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Study Spanish in Guatemala
Spanish Immersion School in Guatemala
CELAS MAYA is a Spanish school located in Quetzaltenango (also known as Xela), Guatemala. The school was founded in 1999 and is dedicated to developing excellent Spanish programs in a total immersion environment in the one-on-one style. Celas Maya Spanish School is an Instituto Cervantes Accredited Center as well as an official DELE and SIELE Exam Center.
The school is made up of a team of Spanish teachers who are certified by the San Carlos University of Guatemala and the Cervantes Institute of Spain, nationally certified guides, wonderful host families who make the students part of the family, as well as an administrative team interested in and dedicated to offering high-quality educational services to students.
Celas Maya is located in the legendary neighborhood of Los Chocoyos, which is next to the bridge with the same name, just 3 blocks from the central park in the heart of the historic center of Quetzaltenango, in a building built in 1880 with a café, gardens, and other facilities that encourage learning in a peaceful, cozy, and pleasant environment.
Studying Spanish at Celas Maya Spanish school is an extraordinary experience - Start now with your online spanish classes via Skype or Zoom, before you arrive in Guatemala.
Spanish classes from Xela, Guatemala.
Medical Spanish Course
Medical Spanish is one of the oldest programs in CELAS MAYA developed for learning Spanish quickly and adapted for healthcare profesionals and includes Volunteer opportunities.
DELE Exams
DELE Exams give you the official diploma of Spanish Language that certifies your Spanish proficiency and is accepted by many universities and organizations around the world.
DELE Preparation Online Course
DELE Preparation Online is a course that allows you to prepare for your As-C2 DELE Exam through Instituto Cervantes at one of the Examination Centers around the world.
Bussines Spanish Course
Business Spanish is a course focused on business students and business professionals. Includes specialized vocabulary and topics of latin american culture.
Online Spanish Classes
Online Spanish Classes - The more confortable way to learn spanish with one of our experienced online spanish tutor, start now, learn spanish online free, with a trial lesson.
Guarantee your spot at Celas Maya and enjoy the best Spanish immersion program in Xela, Guatemala.
Why Celas Maya?
What sets us apart is evident by the international credits that support us, the preference and comments of our students:
- Accredited Center for the Instituto Cervantes.
- DELE Exam Testing Center in Xela or Quetzaltenango.
- SIELE Exam Testing Center.
- Curriculum plan based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and Curriculum Plan of the Instituto Cervantes.
- Our experienced and multidisciplinary team.
- We offer transferable University Credits.
- Member of the International Association of Language Centers.
- An experienced teaching staff to prepare and administer exams.
- A colonial style building.
- The best coffee from Guatemala.
- And an adequate number of students that allow us maintain a nice environment.
Get the best benefits!
Student testimonials
Zach Halpern, 2019
Celas Maya was an amazing experience. It was a school where I learned a lot of Spanish, very quickly, with private tutors, but it was also a deep dive in Guatemalan culture -- cuisine, art, traditions, adventures.
The teaching was amazing. I've never had 5 hours a day go by so quickly. You don't just learn grammar, but you immerse yourself in conversation -- learning about your teacher, having them learn about you, and tailoring the content to what's important to you (in my case, that was medicine).
The teachers were incredible, too.
Ying Hui Lim, 2019
I attended classes with Celas Meya in Xela in February 2019. The staff responded to my never ending queries and questions in a timely manner and was extremely efficient, patient and reassuring prior to me making a commitment.
From zero Spanish background, I was able to grasp a number of vocabulary that was useful for my traveling. My teacher, Paula was extremely patient with someone like me with no Spanish capabilities. The school also organised daily activities which would...
Kyle Bruna, 2019
I studied in three different cities and while each were nice for varying reasons Xela was the best city to study Spanish. As a whole Celas Maya is great! They communicated with me throughout the entire process, which is a huge help when you are visiting a country for the first time. Once I arrived I was set up with a great host family and an awesome teacher. I learned a lot in my two weeks there. They encourage you to speak in spanish as much as possible and most the activities throughout the week are in Spanish which is really...
Learn Spanish in Guatemala.
How Celas Maya was born…
In 1999, Leslye Rivera and Federico Velásquez created Celas Maya with the vision of offering students a professional and high level Spanish school in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.
Having the ideal building, a team of the best teachers, good coffee, and offering effective Spanish instruction were our goals. We are delighted to see that in addition to this, we have managed to add other values as well: the passion for quality and the joy of celebrating human diversity and friendship.
