Overview

Double major in language and culture

ACA’s Costa Rica and Panama programs combine a community-service opportunity, a college-level
language class, an SAT prep course or your choice of select enrichment courses. Run by the Costa Rican Language Academy (CRLA), the language classes benefit from being held in the midst of Costa Rica’s Spanish-speaking culture, adding depth to the conversation few conventional classrooms can match! Courses are offered only to ACA students, meet five days a week and are graded on a conventional grading system.

Students can earn three hours of applicable college credit upon completion of this comprehensive
program. In addition, high schools often grant credit for ACA courses as well. We’ll be happy to work
with your school ahead of time to determine whether your ACA coursework qualifies for such credit. The community-service component can be applied toward high school graduation service requirements.

College credits are conferred through Jacksonville University and are transferable to most universities, according to a school’s specific standards. Official university transcripts, including course credit and grades, are available to each ACA student. As an added benefit, ACA’s professors are always happy to write recommendation letters for college.

The Costa Rican Language Academy– An Ideal Setting for Studying Spanish Language and Costa Rican Culture

The Costa Rican Language Academy (CRLA) is a private institution specializing in Spanish language instruction. Since 1989, CRLA has worked to take learning beyond the textbook by including cultural activities and educational trips that create a more complete approach to speaking and understanding Spanish. CRLA is one of the few schools in Costa Rica completely owned and staffed by Costa Ricans. It prides itself on ensuring the most genuine cultural experience possible while maintaining a safe, secure location that creates an ideal learning environment.

Spanish Classes with CRLA

Each weekday, you attend Spanish classes that best suit your skill level, learning to improve your conversational and written Spanish. Emphasis is on proper pronunciation and appropriate cultural tone. Students with more advanced skills focus on complex sentence structure and verb tenses, but regardless of your skill level, every student has the countries of Costa Rica and Panama as the backdrop for their studies! Whether you’re a total beginner or practically fluent, you’ll be amazed at how much better your Spanish becomes and just how much fun learning a language can be when you immerse yourself in the culture.

The program offers three levels of classes to choose from, with placement dependent upon previous Spanish-language experience as well as your own comfort level. CRLA instructors travel with ACA to Arenal and Manuel Antonio, ensuring the academic integrity of the program.