Company Details

This is my second time visiting Tico Lingo, and I had an even better time than before! The school has grown leaps and bounds, and I was able to learn and practice my spanish more than I imagined. I highly recommend this school to anyone that wants to learn spanish, meets lots of people, explore a cool city, stay with a great homestay family, and even learn how to cook traditional Costa Rican Foods! A+++

All around awesome experience. Simply put, this school couldn't get more organized and professional. Not at all something easily said with other schools I've experienced in Central America. From touchdown at the airport to my homestay and Spanish classes, everything was flawlessly organized and well communicated beforehand. There were no bad surprises and plenty of good surprises like delicious free coffee and afternoon activities like dance and yoga class. My teacher was very patient and kind hearted and helped me get over a lot of speaking and pronunciation hurdles I had going into the class. I did 5 weeks with Tico Lingo and walked away feeling like I did two semesters of college. I learned so so much and gained a ton of confidence speaking with native speakers (which was my main mission due to my job reassigning me to work with Spanish speakers in Texas). I would highly recommend this school!

Amazing life experience ! That's really what first comes to mind when I look back on my 5 week stay at the Tico Lingo school. To be honest, I already miss it ! I have smiled and laughed so much during my stay, while also feeling at times moved by the stories of each and everyone I got to meet. This experience has helped me rediscover a part of myself that had gotten swept away in the last years we've had. From day one when I walked in, I just felt at home. The school in itself is actually an old and gorgeous house that was renovated to welcome all the students in an intimate environment. It's the perfect casual setting to master a new language in small groups and to learn more about your colleague students coming from all around the world. The staff is so devoted and passionate, it's inspiring. And that's what makes this place so special. Yenifer, an amazing, sweet and hard-working woman responsible for all the student life at Tico Lingo, is just incredible ! She will go above and beyond to make sure you are living the best experience possible, while managing all the logistics around your arrival and your homestay with a Tica family. I think she's the heart of that team. Chris, the founder and director of the school, has this positive and contagious energy about him which makes you want to stick around, chat and learn more about his inspiring story and projects. I was impressed by his resilience and drive, always wanting to succeed in offering a school experience like no one else. Roberto, the Program advisor and first person I spoke to months before booking my trip, was just so helpful and attentive, truly determined to give me as much information as possible so that I could make an informed decision. I'm so glad he convinced me that Tico Lingo was the school I was looking for. And what can I say about my two professors, Kevin and Freddy : I just love them ! Kevin was my teacher for 5 weeks during the group classes and he is just a gem. So friendly, accessible, open-minded, funny and kind. He has this amazing ability to memorize everything about each student and their life stories, and to incorporate all those references in future exercices and exemples, making his classes so relatable. It's just a great way to engage with us and making us more invested in learning, speaking, and sharing. I will definitely miss my friend Kevin ! Freddy was my private teacher for about 20 hours of private classes throughout my stay. It has been a privilege to learn from this guy who is by far the most passionate teacher I have ever met in my life. With more than 20 years of experience in teaching both Spanish and English, Freddy is a grammar lover and a real professor in the truest sens of the word. Not only does he adore teaching and sharing his passion, but he is truly amazing at it. He knows his subject in and out and always has a clear answer to all your questions. I am really lucky I got to pick his brain during my stay at Tico Lingo ! Oh and I can't forget Yami, our cooking-class teacher and cleaning lady at the school, who is the definition of generosity. Every week, I took the cooking class with Yami, in part because her food is so damn good, but mostly because her smile and tenderness made me feel good. My boyfriend and I have embarked on a 3 month trip across Costa Rica and Panama, and while this project comes to an end very soon, I can honestly say that the highlight of my trip has been these 5 weeks at Tico Lingo in Heredia, learning so much Spanish and meeting amazing people with whom I truly hope to stay in touch for a very long time.

This was such an amazing experience! I loved the staff, and the homestay was such a great experience, and a good way to practice everything I learned in class that day. Everyone was so helpful and encouraging. Highly recommend if anyone is looking for a focused spanish-learning experience!

Tico Lingo was an amazing experience! I hope to return someday. I can’t imagine anything they could have done better :-).

This was my second six-week stint as a student at Tico Lingo. My first experience left me longing to return, not just to Costa Rica, but specifically to Tico Lingo School. It took two years, owing to the pandemic, but it was worth the wait. My second go-round has only strengthened my sense that I not only have a second home here, with established friends and connections, but that I once again have access to the best Spanish teachers I’ve ever met. Tico Lingo is situated in the lovely, safe and historic town of Heredia which boasts one of the most comfortable climates possible, warm temperate days, cool nights and sunny skies, without the heat or humidity found in most of Central American. And while this was initially a deciding factor in choosing this school in 2020, Tico Lingo itself deserves all the credit for luring me back. Chris Reidy, the owner and co-founder, has assembled a small team of truly exceptional people, from professor Freddy Fariñas, the head of curriculum (and simply the best Spanish instructor I have ever encountered anywhere, period, in part owing to his advanced degrees in both English and Spanish and in part owing to his passion for sharing the joy he finds in language) to the other excellent “profesors Y profesoras”, to Yenifer, the ever-helpful, tireless administrator, to Yammi, the custodian who keeps the school incredibly neat and clean, 24/7, and of course, Chris himself who deserves huge credit for putting it all together. My home stay family was beyond welcoming, and provided delicious breakfasts and suppers in a clean, lovely home snd a very private room/study area. And just about everyone else at the school expresses very high satisfaction with their host families as well. The school’s intake process is easy with great pre-trip communication and almost effortless logistics for getting you to your homestay and to the school. I would describe the facility as cozy, colorful, welcoming, airy, and over-the-top friendly, with free coffee, tea and snacks always available. It very quickly feels like home and I found myself staying long after classes to study in any one of the many niches available. On both my visits I have returned having made life-long friends. (Call it a selection bias, but it is simply a fact that if you are a person interested in visiting another country to learn THEIR language, you will meet others with whom you have a lot in common.) All the fun, daily, extra curricular activities and weekend tours, as well as the options for additional private classes are easily found on the web site. But it’s the intangibles, the specific culture of Tico Lingo that makes it so special. Oh, and after this second six weeks, as I wistfully headed for home, it took me a minute to realize that the airline staff had actually checked me in entirely in Spanish, and that I had understood everything she told me. That was a first 👍. I very much plan to return again.

It was my first time traveling outside of Vancouver and I was a bit scared of what life in Central America would be like. Tico Lingo made the entire process so easy! From initial contact to putting my deposit down, I think it took about 2 days. I had all my questions answered and felt so so ready to dive into Spanish and really commit three weeks to advancing my level. I arrived at the airport, and as promised someone from the school was right outside. There was zero issue! My homestay was so so adorable and walked my to class the first day. The walking tour of Heredia is so informative and I met a ton of cool people taking classes at the school on that tour. The activities are free! Which I didn't know. And I signed up for the cooking and dance class. All super fun! The Spanish classes are taught in such a unique way. Very organic learning experience. I didn't feel a bit of competition or stress like I had felt previously in Spanish classes. It was really a team effort. My teacher was super super informative and patient and encouraged us to SPEAK the language which I enjoyed immensely. It made learning a ton of fun! All and all this experience could not have been better. The school is absolutely beautiful and is staffed with some really amazing people that I'll stay in touch with even after returning home. I hope to be back someday soon! Gracias Tico Lingo!

Perfect place to learn spanish. I have been sending my friends and family there since they opened.