While the concept of “studying abroad” means different things to different people, one truth remains. The absolute best and only way to immerse yourself in a culture, in a country, and in a foreign language is to do certain, specific things that will enable you to experience the absolute most out of every moment of every day.

To garner the most effective, enlightening, and enjoyable experience, both culturally and academically, in a Spanish immersion trip to Argentina, Chile, and/or Peru, there are four essential pathways of the program that you will want to readily embrace.

Part One: The Fundamentals

Fundamental to acquiring and demonstrating both verbal and written skills with any language is knowing and demonstrating proper grammar.

While shopkeepers, waiters, business owners, and all the other locals in whichever Latin American country you are in will be delighted that you are wholeheartedly attempting to speak their country’s language, your conversations will be that much more engaging and effective if you are using the right verb choices, pronoun genders, and sentence structures.

The Fundamentals portion of Pathways is a two-hour, fun (yet demanding) focus on Spanish grammar.

An Ecela instructor trains students in the fundamentals.

Since there are only eight spots available to students in this fundamentals section of pathways, you not only get plenty of time to experience one-on-one individual instruction, but also have the ease and convenience of learning right alongside other students who want to learn, improve, and master their Spanish grammar skills as well.

In addition, while lots of your learning will be put to use in your daily conversations with students, instructors, and everyone you meet outside of the classroom during your exploration of the city and beyond, your grasp of proper grammar usage can also naturally be employed in your written communications.

Whether you’re writing a letter home in Spanish to your loved ones or leaving a note in Spanish for that nice waiter who works at the corner café, formulating your words and sentences succinctly and correctly will be appreciated, acknowledged, and admired by your reader(s).

This two-hour course is thoughtfully structured to achieve the best results. In fact, while you are certainly free to take an emergency bathroom break or grab some water whenever you want, this session does include a formal 20-minute break.

During the break you are provided with free refreshments and snacks - all of which you can enjoy while mingling with your classmates from all over the world, or you can give your brain some R&R (rest and relaxation) and speak in your native language for 20 minutes!

Part Two: Conversation

Having a great grasp on grammar won’t do you much good if you don’t actually attempt to speak Spanish often and regularly!

This two-hour portion of the program focuses on just that - oral communication. The “speaking practice” component of language development is widely considered the most important part of the whole learning process - even though it is often missing from not only most self-study programs, but also many formal language schools as well!

For this portion of the Fluency Pathway, there are only four students to a group, purposefully reduced by half from the eight in the fundamentals portion.

With four students and one instructor for each group, everyone gets lots of opportunities to listen, respond, and learn to converse naturally. Further, the conversations soar well beyond “Hola! Que pasa?!” and delve into topics that can help you take your conversations with locals and others you meet to a much deeper, more engaging level.

The five-member-group discussions often focus on conversations about current events in the world (or even in the school's country), so you are able to model the real-world conversations later that same day when you're out and about exploring and embracing all that the city has to offer.

Part Three: Field Practice

Naturally you didn’t make the commitment of your time, energy, and focus to venture to Peru, Chile, and/or Argentina to simply practice Spanish conversations with a group of three other students and an instructor.

You can’t help but wholeheartedly embrace the "Spanish everywhere" environment of which you are a part. Wherever you venture - whether it’s to the local eatery, a corner fruit stand, a pub's early evening happy hour, salsa clubs at night, sidewalk cafes during the day, the local gym, or church, all the locals will be speaking Spanish! You have the opportunity to engage in local Spanish-speaking conversations every moment of every day!

Even if you don’t feel 100% confident that you are getting the grammar exactly right or have lost the word you are looking for, no problem! No need to feel shy, intimidated, or silly!

The locals absolutely love and appreciate that you are trying to embrace and use their native language. In fact, as a foreigner, you will be quite a delight and very interesting to them!

Don’t be surprised to discover that many of them will want to practice their English-speaking skills with you as much as you want to practice Spanish!

While you can feel comfortable and confident to venture out alone or with other students, be sure to leave your earphones in your pocket! Nothing says “Don’t approach me or talk to me!” more than someone strolling down the street with earphones and his/her head down looking at a phone!

Every new conversation you partake in brings you one step closer to fluency!

Part Four: Home Stay (optional)

While learning the fundamentals of grammar, practicing conversations with students and an instructor, and speaking Spanish out into the community are all integral and effective components of achieving fluency in Spanish, nothing quite compares to staying with a local host family.

Instead of sharing a room with another English-speaking student (where you might find yourself conversing in English in your room more often than in Spanish, or you won’t know if you are saying something properly or correctly or not in Spanish), embrace the opportunity to live with a Latino family during your journey.

A family homestay is an optional part of the Fluency Pathway.

From observing family traditions at mealtimes, on Holy Days, and during the days and evenings, the experience and wealth of knowledge you’ll gain by residing with and among a family is incomparable to any other place you might choose to stay.

In addition, most students who live with a family develop a lifelong bond with that family and the individual members, and regularly find themselves visiting the family on their own again over the years, and welcoming the family to visit, explore, and spend time with them in their own native country.

Conclusion

Embracing each of these four distinctly different components of the immersion pathway to Spanish fluency will enable you not only to achieve that goal of speaking and writing fluently in Spanish, but also give you a wealth of memories, experiences, conversations, and milestones that will forever be a part of your life and future adventures.

It’s awesome to go to another country and take classes in that country’s language. Getting the absolute most out of that experience - while in that experience - can be accomplished by committing to:

1. spending a few hours a day learning the fundamentals of the language,
2. practicing the language with other students and an instructor who can actually help you and correct you right in that moment so that you don’t continue to make the same mistakes,
3. confidently branching out into the communities to explore everything they have to behold and to engage in all sorts of interesting conversations, and
4. (optionally) living with a host family to completely and utterly immerse yourself in the culture.

Related

Spanish Immersion Myths 6 Common Misconceptions About Spanish Immersion Travel​.

Compound Effect of Spanish Immersion 9 factors that work together to get you fluent faster than you might think possible.

Nuestros Barrios  Videos from the neighborhoods around our Spanish schools in Argentina, Chile, and Peru.

Ecela Cinco Estrella Garantía

Our five-star guarantee promises you an exceptional educational experience every week of your program, or you get TWO extra weeks absolutely free.

We guarantee…

1. Your right to change schools If you feel a change of scenery would be beneficial, simply let us know a few days in advance and you can switch - at no extra cost.
2. Significant Spanish improvement  You will make substantial advancements in your Spanish each week, by YOUR standards.
3. Thorough course enjoyment  You will look forward to class each day and to spending more time with your instructors, your classmates, and the Ecela staff.
4. Comfortable environment  Your will find our school facilities comfortable, clean, and inviting – more like a home than a language institute.
5. Friendly treatment by staff  As a welcome guest of ours, we don’t consider you just another language student. You will be treated like part of the Ecela family by all of us.

“Our goal is to help you have one of your best experiences ever, but...

"We are real people and, as a consequence, we DO make mistakes, we DO have bad days, and we DO sometimes fail to give your our best.

"If you feel that we failed at any of the above 5 points, at any time during your program, just let me know and we will give you two extra weeks of classes, to be used at any of our schools, absolutely free – no questions asked.” - Cecilia Quezada