Spanish Immersion Camps

[OnMyOwn]

Can anyone make recommendations for a camp or experience for my dd? She went to Concordia last summer and really increased her fluency, but the location of that camp was terrible for her allergies, so she had a splitting headache and other issues the entire time she was there. She had a good time in spite of all that, but not enough that she wants to return.

[tmstranger]

bumping for you because I'm interested, too

 

[RootAnn]

I will bump, too.

 

Middlebury has some, but they are more expensive than Concordia.

[OnMyOwn]

I will bump, too.

 

Middlebury has some, but they are more expensive than Concordia.

Thanks. I did look at Middlebury, but it is very expensive and it conflicts with another camp she attends every year.

[RootAnn]

Thanks. I did look at Middlebury, but it is very expensive and it conflicts with another camp she attends every year.

Yes, us too. Same concerns ($ and favorite math camp conflict). I haven't found another for Spanish that has any reviews except those two.

[RootAnn]

Bumping again. I found some old threads where people suggested sending kids to stay with families in other countries.

 

I don't have family in other countries or connections of that type. Any WTMers who live in Spain want to host my kid for a few weeks this summer?

[madteaparty]

Bumping again. I found some old threads where people suggested sending kids to stay with families in other countries.

 

I don't have family in other countries or connections of that type. Any WTMers who live in Spain want to host my kid for a few weeks this summer?

There are companies that do that, you host and then your kid gets to go to the other family (or vice versa). Look at Adolesco and En Famille.

[Lanny]

Bumping again. I found some old threads where people suggested sending kids to stay with families in other countries.

 

I don't have family in other countries or connections of that type. Any WTMers who live in Spain want to host my kid for a few weeks this summer?

 

You may want to rethink the idea of Spain for learning Spanish.  If you live in the USA your DD will be better served if she learns Latin American Spanish. Widely spoken. I am prejudiced, because we live in Colombia.  My wife says the reason there are Colombians on CNN en Español, etc., and in movies made in the USA for theaters and TV series, is that everyone can understand Colombians.  Each country and region within a country has certain dialects and there are different words used for the same thing, in different countries. 

 

For example:  The Spanish taught in the USA is generally Mexican Spanish. My DD was very weak in Spanish (Reading and Writing) so she took Spanish. She was confused, for example, by the usage of the word "Goma" in a textbook obviously written by Mexican Americans.  Here in Colombia, if you went in a superstore and asked for "Goma" you would get Gum.  In Mexico, apparently, you will get  Tires. Same word, but different usage.  

 

We can communicate with people from Spain, we've done it, but there is somewhat of a "language barrier" between their Spanish and Latin American Spanish.  

 

There are Language Schools here but I think they all teach English.  Possibly some of them also have classes for foreigners who want to learn Spanish?

 

OT: On occasion it is hotter than blazes in Spain during the Summer. Check into that...

[lmrich]

I would love to send my DD to a Spanish Immersion camp in Latin America. I would feel better knowing someone (not even in real life) who would be there as well. Two - three weeks would be great.  

 

I am all ears!

[RootAnn]

DD#1 needs the practice part of Spanish that immersion gives. She needs to be forced to speak it all the time to increase her spoken fluency, not just when she wants to say something contrary about her siblings or the situation she finds herself in. The Spanish she's learned has been mixed carefully to be both Spain Spanish & some forms of Latin American Spanish. She's aware of the difficulty of learning the different vocab and grammar of different Spanish-speaking countries. (Link is funny song about this very thing - warning - some bad language in Spanish and they mix in words that mean something innocuous in English with the same word meaning different body parts in certain Spanish countries!)

 

Her teacher for Spanish this year lives in Mexico City.

 

Some places in Spain are hot in summer & some are cooler than they are where we live in the US during summer. Kinda like sending a kid to the US right now - could be really cold (below 0 C) or could be very nice (my idea of very nice for December is 50s). I'm open to Latin America, too.

[Kassia]

My dd's DE professor is from Spain and told me he knows a family who takes in students he recommends (very few) and would love to send dd there, but dd does not want to go.  She's very introverted and shy.  At 15, I probably wouldn't send her anyway, but I hope she reconsiders in the future because it would be such an amazing opportunity for her.  She loves the reading/writing/listening parts of Spanish, but the speaking makes her so uncomfortable.  

[lmrich]

If anyone has any experience or connections to a Latin America Spanish Immersion camp, I would love to know. 

[tmstranger]

Our family hosts a Spanish student (from Spain) each summer.  They are usually willing to help our children learn Spanish as much as our children are helping them with English.  It's not total immersion, but it does help.  Also, they learn a lot about Spanish culture from doing this.

 

The student we hosted last summer was from the northern coast of Spain where the avg. temp in July was 70 degrees.  He was melting here in Maryland! LOL!!

