In the middle of August, we shipped our little camper and motorcycle from Florida to Colombia and flew to Cartagena. Once our ship comes in, we will continue our round trip journey from Vermont to southern Chile and back. I contacted Nueva Lengua at the last minute in hopes of finding a spot in Cartagena to work on our Spanish while waiting for the boat. From our first contact with Nueva Lengua, our experience has far exceeded our expectations. Nathalia replied to my messages promptly, explained our options clearly, and was flexible and friendly as our plans changed. And she became my secret friend, but more on that later.
There are several things that particularly impressed us about Nueva Lengua: the people, the underlying structure/philosophy of the school and the activities. Above all, it is the community of Nueva Lengua that made our experience so extraordinary. Our teachers were professional, interesting and encouraging. I am a language teacher also (French and English as a Second Language) and I learned much more than Spanish from our talented teachers! They are all wonderful embodiments of professionalism, compassion and organization, even when you think you are just having an interesting conversation! For me there is one teacher in particular who stands out. Jesús Pedraza was our primary teacher for our first two weeks. He not only teaches at Nueva Lengua in the mornings, but teaches Spanish and Literature in the afternoons at the Institucion Educativa of San Lucas, a high school in the impoverished barrio of Milagro. He shared not only his skill as a Spanish teacher with us, but also his deep knowledge of history, his wide interests, his considered opinions and his passion for life. He is an inspiration for me as a teacher.
In addition to all our wonderful teachers, we got to know the other students in our small classroom groups, and also many of the other students at the school. Though most students (and teachers!) were younger than our children, we felt right at home with this community of adventurers and travelers, and look forward to our paths crossing again.

The organization of the school, which is probably mapped out on the school website, is structured to allow you to work in depth with at least two different native speaking teachers each day. The mid-morning coffee break gives you a chance to meet other students and continue some of the classroom conversations off line. The first hour of the morning (which is optional but we were so glad we did it) is a chance to work in depth reviewing various topics. Each teacher interpreted this differently, but all very effectively. The next two hours include a grammar topic with exercises and activities to reinforce them. In the final hour of the morning, you work with a second teacher on communicative activities from role-plays to guided conversation to games. I will be taking many of the activities and best practices back to my own classroom next year.
Four days a week there are organized activities offered in the afternoons. We participated in a good number of these and really enjoyed them. When the activity was the type of place you might visit as a tourist (the naval museum, the gold museum, Cerro de la Popa), our (free) visit included a tour with a knowledgeable docent (as well as several teachers and staff from school) which gave us both interesting information and more comprehension practice. We also did some activities that we would never have known of or thought to do without the school, including a fascinating visit to Cartagena’s botanical garden, a salt mine, a kayaking outing, and dancing and cooking classes. There was also a schoolwide “amigo secreto” activity during our final week, the week of Amor and Amistad in Colombia, in which we got to know everyone much better. It was a fitting culmination that during our last hour at school this past Friday: staff and students of all levels shared their thoughts on the meaning of love and friendship, and exchanged little gifts, heart-felt thoughts and warm embraces. Thank you to all of our friends at Nueva Lengua for such a lovely start to our adventures.

This article was originally written in English