They broke my heart. I wanted to work there years ago, and they didn't hire me Even though I was told that I did an amazing job while I did an internship ther. I loved it there. read more

I am an English speaking who went to the Latin American Association with very little knowledge of Spanish. I took their level 1 Spanish class first and loved it! My teacher (Alejandro Pelaez) was very detailed in his explanations and gave us plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. I then moved on to the one on one tutoring which helped me understand the complexities of the language. I still have a long way to go until fluency but The Latin American Association really laid a great framework for me to learn Spanish. The programs were great and all the staff was very helpful. The prices for 1 on 1 tutoring were a little too much for the average worker in my opinion thats why i gave 4 instead of 5 stars. If they decrease the price i know they will quickly obtain more students. Overall i loved my experience and will take another 1 on 1 tutoring in the near future. *** PS: for anyone trying to learn a language there is no one program or class that will get you to fluency. I was successful in my classes because i immersed myself in the language as much as possible outside of class (apps, spanish radio/tv everyday, etc.) The Latin American Association helped bring it all together and was a valuable resource in learning the grammatical ways of the language. As long as you are dedicated to language learning you will learn as quickly and as much as you want !!! read more

For my last two-digit review, I'm choosing one of the places that is closest to my heart in Atlanta. Ever since I've lived in this city, I've been involved with the Latin American Association. When I first came here, it was for translation and notary services of my paperwork. Soon after, I was a volunteer and trainee in the CPR training program they put together with the American Red Cross. Later, I became their volunteer photographer (if you go to their website, the cute kid on the top banner at the homepage is a portrait by yours truly). Last summer, I became one of the volunteer professors for their Summer Program and taught photography to the high-school kids for six weeks. That was one of the best experiences of my life! Imagine a bunch of teenagers working with any available camera, producing amazing bodies of work, and teaching ME one or two things...can't ask for anything more! Today, I'm about to see my dream come true, and they will be closely involved with this! I'm publishing my first photography and poetry book, and its presentation and signing will be at their beautiful Board Room. They have been so enthusiastic and collaborative about it! I'm also proud to say that a portion of the sales of my book will benefit their Youth Programs. I love the fact that my sweet fellow Yelper Melissa I. talks about their fantastic Spanish classes, while our dear David K. does about their job services and their involvement with the Latino community. I think it's also important to point out they have many, many other services such as: Family programs * Program against domestic violence * Program for the protection of children * Program for Latino fathers * Building Strong Families * Program for the homeless Housing programs * Equal opportunity housing assistance * Low-cost housing * Housing Seminars * IDA: Individual Development Account * "Camino a": Annual housing fair Youth * Annual Latino Youth Leadership Conference * Mami y Yo Program (Mommy and Me) * Academic and Cultural Initiative (after school and summer programs for which I've worked as a photographer and professor) * Life Plan Mentoring Program (they just gave a scholarship to one of my former students, who is about to begin college!) * Websites with information on Scholarships for Latinos * Website for GED Preparation Career Services for Employers * Bilingual recruitment services * LAA Job Bank, an online job board for bilingual job seekers * Cultural diversity training * Pre-employment language assessments * Use of our facilities for exclusive Career Days or Interview Sessions * Annual professional job fair * Annual entry-level job fair Immigration and Legal Services Education and Language (Spanish and English classes, and translation services) They also have one of the BEST groups of volunteers I've ever seen, not only in terms of hard-work and team spirit...it's also a group of wonderful, inspiring individuals that are so diverse! The gentleman in charge of the Senior's Day is the loveliest American guy I've ever met! He takes cares of all the steps in this activity: he picks up the Latino seniors at their homes and bring them to the LAA, where they can spend a cool day having coffee, playing bingo and mingling with friends. Just maravilloso! This is the kind of organization that makes me feel very proud of being a Hispanic woman. It works hard to bring up what makes our culture so rich and interesting. It's a wonderful Hispanic-American group of individuals giving their best in order to make the life of Hispanos in Atlanta better. I just take a bow. Thanks LAA for making my Atlanta experience a better one! read more

This is just a review for the Spanish Language classes available through the Latin American Association. I recently completed a 5-week, 20 hour course at the LAA, and I am not familiar with their other services. I had (perhaps unreasonably) high expectations of the class based on others' reviews, so I wanted to share another perspective. I took two semesters of Spanish in college when I was studying French & education, but it's been over 10 years since, and I haven't used Spanish at all during those years. I do speak French, and I've always had an easy time picking up new languages. I am sure that all those things do have an impact on my perception of the experience at LAA. I took the placement test and signed up for Level 3 Spanish based on my results. I was a little surprised to learn that each level of the course devotes 20 hours to one chapter of an introductory Spanish class, as this is a much slower pace of learning than I seem to remember from even high school language classes. My instructor was a native Spanish speaker but not a trained teacher. I've taken and taught so many language classes, that I was genuinely shocked at how the class was run. Often, we'd spend 20 or more minutes just listening to the teacher read lists of vocabulary from the book. When students spoke in class, there was rarely any correction to pronunciation or grammar mistakes. Most of our in class work was doing exercises from the book, and of 9 homework assignments, only two or three required us to actually take the material and use it in a way that demonstrated a true understanding instead of just filling in the blanks or matching items in column A with items in column B. Overall, I was disappointed in my experience at LAA. It is one of the lowest-priced language programs I have found in Atlanta, but as far as the value of the experience, I didn't feel like it measured up. read more