[lmrich]

What do  you think of the idea  -  that I rent a house in either Latin America or Northern Spain and hire a private tutor to work with my daughter and her friends. I have time in the summer to do this. And it looks like with Air BnB that some rentals are less than paying for one kid at an immersion camp... just an idea

[Lanny]

When I first moved here, I lived near a private, Catholic university, in the city of Cali. At that time, they did have a course for people to learn Spanish (which I deeply regret not taking the time to do). in their Extension Department or something. I'm not sure what that department is called.  This is the main URL, for their Spanish language web site:

  https://www.javerianacali.edu.co/

 

Educacion Continua?   OK, here's a URL about Spanish.

 https://www.javerianacali.edu.co/relaciones-internacionales/investigacion

 

NOTICE ITEM #2:  Summer course or Total Immersion in Spanish...  The information on the above URL is in English.

 

Estimated fees in U.S. Dollars for 2018 are on this URL:

https://www.javerianacali.edu.co/sites/ujc/files/node/field-documents/field_document_file/estimated_fees_in_american_dollars_for_2018.pdf

 

I think the price for the ITE includes Accommodations.

 

 

[Lanny]

What do  you think of the idea  -  that I rent a house in either Latin America or Northern Spain and hire a private tutor to work with my daughter and her friends. I have time in the summer to do this. And it looks like with Air BnB that some rentals are less than paying for one kid at an immersion camp... just an idea

 

I have no experience with AirBNB but if you were going to rent a house or apartment here in Colombia, it would probably be for a long time. I think a 12 month lease is normal here. So, probably something like AirBNB would get you something, on a very temporary basis (for a few weeks or a month or two, for example).

 

Not every year, but frequently, I read that it is hotter than blazes in Spain during the Summer, and occasionally they have tremendous forest fires because of that heat.  I would probably want to check that out very thoroughly. I'm not sure if it is worse in Madrid or in  Barcelona and those are the 2 largest cities.

 

If you should decide to come here, Cali is approximately 3 1/2 hours from Miami in a nonstop jet. 1565 miles (I forget which type of miles).   We have what I consider to be one of the world's best climates. The Mean temperature here is about 76 F. We do not have central heat or central air in our house. Lots of fresh air, because of a large inner patio. We are in a Tropical Valley, approximately 3000 feet above sea level.   If there is a wind here, which is unusual, it is probably going to rain soon. That's all you need to know about weather forecasting here. We have Dry Seasons (Summers) and Wet Seasons (Winters) where we get frequent Thunderstorms.  Probably we are in transition now, from "Winter" to "Summer".  

 

We are just North of the Equator, (3+ degrees), so we have approximately 12 hours of Daylight, year round.  Because of that, one can look into the Northern Sky and also the Southern Sky, if there is no cloud cover at night. That assumes you have a telescope...

[Lanny]

This is a very big English language school, that I suspect is in some way connected with the U.S. Government or possibly partially funded by them. Possibly by DoS.

  https://www.colomboamericano.edu.co/

 

I clicked around the links at the top of that web page, but did not see anything about learning Spanish. They might have some information, about Spanish language courses in the city of Cali, or, if you give them enough time, be able to put together a custom course designed especially for your student(s).  

Edited December 4, 2017 by Lanny

[lmrich]

I have no experience with AirBNB but if you were going to rent a house or apartment here in Colombia, it would probably be for a long time. I think a 12 month lease is normal here. So, probably something like AirBNB would get you something, on a very temporary basis (for a few weeks or a month or two, for example).

 

Not every year, but frequently, I read that it is hotter than blazes in Spain during the Summer, and occasionally they have tremendous forest fires because of that heat.  I would probably want to check that out very thoroughly. I'm not sure if it is worse in Madrid or in  Barcelona and those are the 2 largest cities.

 

If you should decide to come here, Cali is approximately 3 1/2 hours from Miami in a nonstop jet. 1565 miles (I forget which type of miles).   We have what I consider to be one of the world's best climates. The Mean temperature here is about 76 F. We do not have central heat or central air in our house. Lots of fresh air, because of a large inner patio. We are in a Tropical Valley, approximately 3000 feet above sea level.   If there is a wind here, which is unusual, it is probably going to rain soon. That's all you need to know about weather forecasting here. We have Dry Seasons (Summers) and Wet Seasons (Winters) where we get frequent Thunderstorms.  Probably we are in transition now, from "Winter" to "Summer".  

 

We are just North of the Equator, (3+ degrees), so we have approximately 12 hours of Daylight, year round.  Because of that, one can look into the Northern Sky and also the Southern Sky, if there is no cloud cover at night. That assumes you have a telescope...

 

Thanks for helping me think through some of this. It is just an idea I had. We are used to extrememe heat and humidity - I live in Atlanta, but it would be great to escape it. I will have to do a lot of work to make this idea a reality. 

 

So if anyone knows a native speaker who would like to tutor some English speaking teenagers a few hours a day for two weeks in the summer and knows a great place to visit where my $ will stretch; let me know.  :001_smile:

[lmrich]

Anyone know much about San Sebastian, Spain? 

 

[Mabelen]

You may want to rethink the idea of Spain for learning Spanish. If you live in the USA your DD will be better served if she learns Latin American Spanish. Widely spoken. I am prejudiced, because we live in Colombia. My wife says the reason there are Colombians on CNN en Español, etc., and in movies made in the USA for theaters and TV series, is that everyone can understand Colombians. Each country and region within a country has certain dialects and there are different words used for the same thing, in different countries.

