Barclay Languages - La Habana

Amber-Celeste Aaronstein

Arguably the best language school in Havana! I returned to Barclay for private Spanish lessons this summer after having been a group student previously. In addition to a great location and beautiful building, I really appreciated the quality instruction that was tailored to my needs and preferences. Rafael is a fabulous professor who made lessons about so much more than completing exercises from a book, and in addition to my increased knowledge/understanding, I left with a lot more confidence. (Also enjoyed some fun salsa classes, as both a private and group student!) Lastly, Yaima, the school’s manager, is such a pleasure – friendly, helpful, and accommodating. I wholeheartedly recommend Barclay and would return without hesitation. In the meantime, I look forward to resuming lessons online!

Alexis Conaway

My aunt and I had an amazing experience working with Barclay! Yaime was so helpful, answering every question and meeting every need and making us feel so welcome. Our Spanish instructor, Dianne, was so good at connecting with us and tailoring the class to meet our needs. And the salsa instructors, Yan and Deivys, were SO fun and somehow made us feel like the best dancers ever. I truly cannot say enough good things about Barclay and the staff! We left with improved skills and new relationships and memories that will last a lifetime. 🙂

Abi Boeck

Excellent experience. I had 2 weeks of intensive Spanish classes for the specific goal of medical language/communication. My professor designed a curriculum tailored to my level and my needs, and did classroom and community based activities that were so helpful in my development. She went above and beyond. I came away with a much better understanding of Cuban history, culture, and the Cuban medical system, and my Spanish notably improved. And the salsa classes rock. Thanks for everything!

PR Even

I have been studying Spanish for about 5 years and hope to some day go to Cuba to take classes in person. To that end, I searched for online school offerings and found Barclay Languages. I have now had online classes with them for 2 months. Laura is my teacher and provides the instruction and structure that I need. We meet for an hour a week and I am building on what I already know and making it better and better! I am now certain that my goal of studying Spanish in Cuba will come true and I will plan to study with Barclays!

Anna Markkanen

I had an incredible experience studying Spanish at Barclay in July 2024. My friend and I took a 20-hour course, which was tailored just for the two of us based on our wishes. All the details regarding of both course content and schedules were easy to agree in advance with Yaima, and she was very helpful along the way as well.

From the moment I enrolled, both Yaima and our teacher Rafael were welcoming and extremely supportive. Each class was well-structured and interactive making the process of learning both effective and enjoyable. Rafael as a teacher is highly qualified, passionate about teaching and I felt he genuinely wanted us to succeed in our grammar studies.

In addition to classroom learning, Rafael held a very interesting tour to Museo de Arte Cubano which was a nice addition to our course.

I can highly recommend Barclay to anyone looking to study Spanish, and willing to learn more about Cuban culture. The quality of education, the warm and supportive environment, and the overall experience exceeded all my expectations!

Joachim Ackermann

We had a wonderful time and experience during our three weeks packed with language, salsa and percussion sessions at Barclay: learning, exploring and great fun. If you are looking for a truly special experience - this is THE place!

Barclay is unique and very authentic, far more than a typical language school as it provides a personal, warm hearted touch with the Cuban way of life (we especially liked the weekly 'out in real life' sessions). Liz is a great profesora espagnol with deep linguistic passion and professionalism. She made our back to school experience rewarding and deeply cares about her students beyond the classroom. Yaima is the soul of the school and manages everything from early interest, over arranging everything seamlessly to helping in understanding how life works and all its workarounds.

I can highly recommend Barclay !
(average ratings close to 5.0 make me suspicous ... this one is a real A+)

Many thanks Barclay team ... we are looking forward to come back one day.

Kaisa Mujunen

My friend and I took a 20 hour Spanish course over two week period in July 2024 and I couldn’t be happier about the course and the overall experience!

Rafael, our teacher throughout the course, had prepared a learning syllabus and guided us through the classes in an engaging, safe and informative manner that supported and enhanced our earlier studies of Spanish, clarified the trickier aspects of Spanish grammar all while also giving us glimpses of Cuban life and culture. Being immersed in the Spanish speaking environment both in the streets and at the language school increased my confidence to speak and prepared me to handle day-to-day situations, such as having Spanish dinner conversations with my Cuban friends and even calling a club to enquire after concert tickets!

In addition to traditional classes, we were introduced to Cuban art and artists through a visit to Museo de Arte Cubano, which, despite being interested in art, I’ve never explored before while in Havana.

The facilities of the school were excellent and the premises were beautiful with a very efficient air conditioning. The set up for the classes and communication with Yaima throughout inquiry and booking process was fluent, and in particular I appreciated the flexibility of the class schedules that enabled us to fill our fully packed ”horario” with both language and dance classes.

To summarise, I warmly recommend both the language school and our teacher for anybody willing to improve their Spanish skills!

Kamilah Douglas

I highly recommend Barclay because they are very organized and effective. I emailed them and the school's director Yaima was very prompt in responding and getting me signed up. She also helped me exchange my US dollars to Cuban pesos. Luckily, Yaima is able to speak English which I needed in the very beginning but the goal is to learn Spanish so she switched and I didn't mind at all. They definitely go the extra mile for you at Barclay. Yaima and my Spanish teacher Ariana were both incredible! They have helped me find someone to braid my hair in Havana and Ariana walked with me to find her house.
Learning Spanish with Ariana was challenging in a good way because she didn't say anything to me in English but she spoke slowly and clearly so that I could still follow along. (I have a basic foundation of speaking Spanish so I can't say what the experience will be like for an absolute beginner.) Ariana is also a great teacher because of her great teaching methods and she is passionate about her job. I have to be honest and say that there was a male teacher there that wasn't very friendly but I am so glad that he wasn't my teacher. Choose Ariana when booking lessons with Barclay.
I know that my Spanish lessons were effective because the owner of the Airbnb that I was living in said that she noticed my improvement, and even Ariana herself said that I was able to understand her a lot more than I did in the very beginning. ? Nothing is better than an immersive language experience.
I also met the building owner's father and he was so sweet. I have to go back to Barclay when I visited Cuba again! ?❤