Spanish Immersion Program for Social Workers in Costa Rica

By Karen E. Latus, MSSW

This past December, I had the opportunity to attend the Academia Centroamericana de Español (ACCE)’s program for social workers in Grecia, Costa Rica. Designed with the assistance of a NASW-California staff member, the program aims to equip social workers with language and cultural skills for working with Spanish-speaking clients. I chose the full immersion experience by staying with a host family, although students also have the choice of living in the school’s fully equipped villas.

ACCE serves students of all language levels, and the small class sizes (no more than four students per professor) mean that instruction can be tailored to individual needs. We spent the mornings practicing intake interviews, role-playing therapy sessions, and fine-tuning our grammar and pronunciation. The afternoons, meanwhile, were a mix of instructional and recreational time. Some days, we attended seminars on Costa Rican history and social work in Latin America, facilitated by the school’s director and a social work professor from the University of Costa Rica. Other days, we had cooking and dance lessons, site visits to social service agencies, and even a zip-lining trip! On the weekends, we enjoyed various excursions coordinated by the school.

I truly could not have anticipated all I would gain from this high-quality program. I came away with a solid foundation of skills, a broadened understanding of multicultural social work, and, of course, new friends. Many thanks to ACCE and to NASW-California for providing such an amazing experience!

Karen E. Latus is a MSSW candidate at the University of Tennessee College of Social Work.  Further information about ACCE’s program for social workers can be found at http://www.acce.co.cr/social_workers.html or by emailing info@acce.co.cr.