I had a wonderful experience attending the Instituto Amigos del school. I studied here for 2 weeks. They are very flexible on allowing you to choose how many days you want to study and there is no sign up fee. My teacher was wonderful (Hector) and the best part was that I was the only student in my class except for 1 day. They say that there will never be more than 3 in a class and for the time frame I attended that was true. In fact there was mostly 2 or 1 in the classes I observed. I learnt allot. We worked on pronunciation and conversation mainly present and past tenses.

I had 2 years of college Spanish before I arrived but had trouble putting sentences together. They helped with that. My teacher had incredible patience as I fumbled through. When choosing a school I was concerned about the bus ride to San Felipe del Agua but found that to be one of the best parts. Rogelio (school director) talked to us in Spanish and i got to know the students in other classes. I thought I would have to wait for the ride back to Oaxaca but Rogelio rings a bell at the end of class and we are in the van for the return trip to Oaxaca (10 minute drive) in just 5 minutes. Over all a great experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed my daily three hour classes for two weeks at Amigos del Sol. Rogelio, the Director, and all of the teachers were very friendly and fun, and part of my learning experience was everyone speaking Spanish as we travelled to and from our classes - as my confidence grew, I not only listened, but began to participate in the conversations. I can't believe how much I learned in two weeks! My teacher, Miriam, was excellent, and also a lot of fun. I would highly recommend this school to anyone wishing to improve their Spanish, from beginners to more advanced levels. The teachers are all very well prepared and no group can be more than four members per teacher- I was exceptionally lucky to have only one other student studying with me with Miriam as out teacher.

After being extremely disappointed at Ollin (which I've reviewed elsewhere on tripadvisor), I could not have been happier at Amigos del Sol. It's an incredibly warm and supportive escuela with very talented teachers. Rogelio, the director, takes your comfort, well being and Spanish comprehension to heart.

Having been to lots of Spanish schools over my almost 60 years, there is no other school that I'd rather attend, anywhere. I will miss going there tremendously when I leave in a few days. Cannot wait to return thanks to my experience at Amigos.

Despite numerous trips to Oaxaca I’d put off learning Spanish for what I believed were more pleasurable pursuits such as touring and drinking mezcal. This trip I determined to bite the bullet and, finally, attempt to learn some Spanish; in doing so, I stumbled on Amigos del Sol and what became the best part of my recent two weeks in Oaxaca. First I contacted Rogelio, the school’s director via email. (Nobody returns emails faster than Rogelio.) We determined mutually acceptable times, and Rogelio introduced me to Celso, as fine an instructor as I could have hoped for. Our sessions were one on one and conducted 90% in Spanish, even though my Spanish language skills were very limited. I had a fairly decent beginner’s vocabulary but lacked the confidence and the ability to construct sentences of any variety or complexity. With Celso’s patient coaching and gentle corrections, I, quickly, found myself, carrying on a conversation in Spanish. The methodology was simple and organic: Celso and I just talked and entertained each other with stories about our lives while he would, strategically and painlessly, incorporate verb conjugation and grammar rules into the rhythm of our talks. I was having fun and learning at the same time. Celso even took notes for me when my hangover proved too much for the hot Mexican sun. I’m back home now but my thoughts return fondly to Rogelio, Celso and my rooftop Spanish lessons. What a great experience I was fortunate to find at Amigos del Sol; thank you, Celso and Rogelio.