Recommend me a spanish summer immersion program?

[limondrop]

Hey, I'm a high school senior who has been taking Spanish for eleven years and is hoping to major in it next year in college. I have a pretty damn good grasp of reading, writing, and listening...but my speaking skills...are lacking to say the least. Basically, I have very little confidence in my ability to speak spanish, so I'm thinking of doing an immersion program over the summer to hopefully help with this issue and force me to become more comfortable speaking. does anyone have any recommendations of good programs you have been on or have heard about? I'd love for them to be in Latin America rather than Spain...but besides that, I'm open to anything! thanks so much for any suggestions!

[wrholt]

Just living overseas with people who do not speak English may be an immersion program on its own.

I went to Nicaragua for the 10-week break between my 3rd and last years of high school, right after completing the 3rd year Spanish class. I went as a participant in a exchange student program that placed me with the family of another 17-year-old boy; I lived with him for the entire 10 weeks, participated in social activities with him and his relatives, accompanied him to classes at his colegio, and spent very little time with people whose English was better than my Spanish.

When I arrived my capacity to understand spoken Spanish at natural speed and to speak with ease was quite limited. By the end of my stay I was having little problem understanding people in general and was chattering away like a jaybird, and I've had no fear of expressing myself ever since. A year later I entered college planning to major in Spanish.

I never did finish that degree in Spanish; I eventually switched majors when it became painfully obvious to me that I did not have sufficient passion for literary criticism to continue making the investment of time and tuition money on that endeavor.

[Aprendo]

Originally Posted by wrholt

Just living overseas with people who do not speak English may be an immersion program on its own.

I went to Nicaragua for the 10-week break....

OP,

Since you have studied Spanish for 11 years, I agree with wrholt that you will really see an increase in the skills you want to improve by going to a Spanish speaking country.

At a certain stage of learning a foreign language, most of the progression/improvement/further learning will be outside of the classroom.

Using the language everyday. If you have a Summer break you could go to Central or South America.

I don't know if costs are an issue (but it is for most folks).

You need money for a plane ticket of course but once you get there you can keep your costs down. If you want some study you could study in Guatemala. Nowadays, the cost is about $7 per hour hour and with a hostel or homestay it's not so cheap as it was in the 1990s.

But with your level you could just live and interact with people. Lost of people like doing 'languages exchanges' also which costs $0.

[chileno]

If you try my system for fluency, you'll find yourself achieving it in a very short time.

If you read and write Spanish, translate that to English, by looking up the words you don;t know in a bilingual dictionary, will get you the practice you need to hone in your Spanish reading and writing skills, while understanding the Spanish language.

If you read Spanish out loud while recording yourself, then listening to your recording, will get you fluency in your Spanish speaking skills.

If you you have any problems with this instructions, contact me on Skype and I will be glad to help you and coach you for free.

This goes for anybody that wants to accomplish fluency in the Spanish language.