Where to Learn Spanish in San Francisco

For those students seeking a Bachelors or Masters degree in the language, or a teaching credential, a good place to look is at San Francisco State University. Non-students who simply want to learn the language would likely be better off looking elsewhere as this requires acceptance to the school and enrollment, which is a long and pricey process. With so many other resources in the area for learning Spanish it is probably not worth it going this route unless you are fully planning an academic career in Spanish. If the school still has a course that particularly interests you you may be able to take it through the Open University program without formally enrolling, check with the College of Extended Learning division of SFSU for details.

Bay Area Bilingual offers "Spanish fluency training for English speakers." Classes seem to be laid out in a specific series of courses depending upon what your goals are. The Fluency Path is intended for beginners to the language, the Traveler's Path is geared towards those preparing for a trip to a Spanish speaking country, and there is a Specialized Path which apparently can be adapted to a number of subjects like art, literature and construction. Their pricing chart is a little confusing but it seems to end up breaking down to about 200 to 300 dollars per week.

Casa Hispana is a Spanish language school in San Francisco with group classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced Spanish speakers, as well as private lessons available. Group classes consist not just of language lessons but of group discussion, role playing, games and songs. They also offer translation services. Contact them via their site for prices and further details.

Enjoy Spanish is a school in San Francisco that stresses a style of interactive methods, creative and human approach and real-time activities. They are also a bit on the pricey end of the scale, with classes of one hour per week at $500 for a one on one lesson, and $320 for a group class. They do offer a 1/2 hour free introductory class however.

Peruvian Goodies offers private lessons for either one person or self-formed groups. Each session is one hour long and costs $35, or you can pre-pay for bunches of 10 to 30 sessions at a discounted price. The location is in the Mission at 3566 17th Street.

The City College of San Francisco is really good for beginner's Spanish lessons as they are offered online as well as a number of traditional lecture classes at various campus branches around the city. They also offer intermediate level courses and cultural courses, though these are not offered online. This is a California community college and thus tuition is only $20 per credit. I've personally taken both Elementary Spanish 1A and 1B online with Professor Stering and I recommend them for complete beginners, although I think those with a little experience already will find it too slow.

Habla offers Spanish language classes that meet once per week for two hours. The classes decide amongst themselves when they are formed what days they will meet on and for what frequency. Classes consist of five to fifteen students. Visit their website for further details.