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If you are thinking of going to South America to take some Spanish classes, then you might have come across Toucan Spanish School. This Spanish school can currently be found in two locations in Colombia: Medellín and Cali. Before Covid, they also used to have a location in Bogotá and Cartagena, but these do not exist any more, unfortunately.
I studied Spanish at the Toucan Spanish School in Medellín for two weeks in the summer of 2019. I travelled to Colombia solo, and Medellín was the first place I visited during that trip. And while I was preparing my trip, I had also looked up different Spanish schools beforehand, but ended up deciding to study at Toucan due to its positive reviews, the location and because they are offering lots of activities as well.
Here is all you need to know about studying Spanish at Toucan Spanish School in Medellín, Colombia.
Disclaimer: I went to Colombia in July/August 2019, and this is my experience based on that. However, prices and school locations have been updated in September 2024 🙂
Location
The Spanish school is located just next to the Toucan Café in the neighbourhood of El Poblado. El Poblado is tone of the most expensive areas in Medellín, as it is also the most popular neighbourhood for foreigners. In the area you will find lots of hostels, boutiques, restaurants and a great nightlife.
The Spanish school is right in the centre of El Poblado and just a short couple of minutes walk away from most of the popular hostels in Medellín: such as Purple Monkey Hostel, Rango Boutique Hostel or Los Patios.
Classes at the Toucan Spanish School
The classes are relatively small, which is great. In total, I had two weeks of classes at Toucan Spanish School and in the first week we were six people and then four in the second week. I believe there are a lot more people that start with more basic Spanish, and therefore the classes are bigger than the more advanced classes.
The group classes always take place from 9am to 1pm from Monday to Friday. In between, there is a small break in which you have time to grab a coffee from the Toucan Café, which I usually did most days. You will stay with the same students for the whole week and of course also have the same teachers for that specific week. Both of my teachers I had been both amazing!
The groups are divided in different levels of course. Like A1.1.1 are the beginners, then A1.1.2, then A1.2.1 and then A1.2.2, and then the same with A2 and so on. So basically if you start at 0 it will take you four weeks to reach A1 and so on if that makes sense.
How much do Spanish classes at Toucan Spanish School cost?
You can either take group lessons or private individual lessons. The group classes cost 600,000 Pesos (€128.4) for one week, or 550,000 (€117.7) a week if you take at least three weeks of classes. For 8+ weeks, you will be paying 500,000 Pesos (€107) a week (Updated: Sep 2024).
10+ hours of individual classes will cost you, 80,000 Pesos per lesson (€17.12). But if you also take group lesson they also have some discounts if you want to add on private lessons. Make sure though to also always check the updated prices on the Toucan website.
A full price breakdown of Spanish lessons at Toucan Spanish school
Activities you can do at Toucan Spanish School in Medellín
There are some free activities that you can participate in at Toucan Spanish school in Medellín such as free dancing classes, juice tastings or my favourite activity, the language exchange. The language exchange takes place three times a week in the Toucan Café, where you can talk to locals and practise your Spanish as well as they can practise their English with you. I have met some nice people at these language exchanges.
Funny story actually, on my last day in Colombia I was having a conversation with my Uber driver who was living in Medellín and told me that he wanted to improve his English. So I told him about the language exchanges and he was really excited about going there. Not actually sure if they went there, though.
Anyhow, there are also some paid activities from the school itself, such as playing Tejo (definitely go and play Tejo at least once). And then there are activities and tours that can be booked through the Toucan Café. These activities for example include day trips to Guatapé, a graffiti tour to Comuna 13 or a food tour.
Other than those of course, there are a lot of other things to do in Medellín so you will definitely be able to fill up your free time with lots of interesting activities.
Online Classes
If you already want to get started before travelling to Colombia, you can also take online classes at Toucan Spanish School. You can check out their different options here.
Conclusion
Overall, I really enjoyed studying Spanish at Toucan Spanish School, and I felt like I was learning so much every day. If I had more time, I would have for sure also stayed for a few more weeks.
The activities they offer were fun, but it was pretty much the same in both weeks that I was there, so apart from the language exchange I mostly only joined them in the first week. Both teachers I had were amazing, and also they did a great job in putting people in one group that are kind of on the same level.
Before attending Spanish classes at Toucan Spanish school I have only learned Spanish through Apps or TV shows, so I really didn’t know much about the grammar especially. I had started with the course A1.2.1 and then did A1.2.2 in my second week and therefore completed the level A1. That is great now because if I want to continue somewhere else I will also know which level I will be on. Of course, I will still need to continue practising.
If I ever make it back to Colombia, I would like to go back to Toucan Spanish School as well, even if it is just for a week or two. And if you are considering taking courses there as well, I can 100% recommend it, and I am sure you are going to have a great time and learn a lot.
And lastly ✨
📱Looking for mobile data? Instead of trying to find a SIM card once you get to Colombia, you can just get a Colombian E-SIM. You can install it before your trip, and you’ll immediately have data when landing in Colombia.
🏠 Where to stay in Medellín? There are so many amazing hostels in Medellín, but my favourites are Los Patios and Rango Boutique hostel.
🌉 Looking for day trips from Medellín? You have to visit Guatapé, it’s so beautiful!
🇪🇸 Or would you like to study Spanish in Spain instead? I also studied Spanish at Taronja Spanish school in Valencia, and you can read all about that.
Is there anything else you would like to know about learning Spanish at Toucan Spanish School in Medellín?
Let me know in the comments x
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