First the positive: I have really enjoyed the school. I…read morethink that I have learned a significant amount and the teachers here are very welcoming and helpful. Just in terms of the school, this place deserves at least 4 stars. BUT The homestay has been atrocious. My brother and I are about to leave for Buenos Aires and have reserved an AirBnb instead, even though it is considerably more expensive. We have been in two different homestays here in Santiago: the first one was with a young couple with an infant child. This baby was awful to be around; my room shared a wall with the master bedroom where they had the cradle, and the crying kept me up regularly. Also, the attention the baby needed meant that the apartment had fallen into extreme disrepair. This place was FILTHY. The homestay program also included meals and that was easily some of the worst garbage I have ever consumed. Dinner staples were frozen chicken nuggets, plain pasta, and powdered juice. A week into this my brother and I, who have stayed for a month, brought our concerns to the student coordinators at the school who were very helpful with finding us a new accommodation and did not charge us the customary change fee, as what we experienced was supposedly out of the ordinary. We were then moved to an apartment owned by an elderly woman, who lived in the apartment downstairs from where we stayed by ourselves. We joined her and the students who lived in the other apartment downstairs for breakfast and dinner, but saw very little of one another. UNTIL she decided to move upstairs! The lady even asked my brother and I to help her move a few things up for her, which we thought it would be polite to do, and ended up being asked to carry large furniture upstairs. It was during this time that we learned that her 8 year old granddaughter was staying with her and was moving upstairs with her. THIS WAS AFTER WE NEEDED TO MOVE BECAUSE OF A DIFFERENT CHILD. We were placed in a home with a child again. This child was older however, and thus opened the door for the ability to operate the TV and be spoiled. On top of that, the two of them stayed up well past 11 PM every night with the TV on FAR too loud. Meanwhile the food continued to disappoint. Some dinners were okay, but too many were completely inedible. I implore you all to NOT CHOOSE THE HOMESTAY! Please just stay somewhere on your own or in a hostel. The homestay program here needs a massive audit and from conversations I've had with other students, it seems common to be quite disappointed. I'd reckon its a 3/4 chance you get a subpar homestay experience.

ECELA was such a great school! I never knew things like this existed previously, but it was a great…read moreway to travel and get to know a new country. I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more Spanish at any level!

Language school based just a few blocks from metro Escuela Militar (Military School). They…read morespecialize with the English and Spanish languages and offer a variety of classes. They offer beginning to advanced classes, one on one or in groups, and most importantly teach all ages. The Language Company or TLC is based both in Santaigo and Valpariaso. They also offer special corporate classes and Sense classes (Sense is a government funded program). They provide their teachers with the world of resources so that they can make their classes fun and educational. TLC is not just a school but a community. Their trusted account managers and course coordinators plan the best for both their teachers and students. I would recommend TLC for anyone wanting to learn both English or Spanish. Not only would I recommend it for potential students I would also recommend TLC for any English teachers who want to come teach in Chile.

Instituto Chileno de la Lengua, translated Chilean Language Institute is a small family owned and…read morerun language school in the Brazil neighborhood. They specialize with the Spanish language however also offer English and French. They prefer to have only native speakers so that their students get a sense of how the original accent should be. Their classes are all language emersion so off the bat all you hear is the new language you are trying to learn. The family that runs the school is very community based and will pick their new students up from the airport or take them to the popular areas of Santiago. They sometimes even have BBq's and watch the Chilean soccer games with their students. Great teachers, great language experience. Their classes are also reasonably priced so you don't have to pay an arm and a leg just to start speaking French.

I teach English to foreigners and live in Chile. COINED was very disorganized and wasted four weeks…read moreof my time. I actually think my Spanish became worse and I am now more anxious with Spanish. Their methodology is very bad, it is mostly fill in the blank in a book with a conjugated verb. If a school could get buy on nice people with good marketing COINED would be fine, but it cannot. I switched to Bellevista Spanish School and after only 3 classes am much happier and have learned more. Teachers at COINED didn't use Spanish 100% of the time which is important nor was it encouraged in class, no instead often people were speaking Portuguese including the teacher. Now how can a new language learner not become confused between two languages and if we are allowed to have conversations in our native language how will we learn a new language? Answer from a language professor: you cannot and you will not learn with these methods. Very bad school with nice people.

From the owner: We offer students a language learning experience by combining Spanish lessons and cultural…read moreimmersion.