Guatemala has earned quite a reputation for itself as a destination for learning Spanish. The main advantages of studying in Guatemala include the fact that the accent here is pretty soft and easy to understand, unlike e.g Argentina with all their jajajas. The quality of the teaching is also high with most teachers having to obtain a diploma in English teaching. The classes are usually on a one to one basis, which means you can tailor them to meet your specific needs and learning style. And the bottom line; it's the cheapest place in the Americas to learn. On average studying 4-5 hours a day 5 days a week will set you back $180-$250 As I was looking at spending an undetermined amount of time in Central America I definitely wanted to improve my Spanish skills; so I was sold! So the big question I was facing and as I discovered is one that plagues all wannabe students is; Antigua or Xela? So let me put my tupence in, for what it's worth.

Originally I was all for Xela, or to use its official name; Quetzaltenango (commonly called Xela.) My biggest fear about Antigua was that it would be a victim of its own fame; it's popularity as a language learning destination would mean there would be a ton of language students therefore making it all too easy to speak English and in fact missing the entire point of 'total emersion' learning. To a degree this is true, there are lots of English speaking tourists and the locals as a result often speak at least a little English, so if you wanted you could speak in English most of the time outside of the classroom. However as with most things, this is a choice. You are still in a Spanish speaking country surrounded by Spanish speakers- it's up to you who you befriend or speak to and in what language you attempt to communicate. If however you doubt your will power to do this Xela is nowhere near as touristy and as a larger city with a population of 225,000 it rumbles along as normal, almost oblivious to the tourist or language student. This arguably gives you a much more 'authentic' experience and certainly one where you will be forced to use your Spanish more as most people don't speak any English there.

On average the schools in Xela offer classes for slightly cheaper than Antigua ($150-$200 compared to $180-$250) and the schools and teachers are generally of equally good quality. In fact everything in Xela will be slightly cheaper than in Antigua; food, drinks, accommodation & transport. So if price is your main concern, this may be the deal breaker.

Xela as a city itself is not pretty. In fact I distinctly remember it as grey, drab and ugly. At an altitude of 2,330m it can get pretty cold in the evenings and being in the mountains it gets pretty wet. It poured almost the entire two weeks I was there. This undoubtedly affected my image of the city which is perhaps unfair as it was rainy season all over Guatemala (but the weather did not feeling as depressing as this anywhere else and this is coming from an Irish girl, so I am certainly used to rain.)

However its location in the mountains of course has its advantages too. Once you escape the grey city the scenery is fantastic and there are some fantastic treks you can do to from one day volcano hikes to the 5 day Nebaj- Todos Santos trip. There are some very good tour operators in town to help you out especially Quetzaltrekkers with all their profits going to the communities they work with. But bear in mind Antigua is also surrounded by three active volcanoes you can ascend.

Xela has a big student population and so has the nightlife that goes with that; student bars with live rock music, pool halls and discos. If you go to any of these you'll find an almost entirely local crowd, although tourists are very welcome. If you want more of an international crowd just look at a lonely planet, as always anywhere listed there will pull foreigners. Antigua on the other hand has a few of the student style bars & clubs (and of course restaurants) for the younger market but it has a lot more higher end choices as well, including wine bars, fine dining, nice cafes etc. So it depends what you like or maybe more your age for this one.

My personal experience of Xela as a language learning destination was very mixed. As you may have gathered I did not think much of the city itself, however I had a fantastic teacher and host family who made me look past the grey city,at least for a short time. There are lots of language schools, all with different focuses aside from the Spanish classes, so worth searching for the one that suits you best. Some offer volunteer experiences, classes in Mayan culture or politics. Others have more social activities, which is what I opted for when choosing Utatlan language school. They are pretty laid back there (in fact a little too much sometimes, but they usually get things done) and offer activities 6 days a week from visiting local towns, salsa & cooking classes, trips to the cinema and pot luck dinners. So it is great if you arrive there alone, you instantly have a social circle to hang out with and the teachers come along so the conversation is (mostly) in Spanish.

As I mentioned in the beginning my initial plan had been to head to Xela and do my classes there based on the research I'd done on language schools. However it seemed fate had other ideas for me, since all the locals had warned against taking the road from Lanquin to Todos Santos (in was in bad condition after heavy rain) from where I planned to hit hit Xela and start my Spanish enlightenment. Instead they had all told me to take the main road towards Guatemala city and then on to Antigua. So not one to ignore clear signs I did so and decided I may as well try the classes in Antigua whilst I was there- only for a week. Six weeks later I was still there and found it really difficult to leave but curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see if the grass really was greener on the other side in Xela. After two weeks of testing the pastures new I had decided to jump ship back to Antigua and here's why.

