Gift Spanish Lessons: 9 Occasions to Give Them (and How)

Every week someone writes to me about a person who isn't them. A husband whose wife has been saying for years that she'd love to learn Spanish. A daughter whose father is retiring and has always wanted to. A friend who is about to spend three months in Costa Rica and can't order a coffee yet.

They all arrive at the same question: can I give Spanish lessons as a present? Yes. And it turns out to be one of the better presents you can give an adult, for a reason that has nothing to do with language.

🎂 A birthday present for someone who has everything

The hardest person to buy for is the one who already owns what they need. A birthday is the most common reason people write to me, and it's the easiest one to get right: you're not giving them an object to find room for. You're giving them something to do, week after week, that they'll still be doing months after the birthday is over.

🎄 A Christmas present that isn't a thing

December is when this comes up most. Christmas rewards presents that feel personal, and a course of lessons says something a scarf doesn't: I noticed what you keep saying you want. It also travels well — if the person lives in another country, nothing has to be shipped.

💛 An anniversary, or Valentine's Day, for two

Couples are some of my best students, and they are also some of my best presents. I teach two people at once and adapt to each one's level — one of my students wrote that I was "able to accommodate our different levels of ability", which is exactly the worry couples arrive with. An hour a week that you spend together, learning something, beats another dinner.

✈️ Before a trip to Costa Rica or Latin America

This is the one with the clearest payoff. Someone with a trip booked has a deadline, a reason, and a use for every word they learn. Even three or four lessons before flying changes the trip: they arrive able to greet people, order food and ask for directions, and they spend the holiday talking to people instead of pointing at menus.

If they're coming to the Nicoya Peninsula, we can carry on in person while they're here.

🎓 A graduation present with a long tail

Spanish is one of the few things you can put on a CV and demonstrate in the first five minutes of an interview. For someone leaving school or university, a few months of lessons is a present that keeps paying out long after the party.

🏖️ A retirement present

Retirement is when people finally have the one thing language learning needs: time. One of my students started with me at Santa Teresa years ago, went home to Germany, and is still learning online — she wrote that she "started from almost zero and now reads all kinds of novels". She's retired. It's never a late start.

👩‍👧 Mother's Day, Father's Day

Parents are famously difficult to buy for because they say they don't want anything. A standing appointment every week, with someone patient, is the kind of present they don't ask for and then don't stop talking about.

💍 A wedding or honeymoon present

If the couple is honeymooning anywhere Spanish-speaking, this is a present that shows up on the trip itself. And if the wedding list is already full of plates, it's a relief for everyone.

🎁 Or no occasion at all

Some of the nicest ones have no reason behind them. A thank you. A friend going through a hard year who needs something of their own once a week. You don't need December for it.

How gifting the lessons actually works

It's simple, and there's no gift-card system to navigate:

• Write to me on WhatsApp and tell me who it's for and roughly what they're like — a complete beginner, someone brushing up, someone with a trip booked.
• Choose the size: a single class (60–70 min) is $25, or a monthly pack of 4 classes for $80. Most people give the pack, because it's enough to actually feel progress.
• I'll send you a note you can hand over, print or forward — whatever suits the way you're giving it.
• When they're ready, they write to me and we set the times around their schedule, not mine.

If you'd rather start small, you can give just the trial class first ($12, 20–30 minutes): they meet the teacher before you give a whole pack.

Lessons run on Zoom from anywhere in the world, or in person if they're on the Nicoya Peninsula — and in person means I come to them: to their hotel, their Airbnb, the terrace where they're already staying, or a café nearby if they'd rather.

Why it lands better than an object

An object is finished the moment it's opened. A course of lessons is the opposite: the person opens it, and then for the next several weeks they keep finding the present again — every time they understand something they couldn't understand before.

And they'll associate that with you, which is more than a scarf ever managed.

If you're thinking of giving it to someone, just write to me and tell me about them. I'll tell you honestly whether lessons are the right present for that person, and if they're not, I'll say so.