Spanish Instruction

Casa Xalteva offers short and long-term intensive Spanish courses for beginning, intermediate and advanced students. Classes consist of one to four students working with Nicaraguan instructors.The average class size is two students per class. Classes meet four hours a day Monday through Friday. The atmosphere is casual and the emphasis is on conversational skills. Textbooks and materials designed for non-native speakers are provided. Our instructors use an innovative "Spanish only" technique that has students speaking, writing and reading the language from the first day of class.New classes begin every Monday throughout the year, and students may study for as little as one week or as long as several months.

Casa Xalteva is an innovative educational and cultural center offering Spanish language classes, volunteer social service opportunities,and special programs to introduce you to the Nicaraguan people, their history, culture and natural environment. Field trips and special activities help expose students to Nicaragua and its' people, and give them practical experience using the Spanish language.

In Granada you can learn Spanish while enjoying natural beauty in an authentic Central American environment. Students use their free time to prepare assignments, make Nicaraguan friends and participate in extracurricular activities that help them get to know the city and the countryside. Best of all, you will get to know the Nicaraguan people, famed for their hospitality, poetry, and love of life.

Social and Community Services

While providing high quality Spanish instructions, Casa Xalteva:

• Runs a children's educational shelter ( homeless and abused children to whom Casa Xalteva provides: food, paid education, and a place to live) Read More Below
• Provides job opportunities for Nicaraguans ( through homestay with Granada families , Spanish instructors, project workers, and others)
• Does community projects in poor neighborhoods
• Helps employees with scholarships for college education

Children’s Educational Shelter Program

This program was founded in 1995 by Dr.Ken Carpenter and Dr.Gregory Calvert with the purpose of taking kids off the streets and putting them back into the school system. Don Ken and Don Gregory, as they are referred to in Casa Xalteva, arrived in Granada in the early 90’s and immediately fell in love with it. It was then that they decided to buy a house to be used as a Spanish school with the intent to use income generated by Spanish Instruction to fund the program and house kids from the streets, including kids from abusive families, and kids with drug problems. The main focus was for these kids to become productive adults thru education and a stable home environment.

It was not an easy task but Don Ken and Don Gregory were determined to make it work. They moved to Granada and devoted their time to this project. Don Ken and Don Gregory lived in Granada for the following 3yrs, devoting themselves to training teachers to teach Spanish to foreigners, maintaining the children, and putting the whole project on its feet. Unfortunately after three years they had to make the hard decision of going back to New Mexico in order to work and provide additional funding to help the project continue.

The program started with about 10 kids, boys only, around the ages of 7-12. Many kids came and went thru the years, with the main issues being drug use, lack of school attendance, and not following Casa Xalteva’s rules. But here are some great success stories:

Oscar was the first boy in the program. At age 11 Don Ken and Don Gregory found him at Granada’s central park with a broken arm and took him to the hospital. He then came to live in Casa Xalteva. It was Oscar who helped bring many of his young friends in his same situation to live in Casa Xalteva. About 7 yrs ago Don Ken and Don Gregory adopted Oscar, he then went to live in New Mexico and is currently attending the University of New Mexico and is the proud father of a baby boy “Nicai”. He continues being involved in Casa Xalteva by being a member of the Casa Xalteva board of directors.

Bismarck came into the program in 1996 at age 12. Prior to living in Casa Xalteva, he was abused and was responsible for his house hold. In addition he was a “Pega” user for some time. Once at Casa Xalteva Bismarck has been successful in school and is currently completing his Computer Engineering degree at "La Universidad Hispanoamericana" in Granada. Casa Xalteva continues supporting Bismarck thru school tuition and supplies. We are also proud to say that he has become one of our part time Casa Xalteva Spanish Instructors. Bismarck continues being involved in Casa Xalteva’s children’s program by teaching computer classes to the kids on Saturday mornings

Andres came into the program in 1996 at age 9. At that point he was not in school; instead he would spend his days looking for metal to sell in the streets for a few Cordobas. He was also abused and had no family support. Once at Casa Xalteva Andres was enrolled in school. He did have a few snags in his schooling along the way but we are happy to say that he is currently completing his Junior yr of high school in Granada. He continues living at Casa Xalteva while completing his school. He does a great job of helping around the house and has become our “guide” during our student excursions. He is a great character and our students really love his personality. In addition he has expressed an interest in learning English and will be enrolling in an English program in Granada. Casa Xalteva continues to support Andres thru school tuition, supplies, clothing, food, shelter, as well as a weekly salary for his “guide” services.