 

For example: The Spanish taught in the USA is generally Mexican Spanish. My DD was very weak in Spanish (Reading and Writing) so she took Spanish. She was confused, for example, by the usage of the word "Goma" in a textbook obviously written by Mexican Americans. Here in Colombia, if you went in a superstore and asked for "Goma" you would get Gum. In Mexico, apparently, you will get Tires. Same word, but different usage.

 

We can communicate with people from Spain, we've done it, but there is somewhat of a "language barrier" between their Spanish and Latin American Spanish.

 

There are Language Schools here but I think they all teach English. Possibly some of them also have classes for foreigners who want to learn Spanish?

 

OT: On occasion it is hotter than blazes in Spain during the Summer. Check into that...

I think you are presenting a false dichotomy regarding Spanish from Spain and Latin American Spanish. Yes, there are some differences between standard Iberian Spanish and Latin American Spanish. Mainly, the pronunciation of the syllables ce, ci, and the letter z is like the American th sound in think, thanks, etc. Latin Americans (like others in parts of Spain, pronounce these as an s sound). The other difference is the use of the informal plural you, vosotros. In Latin America, this form has been lost and replaced by the formal plural you, ustedes. Again, this also happens in parts of Spain, so it is not strictly an Iberian versus Latin American Spanish issue.

 

The truth is also that there is no single Latin American Spanish either. As you well point out, your daughter found the use of the word goma confusing because it was a text from Mexico. South American Spanish has distinctive features that Central American Spanish, Caribbean Spanish, or Mexican Spanish don't and viceversa. So to think that if you learn Spanish in Puerto Rico or Mexico is going to save you from issues with Spanish from Chile or Argentina is false. There are going to be certain issues no matter what. The same issues a Brit, an American, an Australian or a South African etc. speaking English can have.

 

Regarding parts of Spain being hotter than blazes in the summer, absolutely, some are. Fortunately, there is a wide variety of climates to choose from. I guarantee that places in the northern coast will not be like that.

[Mabelen]

Anyone know much about San Sebastian, Spain?

Beautiful, cosmopolitan place. Cost of living is high. It is situated in the Basque Country region, so they also have Basque as co-official language.

[klmama]

Beautiful place.  City life plus beach.  It can be cooler than you might want for swimming, but it's still nice to be there.  

[ElizabethB]

You could also do a family vacation to a smaller city in Mexico where there will not be many English speakers. 

[deerforest]

I have a BA in Spanish and studied abroad in Spain in college and have traveled there frequently. We adopted our daughter from Guatemala, and we have traveled there several times too. I've had absolutely no trouble going between both countries with my accent, understanding, etc. I absolutely agree with Mabelen who said it's similar to English variations.

 

When I was in high school, my primary Spanish teacher (including for AP) was from Mexico, and then when I went to college, my instructors were all from Spain. I think the only thing that really confused me was having to suddenly learn vosotros.

 

I specifically use a Spanish program now with her that includes speaking and listening skills, cultural studies, vocabulary and grammar that reflect this diversity. She's learning how to use vosostros, and I'm able to share (and laugh) about some vocab differences, just like we do with English. 

 

I'd highly recommend Antigua Guatemala as an option for you both. You could stay there relatively inexpensively for the summer like you said, and there are tons of language schools. Homeschool Spanish Academy is based there for a reason!

 

 

[Jackie]

My daughter and I have traveled to Guatemala or Honduras for a month each of the last three years, attending language schools and participating in homestays. It’s not a camp, and I don’t know that it’s what people here are looking for, but I can at least let you know what the setup generally was in case it fits.

 

In each case, I arranged the trip by finding an area we wanted to go to, then finding a language school from reviews online. The language schools themselves will coordinate the homestay, and you pay all fees to the school. In each case, I could choose to pay the school to arrange private transport from the airport to the school/homestay as well, so that I wouldn’t need to navigate that portion on my own as soon as I arrived. Each location and school had positives and negatives associated with it (as would any such adventure, I would assume). You usually choose to pay for four or six hours of one-on-one instruction per day, five days per week. Some schools arrange field trips or cultural classes in addition, others do no. The homestays range from boarding houses to truly living with a family; despite requesting a family-like stay with kids every time, two out of three years we were first placed in a more boarding house-type arrangement and had to complain/request a move.

 

Costs are quite reasonable. The school we attended last year was $225 per week per person, which included four hours per day of instruction (actually, 3.5 hours with a break), 1-3 field trips or cultural classes/lectures (optional but included in price), lodging, and three meals a day except on Sundays (the family’s “day offâ€, so we were on our own to find food). We paid as we went along for food when out and about, and our own explorations and shopping. I budgeted an extra $100 for each of us per week, and we were comfortable on that amount.

 

For anyone considering having their child travel solo, know that there is no supervision. Homestays are lodging and someone to talk with over meals, but not parenting. If there are issues, your child would need to be able to advocate and troubleshoot for themselves.

 

Edited to correct the autocorrects.

Edited December 6, 2017 by Jackie