Portlandia International Language School

Increíble! There are three very low fee events that you can attend without being a student of the school that will really help serve your desire to practice and learn Spanish.
They say it best:
* Friendly «fiesta» every Thursday from 7:00 to 10:00 PM
* Movies on Fridays from 7:00 to 9:00 PM
* Intercambio Group on Saturdays at 4:00 PM, 45 minutes in spanish and 45 minutes in English !
Beginner, intermediate and Advanced people all are welcome ! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to practice your Spanish! There is also the great Salvadorean style salsa, chips (totopos), and drinks (bebidas).
The first event is free and after that, you are requested to pay $ 5 as a donation toward the time, effort and snacks.
Nice if small group of attendees, great attention from the native Spanish speaker. Impress everyone and bring a potluck style item to share. It’s in a super sauve building which feels safe and very inviting.
YAY!

Spanish language and Latino culture. I took an advanced Spanish class here. Its a very relaxed atmosphere and the flexible curriculum focuses on the interests and needs of the students.
The Thursday conversation group is a great mix, ranging from native speakers to beginners. Many of the attendees have traveled or lived abroad and have great insights for anyone preparing to do so. There is something for everyone to learn and it feels like a party with friends.

Portlandia is the best place to learn practical conversational Spanish in Portland. I have attended classes at Tierra as well as Educate Ya, plus I took a conversational Spanish class at PCC. None of those other schools gave me much of a chance to practice my speaking, or they were too grammar based. Walter at Portlandia is an excellent teacher in that he teaches like they do in Latin American countries. When you are in his class, you are immersed in Spanish, especially listening and speaking. You learn the grammar from practical application instead of trying to memorize it. Also, Portlandia has lots of free extra curricular activities where you have a chance to practice what you’ve been learning with other native Spanish speakers, watch movies with Latin American themes, parties, etc. It’s the next best thing to going to foreign country. Walter is from El Salvador and he definitely knows how to teach Spanish so it is interesting to learn.

Walter is a wonderful teacher that offers a lot of great insights into the major differences between the Spanish and English languages. Be is also very generous in offering up his school for free conversation practice, movies, and other Spanish events. He has a friendly demeanor and is fun to talk to and learn Spanish with. He can be a little late for lessons, but other than that, he is wonderful!

I can across these reviews and wanted to talk about my experience with Portlandia, which has been positive. I have done private sessions on and off for about 5 years, a couple group classes at the school, and attended conversational nights almost weekly. For the last two months I also started to attend the Friday movie nights, which I love!!! I plan to keep coming back to the school. :) Walter is funny, encouraging, knowledgeable and engaging. Walter has a passion for teaching and it shows.
Overall Walter was very timely. There was a couple of times when I took private and group classes that he was 5 minutes or so, however I think this is understandable because we are indeed in a city… with traffic. Also, I understand he has other students and obligations. To be honest there were many times I was late and Walter was very gracious and understanding. I went through a family crisis some years back and had to cancel last minute several times. He was understanding and would allow me to reschedule.

I especially appreciate when last year he did a series of private sessions with me to help me prepare for a bilingual Social Work position I had accepted. I felt confident and more prepared as I stepped into the role and met with clients. Learning Spanish has given me an edge in my career. I also value the cultural things I have learned from Walter, and other native speakers I meet in conversational groups and from the cultural presentations.
In college I took Spanish and did several immersion courses in Mexico as well. Walter stands out as one of the best teachers I have ever had. I will continue to recommend him to friends and family :)

Sadly, I had about the same experience as Nikki C did. There was lots of miscommunication from the start, as I had requested to drop in to observe a class but when I came there was actually no class and Walter was there to just assess my Spanish level. I scheduled my first day of class as well and even brought a friend, and Walter did not show up until much later without much of an apology. In fact, he told me that he was paying for another teacher to take over a class he was supposed to be teaching in order to meet us! He did not begin class with us, and instead told us that not enough students were enrolled for us to start a class. The whole situation was extremely disappointing and very uncomfortable despite how nice he was at first. I wasted a lot of time and energy trying to take Spanish lessons here!

I purchased a Unilocal voucher so that I could take private lessons at the school. I scheduled my first lesson with the owner, Walter. I showed up early to my first lesson and ended up waiting 45 minutes for him to arrive. He apologized at the time and decided to comp me another free lesson. I was OK with that because we all make mistakes and I try to be forgiving as much as I can. But, the tardiness didn’t end there.
There were multiple times he was late and multiple times he just didn’t show up for lessons. I live across town and would either a) rent a car to go to lessons or b) take a long bus ride. I would wait outside in the rain multiple times (the building is locked). This was an extreme inconveneince. Yet, I still tried to forgive and give him a chance because he’s a nice guy. Unfortunately, his niceness doesn’t outweigh his complete lack of professionalism. I was finally fed up and asked for a refund. After asking for the refund check 3 times, I finally received it but it was for the wrong amount. To say this experience has been frustrating to me is an understatement.
I’m a small business owner myself and I hope he can take this feedback and listen to what one of his customers complaints is and, hopefully, change his business practices.