FU International Academy Tenerife — Local services in Puerto de la Cruz

If you are one of those suits who never lays down their tie, I will not recommend this school. However, if you are open-minded, willing to learn and able to enjoy the company of others, I will totally recommend this institution. Why? If you like to know, you will find the long story below.

The heart of this language school is the team. You will find a wide range of characters. The female teacher characters vary from accurate in all respects, over having their feet firmly on the ground, to impulsive ones full of energy and “joie de vivre”. The teaching male characters vary from macho-look-a-like to thoughtful ones. All of them follow the contents of the international accepted educational books. The training small talk give you the feeling of an actual talk in Spanish. The student groups for the practice are combined from the lecturers were combined properly. A funny way to train understanding is “typing”-karaoke. Some teachers motivate more, others criticize more, nevertheless all in all, a perfect combination of personalities!

The reception of the faculty management is very friendly and helpful. From the day you will get assistance, even if you have unpredictable questions. Just three examples during my time: One student did not feel comfortable with the class level, it was adapted. An online code did not work, a new one was organized. I needed a quit place, as I had to give a remote talk during lessons, I got one. Studies are based on educational books, individual for each level. However, the teachers know how to make the lessons entertaining. Discussing stories of the life, listening the music and write the lyrics down make it easy to learn. The number of participants was max. 6 in the morning and 2 in the intensive courses in the afternoon.

Every day is an optional activity after school. You will surely not be a wine connoisseur, tour guide or botanist after those activities, but you practice Spanish in a relaxed way. Only the Yoga-teacher had the real claim to transfer her knowledge and she did it well.

Another highlight of the school is the FU-Café (you find it in the internet). Always friendly, even if they are stressed (e.g., when up to 8 classes have break at same time). The prices are low and the portion bigger than expected. You should not expect a 5-course menu, but you will get freshly prepared food. If the dishes fit your needs or not, you can check in also in the internet (“La Carta”). It is very convenient to take your coffee and small breakfast or “BOCADILLOS” directly on the terrace of the school. And as the owner is the same for school and café, you will find designated tables, where you can eat your own food, too. If this is not sufficient, you find a supermarket one floor below the school. Just the pastry shop aside from the supermarket I don’t like to recommend …

After school the surrounding opens a wide range of activities and even the Teide can be reached by bus, same as several nice small towns at the coast. By foot you can reach the old town in 12 min and ~100 m lower. There it is up to you, if you go to a fancy location and take tourist food or look for small familial restaurant, bakeries or Churro booths and eat authentic excellent food. However, the town has something to offer for everyone, even Mexican cocktail bar or karaoke. Also, within a small walk, you will find nice beaches. Maintained or hidden and only accessible by surfing or climbing.

So finally, when I had to flight back home, I missed the school much more...

I recommend FU intl academy and the host family arrangement for learning spanish. if i have the opportunity i will come back. my experience to date has exceeded the positive impressions i had when choosing schools. the website is well-organized and informative. Mari-carmin (front desk, admin, sign-ups, etc) is efficient, responsive and helpful. the instructors/teachers are enthusiastic, encouraging, and approachable. the owner (frank) was responsive and flexible when i inquired about adjusting my course of study. Frank made a generous offer that addressed my needs which i was happy to accept. the host family arrangement is a fantastic way to get informal conversation lessons away from the school. i stayed with Nory Estella Navia Gomez. she is friendly, helpful, outgoing, and patient with whatever level of spanish you are at. She is flexible about food, schedules, and is especially good at cooking fish. The school and Nory were very supportive and helpful with a problem that had nothing to do with the school or the family. my passport, computer, and a lot of clothing was stolen a day before i started school. Mari-carmin let me use the schools computer aand helped with the paperwork to file the necesssary reports, nory helped with arrangements to replace the passport and various other items. i have been at the school for 4 weeks to date, with 6...

I have just finished 6 weeks here in FU Academy. The school is a nice modern building about a 25 minute walk from the centre of puerto de la cruz. The teaching is very good, I started as a complete beginner and I am now pretty confident with basic conversations while going about my day in puerto de la cruz. The teaching is done through Spanish the majority of the time so your native language does not matter. I had Lorenzo, Sandra, Vanessa, Rosemary and Sara as teachers all of whom were very good. You switch teacher each week which is a nice change to the standard classroom environment. I also booked my accommodation through the school and was very happy with the quality of it. There is a cafe attached to the school with very affordable drinks and food throughout the day if you like. There are lots of activities hosted by the school such as salsa classes and yoga and I found it easy to make friends while here. I would recommend doing the conversation classes when you reach an A2 level as they’re a great opportunity to get practical...