I'm planning to go to Guatemala in Jan. I hope to stay entre 2.5-3months. I have been studying spanish for little less than 9 months, and I feel as though I'm started to "speed up" at this point so I'm hoping by Jan. I will be capable, although certainly not fluent. That being said, I have mostly spoken with ones from Mexico, and a few from El Salvador. I was wondering if there were certain words or phrases native more to Guatemala that I should learn to use, or more important know to avoid using? Thnx for any input. Riley

Hola, Riley. These links may be of some help to you: http://www.guatemalaenvivo.com/vocabulario-en.php, http://motorwaysandtramlines.blogspot.com/2007/01/guatemalan-slang-vol-1.html, http://diccionariochapin.com/, and http://nikor.us/guate/diccionario.html. One important fact to know, is that in Central America; including Guatemala, the pronoun _vos_ is used. FYI: http://www.ontheroadtravel.com/travel-advice/Guatemala/cultural-cheatsheet, and http://spanish.about.com/cs/historyofspanish/f/vosqow.htm.

I too am planning a trip to Guatemala in January/February 2010. I plan to go to Spanish Language immersion school: 1 wk Antigua, 1 wk Lake Atitlan and 1 wk Xela. I also hope to see the sites and make a trip to Tikal. Right now I am researching schools. Thanks for the links, I'm sure they will be helpful. Would love to hear more from anyone else who has done this type of trip. Marilyn

i am going to jalapa guatemala in febuary 2010 with wells of hope and if you have ANY usefull infromation plz email me.-la mara por vida homie

I'm planning on going to Lake Atitlan this February and staying thru March to study Spanish. Which school in Atitlan have you decided to go to? John ]I too am planning a trip to Guatemala in January/February 2010. I plan to go to Spanish Language immersion school: 1 wk Antigua, 1 wk Lake Atitlan and 1 wk Xela. I also hope to see the sites and make a trip to Tikal. Right now I am researching schools. Thanks for the links, I'm sure they will be helpful. Would love to hear more from anyone else who has done this type of trip. Marilyn[/quote]