Casa Xalteva continues with both the Spanish School as well as the Children’s Program. With the prior “boys” having successfully graduated from the program we have once again begun to focus on expanding our program with new kids. We currently have 6 new elementary age children in our program including the first girl ever: “Oscarin” (10), Alex (12), “Pancho” (13), Luis (11), Faret (8), and Nayiba (5). Casa Xalteva continues funding this program with income generated thru Spanish Instruction and Donations. In addition our students further support the program by volunteering to tutor the kids.

Oscarin has actually been in the program since he was 8yrs old. At that point he was not attending school; instead he would stay home in the care of his 90yr old grandmother while his mother worked. Because of the lack of supervision Oscarin was often in the streets. His mother felt it a best environment for Oscarin to live in Casa Xalteva where he would be accountable for attending school as well as have a more stable home environment. Because Oscarin was not attending school on a consistent basis until he came to live at Casa Xalteva, he is behind on his grade level and currently attending 2nd grade. He has made great progress and is currently focusing on learning his math tables. Casa Xalteva supports Oscarin thru shelter, adult supervision, food, clothing, school supplies, before school tutoring, and thru facilitating age appropriate activities.

Alex has been in the program since May 2007. Alex is a similar story. Prior to Casa Xalteva he was not attending school. He had been previously enrolled in two different schools but had been kicked out due to fighting. After this he did not continue attending any other school. Alex does live with his aunt, uncle, and grandmother but his mother is not involved and his father is in jail for drug charges. Although he lives at home, prior to Casa Xalteva, Alex often spent his days in the streets begging for money. His aunt did whatever was in her power to keep him off the streets unsuccessfully. Alex is very street smart and although he has had to grow up fast he is still a child at heart. Casa Xalteva has become a second home for Alex. He’s making great progress academically. Casa Xalteva supports Alex thru food, clothing, school supplies, before school tutoring, consistent adult supervision, and thru facilitating age appropriate activities.

Francisco, or Pancho as we like to call him, has been in the program since July 2007. Pancho is also a very similar story. Prior to Casa Xalteva he was not attending school. Although he also lives at home with his uncles, with no mother or father involvement, he would spend his days out of the home. Unfortunately his uncles have a drinking problem so Pancho would stay away from the home as much as possible. He would usually spend his days around his neighborhood looking for something to do to earn money for food or food itself. Casa Xalteva has also become a second home for Pancho. He is attending school and making great progress with his reading and math. Casa Xalteva supports Pancho thru food, clothing, school supplies, before school tutoring, consistent adult supervision, and thru facilitating age appropriate activities.

Luis, Faret, and Nayiba are three siblings that came into the program in August 2007. They live with their paternal grandmother and their father with no maternal involvement. These siblings had been attending school up until about three months ago but then due to financial needs they stopped attending. Because of an accident that caused their father the loss of his job, the family did not have money for food or much else. Casa Xalteva is now involved and provides support thru food, clothing, school supplies, before school tutoring, and thru facilitating age appropriate activities.

Volunteer Work

Casa Xalteva students who have some proficiency in Spanish may volunteer for a few hours a day with Casa Xalteva or with a variety of other social service programs. These include children's academic programs, youth centers, children's sport teams, tutoring, and teaching English.

Although Casa Xalteva is not a volunteer placement agency, we do assist our students in finding a volunteer organization to meet the student's interests based on their request.