I spent July 2006 in Costa Rica attending the Academia Columbus school in Heredia. This school is promoted via http://www.spanishabroad.com. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS SCHOOL – for several reasons. First and foremost, I wanted to learn Costa Rican or Central American Spanish. This school teaches the formal type of Spanish, spoken in Spain. Secondly, the materials and resources used in the classrooms were substandard. Third, the progression of learning and placement of students appropriate for their level of Spanish was inconsistent. The teachers were truly interested in students’ learning and they tried hard under the circumstances, but the director of the school seemed incompetent. For the money spent, and the number of schools available for learning Spanish in Costa Rica, I would recommend looking elsewhere! 🙁