Now we are proud to be an Accredited Center of the Instituto Cervantes; an Official Testing Center of DELE and SIELE in Guatemala.
All this is a product of the efforts and work of our exceptional team of teachers, administration, and directors.
The coffee is still good, the building is better, all the staff are better trained, and the quality and personal attention are still our priority.
Become Fluent in Spanish at Celas Maya, Guatemalan Spanish School.
Learn Spanish in Guatemala and obtain transferable university credits.
Since you are attracted to the beautiful Spanish language, you have the firm intention to learn it, to speak it, and to understand it. You want to become fluent in Spanish, however you have several questions: how do I learn the language easily, effectively and quickly? Where do I take the best Spanish immersion program? What is the best Spanish school for me?
In Latin America, there are many Spanish schools that offer courses for small groups and also in the one to one style. Let's mention some of the most popular destinations. In Mexico, there are many Spanish language schools, for example in Oaxaca, Don Quijote, in Guadalajara IMAC Spanish Language Programs, in Playa del Carmen International House Accredited by the Cervantes Institute.
Ecuador where you can not only take a open course but also take a DELE exam preparation course and even take this exam in any of its levels at the Spanish School In Quito, in Montañitas Spanish School, on the beach of the same name. The Tica Academy and CPI Spanish School in Costa Rica offer open courses, as well as preparation and the DELE Exam as they are certified by the Cervantes Institute. In Panama, where the HablaYa Spanish School also offers exams of all levels from A1 to C2. The same can be said of Argentina, which has a wide range of courses in Spanish as a foreign language, Nicaragua or Colombia.
But, what is the best Spanish school in Guatemala for me? there are three regions with the largest number of Spanish schools, such as Antigua Guatemala, Quetzaltenango, and Lake Atitlán. Both in Quetzaltenango, also known as Xela and in Antigua, there are Centers Accredited by the Cervantes Institute and DELE Examination Centers, Christian Spanish Academy in Antigua Guatemala and CELAS MAYA in Xela. In both Centers you can take the DELE exams in levels A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. In Petén, near the Ruins of Tikal, there is the Eco School Spanish School as well.
Around Lake Atitlan you can find excellent schools such as San Pedro Spanish School, in the village of San Pedro La Laguna, the Spanish School cooperative and community, as well as Jabel Tinamit and Jardín de America in Panajachel. In Quetzaltenango, besides the Spanish schools, CELAS MAYA there are also other very good schools such as the Quetzalteco Linguistic Project of Spanish known as PLQ, Sol Latino Spanish School and Utatlán among others.
Doing a total immersion course allows you to acquire a broad Spanish vocabulary, learn the grammar of the language, and above all develop your fluency and understanding and the cultural codes that contextualize the language. For advanced courses, higher grammatical analysis, discourse analysis and phonetics. This means that you can find a Spanish course for beginners, study intermediate Spanish, or you can sign up for an advanced Spanish course.
Whether it is a medical Spanish course, Spanish and Guitar, Spanish and Salsa or Spanish and Literature, all are conveniently organized and offered on a one-to-one basis in most schools. Age is not a problem, there are courses specially designed for children and adults, for students and professionals or for retirees who want to develop their oral, reading, listening or writing skills in Spanish; All this while of staying with a Guatemalan host family, in a hostel, or hotel.
There are 450 million Spanish speakers worldwide and it has become one of the most important languages in various areas of life, in the commercial field, in academia, and it is also important in the tourism industry. It is the second most used language on the internet, so it is worth speaking for these functional reasons, but also because Spanish is a beautiful language.
Resorting to apps, platforms, or pages that offer free resources to learn Spanish for yourself can be a very good option to start, for example Duolingo, Babbel or Rosetta Stone, however, and as you progress, you realize that you need to take the next step, and for this one of the best ways to accelerate your learning is to live the language in its natural environment. In other words, take a Total Immerson Spanish Course.
Don’t just say "I want to learn Spanish" study Spanish abroad or start today with Spanish classes online via Skype or Zoom or sign up for one of our Specialized or Complete Courses here in Guatemala. As Guatemalans we believe that we have the best Spanish school, the best teachers, the best program, and the best system, one-to-one, you can experience it or look for another country but do not simply live with the desire to speak Spanish as a foreign language, speak it. And learn when to use SER or ESTAR, SABER or CONCER, past or imperfect or subjunctive versus Indicative. So we invite you to study Spanish in Guatemala.