I am a developmental psychologist and college professor and have been
granted a study leave for September 2004 - May 2005.  I want to study
Spanish and live abroad with my family, 2 adults and 1 child, from
September through late April.  The child will be home-schooled.  At
the end of the year, I must have made arrangements to return with a
group of students the following year.
(One constraint:  I must be in Beliguim from Nov-26-Dec 3 for a
conference.)  My income will be about US $2500 per month for the year.
Question:  Where should we go?  We have collected much data, but need more input.
Can I afford to live in Spain, at least for the fall, near the ocean
and a city? My family loves to sail and be around boats.
My other choice is Monteverde, Costa Rica.  I
have to decide in the next week.

I love Costa Rica...i know there are lots of spanish schools to choose
from, i get a Costa Rican news paper with lots of info on language
schools.  You can get info on:
www.ticotimes.com  
I'm not sure if i'd live in Monteverde for that long...thats just
me...i've been there a number of times and its awesome, but it's 4
hours up and 4 hours down to/from San Jose and 2 hours from the
nearest beach....the road up there is non paved and it's rough
(although you'd be up there during high season, so it would be
bustling with tourists)  i'm sure you've got this web site too? 
www.monteverdeinfo.com

i'd also check out 2 other areas:

http://www.manuelantonio.com/
and
http://tamarindobeach.net/

Good luck & God Bless!

Nan

I'm not a researcher....just throwing in my 2cents

See this answer:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=299723

Spain has two coasts, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
You want to avoid the Atlantic because weather does not allow maritime
activities in the winter.
In the Mediterranean coast you want to avoid the north region ( called
Catalunya ) because the language spoken there is not exactly Spanis
(they speak Catalan).
The best place is the region around Malaga ( called Costa del Sol ).
But avoid the extremely touristic locations like Marbella.
A good choice would be the twon of Fuengirola. It is in the coast,
temperatures are between 15 and 25 celsius all the year.
I own a 2 bedrooms apartment that I rent for 900 ? (sorry it is not
free during the period you want) but I there are plenty for that
price.
Food is really inexpensive in the area.
You will need a car, for that period you should try to by a secon hand
car, it will be cheaper than to rent.
Maritime sports are all around the area.
The closest city is Malaga, with a huge international aeroport from
wich you can fly to Belgium (Virgin will take you for as few as 50 $).
There is a good English speaking community in the area (British) and
plenty of clubs and societies.
I am Spanish myself and I have two brothers-in-law living right there.
I have been in the are for summer vacations in the last two years.

I think for the price Costa Rica might be a better choice.  Spain is
expensive especially for a family.  Costa Rica is amazing!  I agree
with the other postings, Monteverde is great but for longer periods of
time you might want to go somewhere more accessible.  If you want to
study spanish checkout FirstStep World here: <a
href="http://www.firststepworld.com</a>

You can study spanish in multiple destinations Tamarindo, Monteverde,
Playa Flamingo, San Jose.  Best of luck.