www.ecuadors.org

[Xenia]

I am travelling to Cuenca Ecuador in October 07 to spend a month learning Spanish and living with a local family.

I have read that Cuenca is the more beautiful place, but Quito seems to be better geographically situated for visiting Volcan Cotopaxi, Banos, the Oriente and the Galapagos Islands.

Has anyone learnt Spanish in either of these places? Any suggestions welcome.....

I am 30 year old female travelling alone and want to spend my time in a lively, friendly, accessible city where I can practice my Spanish as much as possible.

[Jair]

Instituto Sampere in Cuenca is an excellent school located in a Colonial building overlooking the river. I studied there a few years ago and highly recommend it. The teaching is of a high standard and the lessons are fun.
The course fee includes lots of extra-curricular activities including city tours, cooking classes and trips to the surrounding countryside.
They have a website. Just Google Sampere.
I would go for Cuenca over Quito any day. It is a beautiful city and small enough to be manageable. The people are SO friendly and you will have unlimited opportunities to practice your Spanish.
Unlike Quito, you will not have to watch your back all the time. You can go out at night without any problems.
Galapagos is accessible from Guayaquil, 4 hours from Cuenca. Vilcabamba, in my opinion one of the most gorgeous places on earth is 7 hours away.
I worked in Cuenca for 8 months in 2004 and had a great time. The city doesn't have a manic nightlife, but there's always something going on at one or other of the clubs. You will soon get to know people and learn the track!
About $1 bus ride away there are some wonderful little Andean villages which make a great weekend getaway.
PM me if you need more detailed info. about Cuenca.

[Magda]

I would actually reccomend Quito over Cuenca. Nothing against Cuenca, it is an awesome city, but it is also pretty out of the way if you want to see Ecuador's tourist attractions. Quito is, in my opinion, a reasonably friendly (and also amazingly beautiful) third world city, and is also the major jumping off point for all of your tourism needs. It really depends on the kind of experience that you want to have. Cuenca would probably be a lower-key, off the beaten path sort of thing, but if you want to do the Galapagos, Cotopaxi, etc. Quito is probably a better bet.

If you do decide to do Quito, I second the Secret Garden. I didn't realize that they organized homestays, but according to #1 they do. Their spanish lessons, which you can do individually or in a group, are very reasonably priced, as are the trips that they organize. It's also a great place to meet travel buddies.