Portlandia International School Of Languages

Walter has been my Spanish teacher for several months. He does a great job getting to know his students, and helping them feel at ease. Bonus that he gives us cookies! I enjoy his classes, and the other students here, very much.

I took language lessons for about 2 months from Walter. I paid for the 10 private 1 hour sessions and I always tried to get the lessons scheduled in advance and confirm them with Walter. Despite this, Walter was almost never on time and on one occasion he actually double scheduled and "allowed" me to use one of our private lessons by sitting in on another person's private lesson. After 5 of the 10 sessions that I paid for I let him know that I was going on an extended vacation and that I wanted to continue when I returned. He agreed to this and I thought everything was fine. When I got back I messaged him to continue classes, he was not responsive the first time so I kept trying and he eventually set up another session. Long story short, after the 6th class he ended with a long rant about how ridiculous it was that I expected him to honor his agreement to do all 10 classes after being away for 2 months. I stopped going after that. I do think that Walter is very passionate about his work, but that his work style and personality clashed with mine. This, combined with poor communication skills, made for a very bad experience on my part.

Walter is a great instructor who cares, is engaging, fun and is very devoted to the students and the building up the community. I got connected with school through the Portlandia School Meet Up groups that Walter hosts. I felt so welcomed, met great people, and my Spanish improved!

I am about to tell you my honest experience with Walter and this "school" and explain to you why you should completely avoid it altogether. 3 Weeks ago I called this school seeking Spanish lessons. A man named Walter answered the phone and seemed friendly and enthusiastic, and told me to come in that Wednesday, at 230pm , to do an assessment. I reread the date and time back to him and he confirmed. When i showed up at the time he told me, nobody was there. The door was locked, the lights were off, the classroom was empty. I stood outside his office and phoned him multiple times, and got no answer. I left a voicemail, waited 30 minutes, then left disappointed. 2 Days later Walter called me back. He explained that he forgot about our appointment on Wednesday but got my messages (2 days later apparently). I told him it was OK, things happen, and we rescheduled for the next week. We set the day again for Wednesday, and this time for 2pm. He told me he was writing it down this time and he will be there "for sure". The next week I come in, its Wednesday, its 2pm, just like he said. And low and behold, he isn't there again, the school is locked, the lights are shut off, and nobody is around. I again call, nobody answers, I leave a message, and then I wait outside, in the rain, for 30 minutes. Nobody called me back. Walter wasn't there. And there I was, left wondering what the deal is with this guy. I commuted 35 minutes one way, each time, (over one hour round trip). I set aside time from my busy schedule. And I followed all of the instructions on our meeting time. I was eager and excited to meet Walter and learn Spanish. But both times in a row, my time was wasted. My gas was wasted. Walter lied to me and didn't show up. And chain reactively, I left disappointed and in a bad mood. It kind of ruined my whole day especially the second time in a row that Walter did this. For anyone thinking to use this guy as a tutor or teacher, I would advise against it. He may seem friendly on the phone, but for a "teacher" to not be articulate enough to actually show up to the dates that they themselves set, and not have enough decency to call a person back, not only once but twice in a row, is irresponsible. I see other reviewers have had this same thing happen to them. In my opinion this place should be shut down, because I see this is a continuing occurrence with multiple students. Its irresponsible and unprofessional. For whatever positive reviewers their are, they could either be fake, or just caught Walter on his apparent good days that he actually shows up. I don't know what it is, be this is an honest review that I am providing. If you want somebody that actually values who you are, your time, and is articulate enough to schedule the dates and show up to their own set appointments with you, go to a different Spanish school. This place will constantly leave you wondering, is the guy going to show up? is he going to call me back? Is he going to just take my money and flake week after week? I don't wanna see anyone else go through what i went through this this guy. I cannot urge people more to avoid this place altogether.

I have taken language lessons from Walter, the owner of the school, for over two years now, and I really appreciate his help and the progress I've made while studying with him. Walter has helped me greatly improve my my ability to speak and understand Spanish, and his prices are very reasonable. My main goal has been to enhance my verbal communication, and this goal is an excellent fit with Walter's preferred teaching methods. While he is a native speaker of Spanish and is well educated in Spanish grammar, our main focus has been conversation. Instead of emphasizing the memorization of grammatical rules, we mostly converse. In the course of our conversations, he helps me speak better, understand more, and learn to avoid common mistakes. Walter is deeply committed to advancing intercultural contacts and communication. He manages a number of free weekly Spanish conversation groups (previously in person but online during the pandemic), and he runs these groups with great care, sensitivity, and attention. Through these groups and during my lessons, he has helped me better understand the cultures of Mexico and Central America. He has a very busy life running the school and it's important to be sensitive to this fact.

I LOVE Portlandia International Language School and all the people I meet there! I attend the Thursday conversational group practically every single week and the Friday movie night 2-3 times a month. I am extremely excited for the Yoga class that will be starting up in October and plan to attend as I am able. I am taking a combination of private sessions and group classes and it's awesome. Walter, the director, is VERY encouraging, funny, creative and knowledgeable. When I was in college I took a year and half of Spanish and I ended up dropping it because I couldn't for the life of me, get down the basics...Ser and Estar were a complete mystery! That formal setting wasn't for me and also I had several non-native speakers as teachers. Walter's cultural knowledge, humor and coaching skills changed everything. Participating in the events and classes has given me an edge in my career and fed my passion for the language and culture. I have met many friends through the school and value the community that is fostered there.

I wish I had read the reviews before purchasing private classes with this school and Walter. He didn't show up for the first class we had arranged. He emailed to say he would be late, but after 30 minutes, I decided to leave. So he emailed me to apologize for being excessively late and offered to comp a free class -similar scenario to previous reviewers. But then he didn't show up for the next scheduled session that he confirmed by email. He never did come to his office for the class. Keeping in mind that all of these meetings were at his office/Portlandia Language School. Very inconsiderate and disrespectful of others time and effort. After reading other reviews, it sounds like he does this often. He again apologized profusely by telephone explaining that it "was hard to find teachers." I asked for refund and hopeful no issues with that. Look elsewhere for teachers / language schools who are more respectful of peoples' time.