In this article, Laura Graichen shares her experience learning Spanish with Proyecto Peru.
Five years ago, I came to South America with zero knowledge of the Spanish language. I thought that I would get far with hands and footwork, but nothing could be further from the truth. Well, in the end you will get there, but some basic knowledge of Spanish is actually indispensable as it makes traveling a lot easier. In addition, it is nice if you can chat a little with the locals. You immediately get a lot of respect if they only see that you are trying!
Learn Spanish in South America
This time I decided to learn Spanish, I went looking for what would be the best place for me. Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia or Peru? After reading a lot on forums on the internet I found out that they speak with an accent in countries such as Chile and Argentina. The Chileans swallow half of their sentences and the Argentines use a lot of “sh” in their sentences. For example, where “pollo” (chicken) is pronounced in Spanish as “pojo”, the Argentines again say “posho”. Okay, where do they speak Spanish clearly and intelligibly?
In the end I have the idea that Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador are the best options. Ecuador is not on my list to visit, but Peru, Colombia and Bolivia are. I hear that Peruvians in particular appear to speak Spanish very clearly. After a little more searching, I know that Cusco, the former capital of the Empire of the Incas, is a beautiful city where they speak beautiful Spanish and is a nice base for all the interesting sightseeing spots in the area such as Machu Picchu and Titicaca Lake.
Language School in Cusco
In the Facebook group “Central and South America backpackers” I read positive comments about the school Proyecto Peru. Good lessons, small classes, fun tours to different places in the area… Exactly what I am looking for. It all looks good, so I decide to make the decision: I’m going to learn Spanish in Cusco!
I booked the four-week summer course via the Proyecto Peru website. That it is not a summer in December and that they have no other seasons in Peru at all than the dry and wet season does not seem to matter.
The “summer course” is offered throughout the year. The package includes five days a week three hours a day of Spanish lessons, four weeks stay with a host family including all meals and tours on weekends to Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, a day of rafting and a day to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. I also book the “Lima package”. I flew from the Netherlands to Lima in Peru in the evening and I was picked up from the airport and taken to a hotel in Lima. The next morning I was taken back to the airport for my flight to Cusco. The total costs for the course amount to € 1500.
It seemed very interesting to experience the real Peruvian life and, thus, to stay with a Peruvian family. How do they live? What traditions do they have? Do they speak a little English or do I have to speak Spanish right from the start? Which would actually be very useful to learn Spanish in a short time … So yes, let me stay with a host family that also includes all meals… Super! Nice that a plate of food is ready when I leave school. That is a long time ago!
What did I learn in 4 weeks?
In the meantime my lessons at Proyecto Peru are already over. From December I have had lessons 5 days a week. It turned out to be low season and there were few other students, so my group lessons became private lessons. I had to get used to that; all attention went to me and that immediately made the lessons very intensive. After three hours of lessons I was terribly demolished every time… What a lot of information!
Side note: It’s important to have a good click with your teacher because that makes studying a lot more fun.
Luckily, I had that click. I was taught by Lydha, a nice girl who has been teaching at the school for ten years. I started with a beginner class, so everything went smoothly. From asking questions and having conversations to grammar and games to increase my vocabulary, everything was covered during the lessons.
In addition to the lessons, the school also organises small field trips to practise Spanish. We went to an alpaca farm, and I went to two museums with Lydha. First a museum with paintings by a local painter and later a chocolate museum. The latter appealed to me the most as a chocolate freak! During the outings, she almost only spoke to me in Spanish and wanted me to speak Spanish. Handy … so you learn very quickly!
So in four weeks I have certainly learned some basic knowledge of Spanish so that I can at least ask where the bus stops is now that I am going to travel through the rest of Peru. To get a good grasp of grammar, I would have to take lessons much longer (for example, I would have learned the past) and practice much more in practice. A small chat with the locals is possible but it remains a kind of mix of Spanish and English (also called “Spanglish” here). In any case, traveling is a lot easier and I think that I ultimately learn the most in practice.
I enjoyed the stay with my host family. I really experienced the Peruvian culture, how people live. We have also celebrated Christmas and New Year’s Eve together in the traditional way. My host family consisted of Yoni, her daughter Wendy, her husband Branco, and their two children Raffael (2 years) and Luana (4 years). In addition, two Belgian girls also lived in a separate part of the house. I had my own bedroom and shared the bathroom with the two girls. The food consisted of three meals a day. Varied food too, although lunch and dinner often consisted of rice.
I can definitely recommend Proyecto Peru if you want to learn Spanish in Peru. Classes consist of a maximum of four people so you get all the attention during class. Host families are carefully selected by the school, so you will certainly end up well. The school offers everything outside of class, such as volunteering or learning “quechua”, the language of the Incas. This language is still spoken, for example, on the islands of Lake Titicaca.
Have you also learned Spanish at Proyecto Peru? Leave a comment below this message and let us know what your findings were!
Translated and adapted from Alleen Op Reis