate and
beauty of Panajachel made it the perfect "classroom" in which to
learn. I made good friends at the School and help out with their
website. I have returned to Jabel Tinamit three times since then
(1999, 2001 and 2008) and on each visit it has been wonderful to
meet my friends at the school again and to chat with students from
places like Korea, Denmark, Australia and the USA. I'll be back
soon I'm sure!" - Paul H, UK
"Learning (Spanish) online has been a very positive
experience for me. It has allowed me to learn language like
youngsters learn language. They listen, repeat words, make
phrases, and finally speak with sentences. Children learn tenses,
vocabulary, and concepts very naturally. My online classes with
Candelaria have allowed me to pursue this style of learning. Thank
you Candelaria." - Ken, Canada
"I have had several on-line classes per week over the past few
months It has been an excellent experience. I have learned more
REAL Spanish in a few months than I had in several years of
traditional methods with tapes, CD's and books. I highly recommend
it to anyone wanting to learn REAL Spanish quickly."
- Barry, USA
"First we planned to study Spanish only during one week, but when
we discovered the professionalism of our nice teachers and how
they dedicate all their energy to their students, we decided to
stay 4 weeks more. Candelaria and Gregorio were wonderful teachers
who also made us discover a lot about Guatemala. We warmly
recommend you to this school. It is really a nice experience to
study here." - Ingrid and Philippe,
Belgium
"I looked at schools in Antigua and none of them had the
atmosphere of Spanish School Jabel Tinamit. I have never studied
Spanish in a foreign country and I cannot wait to return in the
future. I recommend this school to anyone who wants to learn
Spanish and to have the time of their lives at the same time. I
plan on telling all my friends about this school."
- David Cohen, USA
"Thank you for a thoroughly productive three weeks. It is
incredible to think how much I have achieved in so short a space
of time. When I arrived here I knew only a handful of Spanish
words but can now converse in Spanish on politics and read Spanish
newspapers. This experience has meant that I can travel in Central
America with greater confidence. Good luck with your fund raising
and all the best for the future." -
Alex Ismail, Nottingham, UK
"After trying other schools and not progressing as
quickly as I liked, I decided to try this school mainly because of
it's flexible hours. You can make your own program and change
hours according your needs. It's a refreshing change to other
schools. The relaxed atmosphere also helped me to chill out, and
the teachers were of high quality with great patience. I would
recommend any person to this school as I can now converse in the
language." - Michael Hoskin, Australia
"My family and I attended the school in the fall of 1999 for 2
weeks. What a wonderful experience! We stayed with a wonderful
Mayan family. We were very safe and could even walk after dark
without fear. While there I checked out other schools in Pana,
Xela, and Antiqua. By far we picked the best school! I was
concerned that studying with a Mayan owned school we might be
picking up an accent or the grammar would be inferior. Boy was I
ignorant! The teachers are highly educated and can quickly adapt
to your level of Spanish and bring you up to greater
conversational and reading skills. My daughter, a musician, was
intensely interested in the intimate details of grammar. She had
taken intermediate Spanish as a home schooled high school student
at the local community college in the Kansas City area 97-98.
Summer 2000 she quizzed out of some Spanish and earned a minor in
Spanish after her first semester at Ball State University in
Indiana. My wife, a beginner, was able to grow in her
understanding and confidence. As an intermediate student, I was
primarily interested in increasing my conversational skills. My
instructor was easily able to create a program for my needs. One
of the things that bothered me about other schools was that US
contacts would promote these schools and rake funds off the top.
This was not the case with Jabel Tinamit. All the money I paid
went to the school. The prices were reasonable and fair. The field
trips were excellent, and the school has bicycles for rent at
better prices than in town." - Tio Roy,
USA
"The great thing about Jabel Tinamit was that they are very
flexible, so I was able to start my lessons in the middle of the
week. You can also choose between 4,5 or 6 hours a day. I decided
to take only 4 hours from 8am to noon, since then I still had the
whole afternoon to do different things...Gregorio introduced me to
Brenda, my teacher for the week. So we sat down in the beautiful
garden of the school and started the [first] lesson. I had learned
a bit of Spanish before - 7 yrs back in Germany in evening school
- so I knew the basics. My goal was just that I refreshed my
vocabulary and get more comfortable again talking Spanish. There
were 3 more "estudiantes" and their teachers so it's a nice small
school." - Tina, Munich, Germany
"Most people in Guatemala study in Antigua, which is a beautiful
little city, but it also is filled with tourists. I went instead
to Panajachel, which is on the shore of a lake in the highlands.
The scenery is spectacular and you can take boats to the other
villages rimming the lake, each with their own history, Mayan
language, and culture. The school itself was Jabel Tinamit and was
in a beautiful, garden-like setting. The teacher was excellent. My
Spanish was probably a high intermediate at the time".
- King M
As you can see from the above reviews, our school is a melting pot
of nationalities. To assist non-English speakers we have
translated some key information into various world languages.
Please click here for our
international introduction to Spanish School Jabel Tinamit.