Spanish at Locations

Placement organization

Name of organization: Spanish at Locations
Town/city: Puerto Viejo
Country: Costa Rica
Website: http://www.spanishatlocations.com/

Name of student: Joyce van Weering

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Language School
Organization’s activities: Providing accommodation, Spanish classes and activities for incoming guests and students.
Target group of the organization: 20-50
Company culture: Informal
Number of employees: 25
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Managing the school
Brief description of your daily activities: Answering emails and questions, making class schedules, buying supplies, managing the school
Brief description of your company assignment: Evaluating the volunteer work provided at 4 schools
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor lives and work somewhere else so I spoke the her frequently but hardly saw her.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Individual, initiative & improvise skills
Additional company requirements for this placement? General computer skills
English: Advanced
Spanish: Intermediate
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian: Basic
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airport + bus

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? The company
How did you go to work every day? I lived at the school I was working at

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No, you get a 90 days tourist visum when entering Costa Rica. After 3 months you have to leave the country for 72 hours. When returning to Costa Rica, you will get another 90 days.
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Via school, the company & the embassy
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? about a month
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? about a month

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? Yes, if you are in a Spanish speaking country it is definately helpfull to have level A2.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 900
Accommodation (monthly): € provided by the company
Local transport (monthly): € 15
General costs of living (monthly): € 300-400
Costs of visa: € –
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? Nothing, I only got my accommodation for free because I worked at the school.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I prepared myself by speaking enough Spanish and reading into the town I was going to.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes, the laid back atmosphere of the town and the people made it sometimes hard to work with my western way of thinking.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: joyce25_9@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Don’t walk around alone & stay away from the drugs scene.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: – Surfing
– Biking around
– Going to Panama

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link