Great place to take Spanish classes. There really are only positives to say and not too many negatives. The quality of class was comparable to that I received when I studied abroad in Costa Rica. The teachers were nice and all the students were adults who were there because they wanted to learn. This created a engaging atmosphere of pushing each other. It was also neat to do intercambio where you go and talk with Spanish speakers who are learning English. The goal is to teach them English while they teach you spanish. I got corrected - ALOT - and really got to know how far I had to go. One teacher even brought in latin food and it was REDICULOUS. I would recommend giving these classes a shot if you are interested in learning Spanish. The prices are very reasonable and the teachers were great. read more

I'm excited to share another perspective about the Latin American Association that has to do with business relationships. In addition to sponsoring networking events aimed at introducing you to consumers from Latin and South America, they also provide bi-lingual recruitment services. Yes, actually a place to find qualified bi-lingual job candidates (anyone who has needed to recruit from this candidate pool knows how difficult it can be)! I managed an apartment community in a mostly Spanish-speaking area and this service was extremely helpful, especially during the summer months when they would send college interns. Their official mission is to help "Latino families achieve their aspirations for their academic, social and economic advancement." One of the ways they do this is through community integration, resulting in programs that can benefit everyone, not just Latinos. I highly recommend learning more about their organization as there are lots of opportunities to participate and contribute. read more

My experience taking classes with the LAA has been incredible. The staff and especially my teacher are AMAZING. My teacher goes above & beyond to make learning fun, the management requests & implements from our feedback and the LAA hosts events & parties for all. What they do is incredible and a beautiful asset to our community. read more

I just finished level 12 at the LAA and wow what a positive experience this has been in my life. I started out thinking "I'll take Spanish lessons - no big deal." I ended up being adopted by a culture. The LAA has changed my life, my world feels much broader now. Teachers and students at the LAA come from all over the world from Spain to Uruguay, which helps when trying to understand different accents and word usage. And there are plenty of opportunities to practice - every other class includes intercambio where you interact with a class learning English. There's also a coffee hour for anybody who wants more practice. The group I went through with became very tight and are now counted among some of my closest friends. I can't recommend the LAA enough. Learn to speak Spanish at this top notch facility and change your life! read more

This is just a review for the LAA spanish classes- I'm pretty ignorant about the other things they do. The spanish classes have been great. The price is reasonable and the instruction is fantastic. We spend most of class talking to each other, which is perfect for learning how to converse. There are in-class exercises and homework, just like any normal class. Every day I leave, I feel like my brain is totally full. It has been a great environment. For me, the location is super convenient too. read more

This place offers a great variety of Spanish classes with native speakers who are keen to amp up your language skills beyond the basics. They offer individual classes as well as group classes and I recommend both. I've found the classes to tend to be smaller which helps give you more attention from the teacher. They have convenient weekday and weekend class times and their class prices are very reasonable in my opinion. The association also offers a variety of other services for the Spanish speaking community. At times the organization is lacking but overall there's a lot of positives for coming here for language skills. read more

The Latin American Association is a godsend in the Atlanta community. We had the pleasure of offering a scholarship and have been immensely proud of the work they continue to do. Keep up the good work! Hope to work with you guys again in the near future. read more

I'm taking Spanish here & one other place in parallel because each place offers a different approach, and both approaches work very well (see my review on the Language Institute of GA for more). The classes at LAA are very much like the classes you had in school (if you took a foreign language in school) - they will start you off from the very bottom rung if that's where your comfort level is, and will carry you just about as far as you would like to go - I think there are 13 levels of instruction available currently, from beginner to intermediate to advanced. I really enjoy the classes and the environment here, and I like that we learn about the culture as well as the language. Sindy A. is my teacher for this 6 weeks, and she's great - very thorough & willing to work with you by email if you have to miss a class. She administers regular exams and quizzes, too, which really helps to solidify what you're studying on your own during the week. I will continue classes at LAA, and would definitely recommend them to others. They offer a number of support services for the Latin American community, as well - I have only good things to say about LAA! read more

A woman named Lily from Immigration Services make me pay for the first consultation, knowing that i would not qualify for their services because high income reasons. Since the beginning she didn't have a very good attitude with me, she was not polite, and didn't make me feel welcome, she asked me for my information which i provide and i told her our income, she swipe my card to process the payment for consultation, afterwards she realized our income and said oh you don't qualify. I said ok i need the refund of my money. She said oh no it's fine come and talk to the immigration Lawyer. She gave me the appointment which was one month later. I came back for the app. And the Lawyer said that i don't qualify for their services bc our high income and that i need to contact a private Lawyer. Im thinking...Why they play with the time and money of the people just like that?. aren't there to help others?. I live one hour and a half driving distance and i cant believe how they act and threat Latin people. If you go there make sure that you qualify for their services otherwise they are taking your money. Bad customer service. read more

I would like to suggest that the association launch an anti-litter "beautify Atlanta campaign" designed to encourage the Latin community to demonstrate sensitivity to a clean environment and ingratiate the culture to America. read more