I very rarely write reviews, but considering how happy I am with my choice to come to BASE for my first few Spanish courses, I wanted to put it out there for others! So far I have take two courses, covering 4 total levels (Basic A-C and Intermediate A). They also offer less intensive classes as well as private and semi-private options as well, but considering I was looking for conversational practice I chose the group option. Bill (the director/owner of the program with his wife) and all of the teachers are friendly, attentive, and do their best to make you feel welcome and comfortable. This school is also located in the heart of Downtown Crossing, which made it super convenient and was among the most reasonably priced options out there (including the Centers for Adult Ed.). At first I was apprehensive to start with classes, as this is more of an "exchange", as the name implies, and has a fairly informal office space setting. However, my worries were immediately set aside when I met Bill and my teacher, Elaine. From day one I felt confident that I was in good hands. She was always engaged and focused with myself and other students, catering to the varying experience levels in my class so as not to leave anyone behind or bore anyone. While the curriculum is set by the course level, she kept the class fresh and was consistently challenging us with homework and in-class conversation sessions. I also took a few make-ups with another teacher, Ricardo, who had his own style of teaching but was equally engaged and concerned with his students' progress. Overall, I feel I gained a lot from my time so far (~14 weeks), going from someone with a very basic comprehension level and non-existent speaking skill, to a much more confident and capable reader, listener and speaker. While I still have a long ways to go, I am happy in particular with the confidence Bill and his team have built in my abilities! read more

I am taking classes here now and really enjoy it. I plan to continue learning Spanish throughout next year. read more

I tried to call and email BASE and no one has returned my call after a month. I am not sure if this place is a scam or what. I will not sign up for a class and submit payment until I hear back from someone. Anyone else try calling them without any live person picking up the phone? read more

One day, on a whim, I decided I needed to enrich myself further and one thing I have been meaning to do is improve my Spanish. And by improve I mean relearn it in such a way where I can do more than find a bathroom. In the span of year I had taken trips to Puerto Rico and Barcelona, I functioned, but barely. As a result of this epiphany I Googled Boston Spanish School and BASE was the first result. When I saw the prices I didn't think they could possibly be correct. You could take two years of courses from BASE and still not match the price of one semester of Spanish at a local college. You wouldn't have nearly as much fun either. Both instructors I've had so far (William from Spain and Lorena from Colombia) exhibited amazing patience and a sense of humor. They conduct the courses almost exclusively in Spanish so it works sort of like an immersion where your brain forces itself to keep up. It's not all rote grammar either, you learn idioms that exist in various Spanish speaking countries and some cultural points too. You definitely leave feeling like you learned something useful. The small class sizes make the experience really manageable. You get a lot of individual attention, you interact and have conversations. Moreover, you do kind of bond with your classmates so you don't feel self-conscious when you know you are likely butchering a pronunciation (enter the patience-factor). I'm very happy I did this and I'm seriously considering moving on to the Intermediate level to learn even more. read more

It's the end of my first Semi-Intensive semester, and the class has only gotten better. After less than two months, I feel confident enough to have a basic Spanish conversation, and I find myself mentally describing the world around me in reasonably complex Spanish sentences. I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say this has been one of the best educational experiences of my life. read more

I've now taken Spanish, Arabic, and Farsi (Persian) classes here and have found BASE to be a truly warm and welcoming community for language learners of any level. I'm currently studying intermediate Farsi and am loving it. To anyone curious or thinking of giving it a try, I highly recommend - just go for it! read more

My desire to finally take a Spanish class resulted in looking at the places within Boston that appeared to have high quality courses, friendly staff, and a reasonable pricing structure. BASE appeared to meet that criteria so I signed up. Pros: 1. Bill is super friendly and ready to help out in any way, 2. The classes are held at a convenient location. 3. The admission cost is very reasonable. Cons: 1. Contacting the center is best done via email because when I've tried calling, I've always gotten voice mail. 2. Scheduling needs to be improved and coordinated better. There was some confusion on which day/times I was available vs when they had availability. 3. Class attendance. - The first class was seemingly all over the place and I was very frustrated with the whole experience. I had no idea what was going on and couldn't understand any concepts. - The second class was fast paced and made me uncomfortable because the other students knew some Spanish. - The third class was much better as the teacher spoke more English and the students were at my level. I was very relieved when the last class was over. It was good to find out where I stand in learning Spanish and to have time to reflect on the good and bad experiences. OVerall, I would recommend BASE and strongly suggest that anyone wanting to attend get in touch with Bill to go over all of the details. read more

When I first started at BASE I was very impressed. The first instructor was so good at teaching I thought she was a teacher by profession. The next teacher was also a skilled teacher, albeit not one by profession. The third teacher set an anxiety producing nightmare into motion that will forever affect my confidence in the ability of others to accept those with disabilities; particularly epilepsy. I have a disability with my vision. She was not only unwilling to accommodate for this but she was extremely hostile. When I complained about it I was ejected from the classroom. I was humiliated and forced to miss a class (and these classes aren't cheap). I got a left handed apology from the owner whom implied that Bronia's hostility was brought upon by myself. He also told me that shortly before a seizure which I had a couple of months earlier I displayed hostile behavior. Obviously I have no idea what he was talking about. Later he changed it to that he didn't recall. Earlier that day I joked with one of the teachers. That teacher took the opportunity to teach me Spanish with a dress she was wearing that was too warm for the weather by contrasting it with a sundress I had on. I think this is a brilliant teaching technique. I didn't understand her so she repeated it in English. I agreed. He claimed I insulted her. While he said Bronia's hostility was not right he also suggested I was far more inappropriate after the seizure episode and joke. Now he is teaching the class. Whether it is because Bronia does not want to teach a class with me in it, he doesn't trust her not to repeat an episode like that or is choosing a path he deems safest we will never know. He is very enthusiastic about Spanish, but is obviously a businessman not a teacher. He speaks at about twice the speed of his other teachers. He seems to think everyone learns the same way. He did grant me a refund but only because he does not want me near his school. Although I was insulted I decided to take the refund and continue learning with Destinos (a TV program you can stream. It is best to have the basics but there are very inexpensive books and CD's that will help). I used Destinos when I first decided to learn Spanish and it was difficult. Now it is perfect. I would not recommend Boston Area Spanish Exchange. read more

