In Antigua, it’s not too hard to make yourself understood with limited Spanish, but if you plan to travel at all, you’ll want to know more than a few basic vocabulary words. While Guatemala is renowned for its Spanish schools, you may not have time to study while you’re here. The alternative? Learn Spanish online before you arrive in country.
You have a number of options for learning Spanish, which I’ve divided into free and paid choices.
If you’re on a tight budget, free lessons are going to be your best friend. Basically all free options will be automated, so there’s no teacher on the other side of the screen. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, if you are too nervous to hire a tutor and want to get the basics down.
is one of the bigger, more popular “find your own” sites. Prices vary according to teacher, but you can watch an intro video for each teacher and choose based on their bio. There are no guarantees that you’ll get a great teacher, but the platform allows you to take a sample class for $3. These mini-lessons let you talk to the teacher face to face and then you can decide if you want to buy a package.
Another option is to go with an online school. is an online Spanish school based here in Guatemala, so you’ll be learning some of the best Spanish around. (seriously, Guatemalan Spanish is considered to be one of the clearest dialects to learn). Here, you can choose one of a few teachers (not all their teachers are posted yet) and try them out for free. If you enjoy your class, go ahead and book. They also offer discounts for inviting a friend or if you plan to study with someone else.
Disclaimer: Into Guatemala is a sister site of Spanish on the Go.
Of course, there are countless other places to learn Spanish online before your trip, but the key is to get your vocabulary down fast. If you can tell someone what you need, you’re in a pretty good position. After that, it’s just building up the grammar and fine-tuning the vocabulary.
How much Spanish do you speak?