Learning Abroad
Hey all, quick question. I know that practicing Spanish with native speakers is very important to learning the language, but how advanced should you be to gain the most benefit from going abroad? Also, what might be an "ideal" amount of time to spend to get the most "bang for your buck," so to speak?
4 Answers
I was a beginner, did not even know the word 'hola', when I started learning Spanish in Costa Rica. It was very motivating to learn & I did learn a lot in 3 mos., but if I could have had the perfect situation, I would have learned basics first, then started immersion. I think that would've been the most beneficial and would have been the best use of my time. Learning and practicing at the same time moves one forward quickly. There is always someone to practice with.
If you are truly intermediate, you should be able to move fairly quickly in 3-6 mos. depending on how fast you pick up languages. Six months to a year is ideal as far as fluency. By then, you should be able to understand and be understood quite well.
One positive thing about starting cold turkey is that people say I have good pronunctiation and I think it's because I didn't start out with bad habits in sounds. It depends who you had for a language teacher before leaving. If they were fully bilingual or a native speaker, it would be better.
A big consideration is the purpose for which you want to learn Spanish or if there is a certain place you are wanting to go to be understood. Countries and areas with a heavy indigenous population will have less true Spanish speakers since Spanish is a second language to many of them. If you want to learn Spanish for teaching Spanish, Spain would be my personal choice since it covers the vosotros form and uses it extensively. Costa Rica and Colombia are known to speak very clear Spanish which can be understood by most Spanish speakers. However, be aware that every Spanish speaking country, and even within the country, uses different vocabulary (i.e. the word for drinking straw). I had to learn a lot of new vocabulary when moving to Chile and the language is spoken much differently in both countries. When I left Costa Rica I could understand quite a bit, but arriving in Chile, I couldn't understand anything for about a month.
Lagartija said:
You say you're "Intermediate"so you should be ready to spend some time abroad.
Yes, go! I went when I was a "high beginner" to "low intermediate" and learned SO much by being immersed in the language and culture. You'll be surprised at how much Spanish you really know when your brain is forced to make sentences!
I went to Oaxaca in Mexico twice (I highly recommend Instituto Cultural Oaxaca) for a month each time, the Yucatan once for 2 weeks, and then Guatemala. I loved Guate so much that I moved here.
P.s. You do not need an agency to set up the trip for you. Simply contact the school that you want to attend and they will set up classes, a homestay family, etc.
Feel free to PM me with more questions.
You say you're "Intermediate"so you should be ready to spend some time abroad. If you're based in Europe Spain is the obvious place to be. If you plan to go during the summer season you will be at a greater disadvantage unless you go inland away from the tourist traps as Spanglish will be spoken.
Out of season is good and you will find just going to market, hanging out in bars and striking up conversations will help a lot. Spanish people are very warm towards people who try to pick up their language and also very encouraging and helpful. If at allpossible I'd recommend six months "immersion", that wuold bring about a really notable improvement. Go for it!1 Good Luck!
I would say that "getting the most bang for your buck" is mostly a function of how well you research the Spanish language learning schools you have under consideration. Assess your learning style and compare it to the instructional methods provided. As far as determining how much time you should commit to being abroad and learning Spanish, important factors would include your age, your current job or educational status, and the emotional attachments you have in your native country. All this stuff would factor in. If you would choose to spend three months abroad, and wind up being homesick for the last two months, chances are you've wasted the money you spent on the last two months. Regarding how "advanced" one should be before traveling abroad to improve one's foreign language skills, I don't really think this is an issue. No matter how much you study, most likely, when you travel abroad, you will still not speak at all like a native. So there will always be room for improvement. On the flip side, you probably get more bang for your buck if you travel abroad as soon as possible, because you will have more to learn, and probably will double, triple, or even more your ability to speak that language now. Check the crime rate for the area you plan to head to. Just like the United States, other countries have problems with crime - especially the kidnapping and ransoming of foreigners. If you mistakenly choose an area where you don't feel safe and have good reason to feel that way, well you will probably find it hard to interact with the locals, difficult to absorb the ambience of the local community, and come back feeling pretty frustrated. Also, one more point, there's a lot of ways you can learn Spanish close to where you live. I live on the Iowa/Nebraska border. This area provides me many many opportunities to interact with Spanish speakers. Almost all are glad to help you with your Spanish, as much as they are glad to have you help them with their English. Hope you found this answer helpful, and not too lecturing. I used to be a teacher. So I can tend to go on, and on. Being older doesn't help much either! lol