I'll have mentioned a lot of this in previous post on why I love Antigua so much but hey in case you missed anything here's a recap. Antigua is gorgeous! It really is a stunningly beautiful city with the entire center made up of perfectly preserved colonial buildings. It's a perfect size so you can get to know the city easier and get much more of a community atmosphere.

Yes it's touristy, in fact very touristy. But people come here for lots of very good reasons. It is a real cultural hub with top art galleries, museums and numerous beautiful churches to visit. Activities wise it's got lots on offer; trekking volcanoes, visiting nearby villages, coffee plantations and avocado farms. Or you can hire bicycles, motorbikes and quads for more adrenaline filled adventures.

The city can cater for the needs of tourists with all budgets and tastes from cheap & cheerful hostels to five star boutique hotels (including the incredible Casa Santo Domingo set in an old convent building, as it's also a museum you can visit and it's well worth a peek). As mentioned before it has a good range of restaurants, bars and clubs particularly given its relatively small size.

Personally for me there is no competition Antigua wins hands down as a destination for language learning or anything else. Xela is however worth visiting to experience the atmosphere of a larger Guatemalan city without braving Guatemala city itself. So if you can visit both- do. If however you need to choose one, or spend longer in one, Antigua is the one! This of course is based entirely on my experience and the amazing people I met there influenced this entirely. So here's some of the finer details of my language learning experience in Antigua which totaled more than two months between my two stays.

I researched schools on line and then went to visit a few before selecting Antigueña Spanish School; which I loved. I highly recommend doing this unless you're hoping to study in peak season or are really short on time, so you can get a feel for the place. Antigueña school is run by a great father-son team Julio & Julito (love it) and nothing is ever too much trouble for them. I got to know Julito quite well as during my 6 weeks studying at the school I passed by the office every week to say I'd do 'just one more week' and he always had time for a chat and wanted to know how I was getting on. The atmosphere in the entire school is quite relaxed, but altogether much more professional than my school in Xela. They also arrange activities such as guided tours of the city, visits to museums and a local village to hear about local customs and how they produce their textiles etc. (some people found it interesting, personally I found it really staged but depends what you like.)

The school itself is pretty small and during my stay there was no chance that all the students would have fitted in. Luckily the school also has the use of some really pretty gardens about a 10 minute walk from the school, which is where I (and about 30-40 other students) had my classes every day. I opted for 4 hours a day with a half hour break in between.

It's quite a role reversal with the student being in charge (to a certain degree) in the classroom; but as you are paying- you're the boss. I think it's really important to set yourself clear learning objectives (e.g do you just want basic conversational Spanish for your travels or do you want to work on specific tenses or grammar points) and communicate these to your teacher at the start so they can plan their lessons accordingly. It's also good to regularly discuss your progress with your teacher and make sure you're on track and covering the topics you want.

My teachers were all pretty good. I had three teachers in total which may seem like a lot of changing about for a total of 7 weeks' classes, but it's so important to get the right fit I think it's worth changing until you get someone you're really happy with, so don't be afraid to ask to change. If you consider your classes consist of sitting chatting with someone for 4+ hours per day (obviously depending on your level) you'll want it to be with someone who can direct the conversation so you practice certain tenses or vocabulary, but more importantly someone who engages your interest & whom with you have some shared interests. So my first teacher was quite a dynamic, modern woman who taught me quite a lot about social graces in Guatemala and how to deal with Latino men- quite interesting, but as I switched from afternoon to morning classes after a few days; I got a new teacher. She was an older lady who, to be fair at my request focused on grammar, so we hammered through rules and drills, but when it came to general conversation we were worlds apart in so many ways it became a little forced. So I asked to change teachers. This time I got a younger guy closer to my age and we got on like a house on fire, so the conversation was effortless and after my grammar focused classes this was now what I needed, so stuck with him till the end and really enjoyed my classes.

So there you have it my experience of studying Spanish in Guatemala. I never thought going back to school at 30 would be so much fun. Clearly the comparison of the two cities is quite biased, but I think no matter where you study in Guatemala you'd have high quality teaching at an amazing price and you'd have a great time!