Wonderful, memorable, and educational experiences studying Spanish and the Latin American culture may be garnered by enjoying weeks at a time in one Argentinian city or another, at a school in Chile, or in a simple town in Peru.

However, there’s another cool way to bring your lifelong dream of traveling and studying abroad to fruition.

There are countless benefits to learning the language, culture, and customs of different Latin American countries through a multi-country Spanish immersion program. Here are 10 of them:

1. You (Personally) Heard It (T)here First ~ Developing Regional Accents

In the US, if you were to travel from Boston, Massachusetts to Manhattan, New York and down to Oxford, Mississippi, you'd hear, be able to identify, and easily discern the different accents and linguistic idiosyncrasies particular to those American geographical regions.

Although everyone would be speaking the same universally-accepted American English, the accents, word choices, and idioms are distinctly different. As you become immersed in different states and spend time experiencing their varied cultures, you might find yourself picking up on language idiosyncrasies and accents.

For example, you might find yourself saying “youse guys” instead of “you guys” while chatting with some cabbies in New Jersey. When looking for directions in Boston, you might say “hahbuh” instead of “harbor” to a local.

During visits to Faulkner’s old stomping grounds in Oxford, you might eventually hear yourself drawl out a “y’all” instead of an articulated “you all”!The same holds true when venturing across different countries in Latin America.

If you visit only a single country while trying to learn, embrace, and practice conversational Spanish, you'll miss a more comprehensive understanding of the region’s linguistic particulars.

Whether it's Argentina, Chili, or Peru, it’s impossible to develop firsthand experience of different regional accents in a nation if you spend all your time in one region.

Venturing to other areas, whether on weekends, free study days, or for formal education in another country can be invaluable to your experience abroad, as well as your ability to grasp, retain, and fall in love with the language wholeheartedly.

2. An Adventure with a View ~ New Landscapes Spark New Ideas

As beautiful as Argentina, Peru, and Chili are, after spending several weeks in the same locale, you’ll undoubtedly be ready to experience other fabulous views, breathtaking landscapes, and off-the-grid back roads!

A change of scenery, including topography and indigenous flora and fauna, provides a breath of fresh air, along with renewed excitement regarding your study program abroad.

Venture even further into Latin American culture, and experience the delight of discovery with your fellow students and local residents.

3. Seeing Similarities & Subtle Differences ~ an Enhanced Cultural Awareness

The more you personally experience of a particular country and culture - the more you see, smell, taste, hear, and touch the things that help define the particular country, culture, and customs - the better equipped you are for your life's future endeavors.

As a result, you’ll be better able to relate to others, who may seem, at first glance, very different from you. By being a student and traveler immersed in multi-country Spanish program, you’ll begin to see the similarities you have with people from other countries, rather than only noticing their differences.

This awareness can't be obtained by reading a book, listening to a tale from another, or sedately sitting back and watching a TV special about it. You can only truly attain enhanced cultural awareness, and acquire the ability to relate to diverse groups of people, by being present and engaging in conversations, questions, and customs yourself!

4. Shortening the Bucket List ~ Feeding 3 Birds With One Slice of Bread

If you’ve always wanted to dance the tango with a beautiful Argentinian beneath the Argentina moon, celebrate another glorious day in Latin America with a glass of Casillero del Diablo while enjoying the vineyards in Chile, and explore the ancient ruins in Peru, a multi-country Spanish Immersion Program puts you in proximity to do it all!

Instead of flying to Chile one year, then making plans to venture to Peru a few years later, you can embrace all three countries during one phenomenal journey!

5. Being Flexible on a Whim ~ Changing the Pace Whenever the Mood Compels You

If you find that, while studying in Buenos Aires, you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by the razzle-dazzle, bright lights and nightlife of this popular destination, no problem! You can simply switch to a more relaxed setting in the mountains for a change of pace.

Or, if you want to swap the sound of the quiet nights of Viña del Mar (Chile) for laughter, music, and glasses toasting, you can head over to Santiago for more excitement!

6. Cross a Country’s Border Without Skipping a Beat ~ A Well-Orchestrated Syllabus

Since all of the classes in the multi-country Spanish submersion program are coordinated among all the different participating schools, it’s a breeze to combine, add, and delete locations without missing any important content or having to repeat content you’ve just covered.

7. Free to Change ~ Free to Explore New Schools and Cultures

There’s no extra charge to switch schools during your multi-country submersion program, so you’ll never have to worry about whether or not you have enough money to go along with your new friends to a new school or venture there yourself!

8. Hey ~ I Know You!

Sometimes, students think that by changing schools and exploring multiple countries during their study program, they’ll be starting all over; as if it were their very first day in class. They may fear they’ll have to introduce themselves all over again to everyone, and might feel a bit lonely or a tad bit shy doing so.

Fortunately, this is not the case!

Because there are so many students who opt to embrace the multi-country Spanish immersion program, students who participate discover they see other like-minded students and travelers! They readily recognize familiar faces and friends from other locations.

It’s a wonderful feeling to be in a country and see someone you’ve enjoyed a lunch with or practiced conversational Spanish with a few weeks prior!While many students pair up or decide to venture to another country’s school in small groups, many opt to travel on their own.

You can rest assured that you won't ever be truly ever alone, because you'll have your contacts and program info with you, and eventually someone you've met before will suddenly appear on your path.

9. Wherever You Go, There You Are ~ Speaking in Spanish!

Wherever you travel, hike, rest, dance, celebrate, laugh, or relax, you’ll be in a “Spanish everywhere” environment. Traveling to other countries enables you to be completely surrounded by Spanish.

You don’t have to worry about knowing a third language or trying to translate one meaning in a language for another; all the places you'll explore, study, and live are Spanish-speaking countries.

10. No Demographics in the Classroom ~ All are welcome!

From high school students, college seniors, and young business professionals, to established executives, medical professionals, high school and college Spanish teachers, retired seniors, and beyond, you have the opportunity to meet, get to know, and cultivate lifelong friendships with all sorts of interesting and diverse people in your classes, regardless of the country in which you’re currently studying.

Though you may be from different cities in the world, have different jobs, or be at different places in your life, you'll find many common denominators with those in your classes, including a love of great adventures, the Latin American culture, and the Spanish language.Venturing abroad to learn a new language and study the culture is an awesome, life-enhancing experience.

Traveling abroad and embracing the opportunity to go to different schools in different countries elevates that life experience to a whole new level!

Related

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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