María was born in Spain, but fell in love with Costa Rica and decided to make it her home after moving to Playa Sámara upon termination of her Master´s in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Alicante. Prior to becoming a language teacher, María had obtained her BA in Political Science & Administration at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, her Masters in Management and Marketing, and a postgraduate certificate in Democracy and Poverty Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. She went on to learn Swedish, and eventually her love of languages led her to a career in teaching, including starting her own online language school offering Spanish for foreigners, and ESL classes locally; and then to Sámara, where she teaches Spanish to students from around the world at Intercultura. She loves spending time with her husband and young daughter, traveling, meeting friends from different cultures, and enjoying Sámara´s beach and natural beauty.

“Maria is amazing! She is a very good teacher and I really enjoy the class.” – Vivian Chow, 2023

“Maria is fun. I learn best when the class is fun.” – Rozita, 2023

“Maria has been a wonderful teacher this week. She is fabulous!” – Elizabeth Sorensen, 2023

“Maria – she is one of the best teachers I have ever had. Very smart in every way. Ready to answer any question. Ready to recommend books. Ready to correct any number of mistakes. And ready to spend an hour discussing topics of all kinds. Besides, I like her mix of Iberian Spanish and Tico Spanish. This has helped me to handle several dialects without falling into so many common traps.” – Zach B., 2022, USA