Six students from the University of Arkansas at Monticello recently spent two weeks in Costa Rica as part of an intensive Spanish Study and Cultural Immersion Program.
The students were Alma Rivera of Wilmar, Kelsey Schrimpf of Jefferson City, Mo., Merrell Miles of Warren, Carly Curry of Sheridan, Katlyn Williams of Shreveport, La., and Annsley Davis of Monticello. They were accompanied by Isabel Bacon, associate professor of Spanish.
The students spent a week in Monteverde and a week in Heredia at the Centro Panamericano de Idiomas (CPI), a school of languages accredited by the Instituto Cervantes. As part of the UAM Study-Abroad Program, students lived with host Costa Rican families while attending classes during the day and practicing the language in a natural setting at home in the evenings.
“This is the best way to gain proficiency in the language and develop awareness and understanding of the Spanish culture in general,” Bacon said in a news release. “The students also had the opportunity to participate in educational and leisure excursions, including a hike through the cloud forest of Monteverde.”