PhD. Grazyna Walczak

Assistant Professor of Spanish

Valdosta Statet University

November 02, 2013
To Whom It May Concern:
It is with pleasure and enthusiasm that I am writing this letter of recommendation on behalf of ILISA Language Institute, located in San Pedro, San José Costa Rica, as a hosting institution to any educational program from the U.S.A, including the colleges and universities, as well as high schools. I am very familiar with this institution, because this is the destination that I have chosen for the last three years of taking students to study abroad programs. It is worthy to mention that I have a lot of experience in directing study abroad programs previously to such places as Spain (Salamanca), Mexico (Guanajuato and Cuernavaca) and Colombia (Barranquilla/Cartagena). My preference for Costa Rica during the last three years is due to several facts, most of them related to the superior services rendered by the hosting institution, the affordable prices and the flexibility in scheduling, arranging homestay and excursions.
ILISA is located in one of the nicest neighborhoods of San José, close to the University of Costa Rica, within walking distance to an important shopping area and other attractions. The school itself is in a modern building, appropriate for teaching several language classes simultaneously. Besides nice Classrooms, there are social areas such as a spacious cafeteria beautifully located with a superb panoramic view of the valley and distant mountains, computer room, conference room, and other. The personnel is professional, extremely polite and helpful with any needs that students or accompanying faculty might have: organization of excursions, guided museum visits, medical needs, phones and any other needs to facilitate the daily life.
The Spanish classes are conducted in really small groups (up to 6), upon previous language skills exam by the school representatives. There is a wide variety of classes offered by the school and the quality of teachers is excellent. ILISA does also a great job with scheduling classes in such a way that students have experience with several teachers during their program. Student’s progress is reported to the program director every week. Besides the regular academic instruction, cultural activities are offered: dance classes, lectures on special topics, visits to interesting places in town, etc.
The school offers accommodation with Costa Rican families, which reinforces the classroom instruction, gives the opportunity to practice the skills at the real life situations and provides extra security to students. In our experience, the families are chosen with extreme care and the homes provide students with privacy and family setting at the same time. ILISA is very careful and sensitive to choose the right places for all the students.
It is also noteworthy to say that it is a pleasure working with ILISA on payments, transcripts and other formal exchanges. The director, as well as other administrative personnel, extremely understands and accommodates any needs, which makes our job so much easier and converts the abroad experience into pleasure.
Last, but not least I ought to add that all the personnel from ILISA is not only professional, but also full of warmth and cordiality, which makes everyone feel like at home. I find it extremely important especially for the students who are not experienced in travelling abroad. My students and myself are impressed with all the quality services rendered by this school.

All this said, I have no hesitation to recommend ILISA Language Institute to any group of students, including young and adults. If you are looking for a great responsible provider of quality education abroad, you will be in good hands with ILISA; with will make a long lasting experience thanks to the excellent services this language Institute provides.

Please feel free to contact me if you require further information on this school or Costa Rica overall.

Sincerely

Grazyna Walczak