San Marcos Spanish School

It's the only Spanish school in San Marcos, and luckily also the best! Irma is a FANTASTIC teacher, I really looked forward to our afternoon classes and they're really flexible to the needs of students. They book up in advance so make you reserve beforehand if you're planning a trip to the lake.

I had a great experience with the Spanish Immersion Program. I opted for 4 hours a day for 6 days. My teacher, Paulina, was fantastic. We spent time in the outside classroom on grammar and then we explored San Pedro one day and San Juan one day and practiced conversationally. Paulina moved at a perfect pace for me and was very patient and kind. Evelin, the coordinator (and also a teacher), was also very kind and helpful with all the program and travel details.

Had a great week at the spanish school & the homestay. Irma, my teacher, is a lovely person, very friendly, patient and a good teacher. The school had a tranquil setting to it with lots of nature. My homestay was amazing - i stayed with Angelina who is an amazing cook and very friendly. My room was very spacious and private with an incredible balcony view of the lake & volcanoes. Couldnt recommend the homestay & school more!

I cannot recommend my time learning Spanish with Paulina enough. I had 3 hour class each day for a week and my Spanish has improved greatly. As a tutor Paulina was extremely professional and dedicated to her work. She made learning Spanish fun.. If you choose to learn Spanish at this school be prepared to be excited for your class each day and to leave each class full of enthusiasm to learn more.

I recently had the opportunity to study at San Marcos Spanish School in the charming town of San Marcos la Laguna, Guatemala. My experience during the week-long Spanish immersion course was incredibly rewarding, largely thanks to my teacher, Evelin. As a complete beginner, I was impressed by Evelin's patience and skillful teaching as she helped me navigate the challenges of learning Spanish.

Over the course of five lessons, Evelin's clear explanations and practical approach to teaching Spanish grammar significantly boosted my understanding and speaking abilities. The school offers a welcoming and supportive environment, ideal for beginners who are apprehensive about making mistakes or speaking out loud.

I wholeheartedly recommend this experience to anyone eager to dive into the Spanish language. It's a blend of fun, challenge, and immense learning, all set against the backdrop of beautiful Lake Atitlan.

I spent two weeks in San Marcos taking lessons with Paulina and couldn’t recommend the school more. The “classrooms” are outside which I was pleasantly surprised by! I felt very relaxed and comfortable which made it not only easier to learn but fun :) They are very flexible with scheduling and overall great people to work with. All in all, I really felt my Spanish progress and am very happy with my decision to attend.

I was able to improve my Spanish so much during my month at the San Marcos Spanish school. My teacher, Evelin, had really comprehensive teaching techniques and provided various quick but extremely helpful homework assignments. I now have a much better grasp of the rules/foundation of the language and feel much more confident conversationally. I did a homestay for 2 out of my 4 weeks. The family was lovely and the food was incredible but they were often speaking the local language, Kaqchikel, so I didn't get to practice Spanish too much there. The school is outside, which was really lovely and a relaxing setting for learning. Do it!

I would highly recommend San Marcos Spanish School to anyone who wants to visit Lake Atitlan and desires an immersive learning experience. I spent almost 4 months taking classes 5 times a week for 3 hours a day, whilst also living with a local host family. This gave me the opportunity to speak Spanish 24/7 and experience the local life of a Guatemalan family. Both the teachers at school and the local family were so nice and helpful. The family of Angelina prepared 3 meals a day and we spoke about many different things like life in Guatemala, the government and daily life in the town of San Marcos. I had the opportunity to eat many local Guatemalan dishes and learn so much about the culture. My teacher Irma was so patient and throughout my time at the school she became more like a friend than a teacher and I enjoyed my classes with her. She was very accommodating, on days where I was tired we would simply converse instead of learning new material. When we did learn new material she made sure that I understood everything and gave me opportunities to ask questions. I love that it was a nice outdoor environment that made a 1 on 1 class feel very comfortable. Everything about my experience at the San Marcos Spanish School was amazing and I would love to return one day for more classes and recommend anyone reading this to go and explore it for yourself.

I had a wonderful experience at San Marcos Spanish School. Irma is such a great teacher, who really prepares her classes so well, that I had a lot of fun and 4 hours felt like 1. I learned a lot and I would be very happy to come back someday. Thank you so much!