I love learning Spanish at BASE! The school is conveniently located in Downtown Crossing and is very affordable. The classes are small and reasonably priced and the books can be found on the intranet very cheap. Lorena and Bill are extraordinary teachers, both with their own styles. They have alot of passion for engaging their students in the language, and have the flexiblity (and patience!!) to accommodate people who work full time and/ have crazy schedules. read more

BASE es la bomba! Small classes (capped at 8 people, I think) ensure plenty of individual attention from the teachers. It's *very* affordable too, since they let you split the cost of enrollment if you get a friend to enroll for the first time. The best thing are the teachers, Lorena and Bill, a young couple that own and manage the school. They seem really excited to be teaching, and encourage learning through conversation. read more

This is an excellent program with excellent teachers who clearly have the experience and know how to teach this language. I came to BASE as an advanced Spanish speaker wanting to keep up with my skills and I'm so glad to have found BASE. read more

My wife and I took individual lessons from Bill at BASE for a couple of months in advance of going to Guatemala -- he was stunningly great. Very laid back, very considerate, very interested in making sure that the student got exactly what he or she needed. We absolutely recommend him and really had fun. read more

BASE offers amazing Spanish language courses in Boston. Plus it's affordable - especially if you take advantage of signing up with a friend. I transferred from another course in Boston and saw the difference in my first class at BASE. I was amazed that almost everyone could already more or less speak Spanish in the Basic C level with no English being spoken in the classroom at all. BASE challenges students to speak from day one and the small course sizes ensure that every student is able to practice speaking in Spanish. Every student is expected to speak in the class, which is definitely the best way to learn. And it is all done in a supportive and encouraging environment. I further like how Bill and Lorena speak at normal conversational speeds to boost listening comprehension. They also give homework for every class, which not only allows students to practice the concepts learned in each lesson but also greatly improves writing skills. BASE's method without a doubt works. My fiance is Hispanic, and he's incredibly impressed with what I've achieved with BASE in only 7 weeks. I've taken two levels of Spanish at BASE - with both Bill and Lorena - and I could not be happier with my decision to learn Spanish with them. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn Spanish as quickly as possible. read more

I went from speaking no Spanish at all to being able to communicate/get my point across reasonably well after 7 weeks in the Intensivo class. There was only one other student in my class, which was awesome - it was very personalized, and we both got a lot of speaking time. If you've taken language classes in high school or another setting where it wasn't immersion, you'll never go back after this experience. I was able to learn so much from inference and by only speaking Spanish for a couple hours a day, and I progressed much faster than I would have in a traditional class where the main language is English. Definitely recommend. read more

Amazing! So great. They make language learning super fun and engaging. Every teacher I've had there so far has been extraordinary! I suspect this is not coincidence, but rather because they only hire the best! read more

On a positive note, the owner Bill was very responsive to the concerns I raised. If I had raised my concerns with Bill earlier, I believe he would have worked to make the experience a positive one or would have helped me switch to a more appropriate class. read more

I am really glad to have found this school (thank you, Yelp). The classes were small, well structured, and very affordable. And most of all, Vasilis is a **superb** teacher! You can tell he has been teaching Spanish a long time and has developed very effective methods to teach grammatical concepts. In addition he is energetic and fosters a great class atmosphere. read more

I met Bill and Lorena, the owners of Base a few years back while looking for someone to help me learn Spanish. I had the good fortune to take several TWO on ONE classes with this dynamic teaching duo...yeah both of them teaching me together. I took some private classes to try and improve my level for an upcoming trip with a group of friends, all non speakers, to Spain. Bill and Lorena took me from a beginner level to a confident intermediate student capable of traveling to Spain and communicating starting the minute we hit the car rental office. Don't get me wrong there is no magic bullet when it comes to learning a language and if you do your part, can you say, homework (Lorena will not forget what homework she assigned you) you will advance leaps and bounds. I can honestly say Bill and Lorena are the best at what they do, they made learning Spanish fun. I've since traveled a half dozen times to Spanish speaking countries and I always get compliments on my pronunciation and the locals love it when you make the effort to speak their language. If you really want to learn Spanish go to BASE. read more

Bill is an amazing teacher. Actually makes learning fun. Small class size, conducted in spanish, textbook utilized to provide basic conjugation for regular verbs, but emphasis is on conversation. My wife listened to Pimsleur CD, and was surprised to find out how far along she was. A really positive experience and they get my unqualified recommendation. read more

I had a great time taking intensive private lessons at BASE this fall. I worked with Luis in preparation for traveling to South America as a college/graduate student. Luis and Bill (owner) are very kind and helpful, and they both have a great sense of humor! I learned more Spanish in 6 weeks at BASE (7-8 hours of lessons per week) than I had in 8 years of school! I hope to get a chance to take more lessons with them in the future - highly recommend! read more