I highly recommend San Marcos Spanish school! I only did Spanish for one week, 3 hours a day and I learned so much! I already had some basic knowledge but I can finally say I completely understand the past tenses now. My teacher was Paulina and she is the best Spanish teacher I ever had! She has been so friendly, patient and full of love. She told me so many stories about Guatamala and her family that I felt I finally really connected to the culture in Guatamala as well. I can’t wait to come back to the lake and together with Paulina improve my Spanish even more!

I was so impressed with the quality of education in San Marcos Spanish school. I LOVED working with Christina, and the lessons all built on each other with a good mix of practical conversation and learning verbs and grammar. It was fun and easy and the time flew by. I learned a lot and there is so much more to learn so I’ll definitely be back! I highly recommend this school! Muchas Gracias

Amazing place to learn Spanish for a week! Clemente was very patient and explained everything so well. It was also great fun and I not only learned Spanish but I also learned a lot about Guatemala and Mayan culture. Thank you Clemente and the team! Highly recommend

My teacher, Paulina, who works at the San Marcos school of Spanish. What is the best match! I needed someone who was patient and kind to answer many many many questions not only about the language, but also about the culture and she was very forthcoming in both of those areas. We talked about so many different topics I cannot begin to save them all, but I also learned all four of my past tenses, so it’s the best experience to have fun and learn at the same time! she was also flexible enough to walk with me, mini kilometers uphill and downhill so I could see an experience and ask all those pertinent questions about what’s happening in the street, with the people, with the markets , all the different types of fruits, flowers, plants, you name it she was there for me every step of the way! I highly recommend a two week intensive course, which actually is 30 hours of language learning. And if Paulina is available for you, and this is the type of experience you would like, and lessons you would like, she might be your next teacher.
And yes, she walked with me all the way up to the Mira door in San Pedro and all the way back down we never took a Tuk-Tuk. She’s the best!!

I had the chance to have Cristina as my Spanish teacher. We had 3 hours a day for 4 days and even thought 3 hours is long, It went really fast with Cristina. She is a great teacher, patient and funny. I really feel I got to a good place in Spanish because of her! Thank you so much ☺

I did 15 hours of Spanish language classes with Irma from the San Marcos school, knowing almost none of the language to begin with. She was a fantastic instructor who made the lessons fun, and I felt confident to navigate Guatemala on my own afterwards (and excited to improve my Spanish further). Muchas gracias Irma!

I studied for a week at San Marcos Spanish School in December and my teacher, Irma, was amazing! She was very patient with me and helped me review and learn a lot in just 15 hours!
The games we played were also a helpful way to break up the lessons! Muchas Gracias!

This is a great Spanish school, Andres was a brilliant teacher. He was very open to taking the lessons in a direction we felt we needed help with, whilst also ensuring we had practice in many facets of the language. The school is very reasonably priced compared to other countries, especially for private lessons! I'd recommend this place to anyone. It was also a beautiful place to study, and San Marcos is a great place to stay whilst studying.

I had a great time at the language school! My homestay was very cute and I felt totally welcomed. The classes improved my spanish a lot :)

I stayed 4 weeks (4 hours per day) at the SM Spanish school with homestay. Having studied in both San Marcos and Antigua, I found the quality of teaching to be much higher in San Marcos (it’s also cheaper than antigua). All their teachers are very experienced and I found they had a good balance of structure and flexibility (depending on what and how you like to learn). My Spanish isn’t great but my teacher Christina was able to give really comprehensive explanations in a way I could easily understand and apply. I found my Spanish improved a lot in this time. Lessons in Antigua seem to be a bit more aimless..

My homestay was with a Mayan family with 3 delicious meals every day. I had a large room with beautiful views of the lake and volcano’s. All the other students in homestays had great lodgings as well. San Marcos doesn’t get as many students as San Pedro so the families are so deeply grateful for you staying there, they really go the extra mile to make you feel welcome and like part of the family. If you are looking for a more immersive experience and want to support a local community, I can’t recommend San Marcos Spanish school highly enough! Staying even just a week at a homestay can make such a huge difference to the lives of locals, it is money very well spent!
The lake is of course beautiful as well!

I had el cursor intensivo del idioma from Irma, one week of private lessons. It was extremely helpfull, we made a lot of progress and the lesson were fun and contains al lot of variation. I would definitly recommend Irma as a teacher and San Marcos Spanish school!