Full immersion in Spanish- which country?

[LydiaG]

I am frustrated with my kids progress in learning Spanish, and I am thinking about packing them and the dog up for an extended trip to a Spanish-speaking country in order for them to get the full-immersion experience. But, dh has said no to pretty much every South and Central American country. When I started eyeing Spain, he mentioned that unemployment was 50% there (implying that he wouldn't be able to find a job), even if we could afford the airfare. Since we live in Florida, he joked about just moving to Miami for full immersion. Ha ha. I'm beginning to research Puerto Rico.

 

So, if you had to pick a Spanish-speaking country (or city) in which to live for a year, where would you go? Why? Would you bring your spouse with you? (My husband speaks Spanish, so it would help me if he came... not to mention that he's my best friend and I would really enjoy being with him.) How long would you stay?

[elegantlion]

Costa Rica, hands down. Gorgeous, gorgeous. This is close to where we took a vacation. http://www.tamarindo.com/

[deacongirl]

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/travel/the-charms-of-vina-del-mar-along-chiles-coast.html?pagewanted=all

 

Vina Del Mar or Santiago Chile.

 

Edited to add: Full immersion would be great no matter the country--but I would also think about what accent you wanted them to pick up. I am partial to Chilean Spanish and think it is beautiful.

Edited May 16, 2012 by deacongirl

[Melinda in VT]

Would your husband need to find a job there, or can he telecommute from wherever you live? I value immersion, but not enough to leave my husband for very long at all. (We were separated for 2 weeks for an immersion experience--and then I joined them--at that was long enough for us.)

[gingersmom]

Buenos Aires, Argentina or Uruagay

[Marylou]

Belize

 

It used to be British Honduras, so the official language is English. However, most folks speak Spanish as well, especially near the border of Mexico. Corozal would be a good town.

 

I lived near Belmopan once upon a time.

 

Belize is only a short flight from Houston and has great coral reefs to check out :D.

[Dmmetler]

:lurk5:

 

My DH can work from anywhere as long as he can get a good internet connection, and I'd LOVE for DD to get a full immersion/cultural experience in SOME other culture/language-and Spanish is the only language that I'd feel comfortable in myself (and even then I'm nowhere close to fluent or a native speaker-but I can carry on a conversation).

[mommymilkies]

I had friends who did exchanges in Chile and Costa Rica and they were both fantastic. I would pick Costa Rica myself, but I just am in love with that area.

[wintermom]

I would probably opt for making sure dh spoke only Spanish with the dc. You have a HUGE resource there. I'd also made sure they had a solid knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, and a knowledge of both written and spoken Spanish. Then go with "shorter" visits - as in weeks or a couple months - to Spanish-speaking regions. The country you choose could have very different dialects to the Spanish your dc are learning, so check this out ahead of time.

 

I don't quite see the need to pack up the whole family and move just to teach your dc Spanish. If they are truly interested and motivated to learn the language, they can go on exchanges or move to a Spanish-speaking area themselves when they are old enough.

[melbotoast]

We just moved to Mexico City so I've been considering this issue. Would you be homeschooling? Because if you are homeschooling, then your kids will be speaking English with you all day. Some people hire a maid/nanny but they generally use a lot of slang so probably not the best model. Since we're only going to be here a year, I don't really expect my kids to learn a ton of Spanish, but we're probably going to put my son in a Montessori preschool a couple days a week to give him a chance to socialize and learn a little Spanish. I'm not very social, so we're not out and about too much.

[yucabird]

Is your husband a native speaker? If so then--like a pp wrote--have him speak Spanish to your kids.

 

Guatemala? Classes and living costs are very reasonable and the climate is pleasant. I wish to improve my Spanish, so I'm taking a class in Antigua this summer.

 

My girls picked up the language in a Spanish-speaking preschool. I know homeschooled expat kids, and there can be a language struggle. I am sure it is a result of less of an opportunity for Spanish-language interaction.

[Spy Car]

Columbia. All the Spanish speakers I've ever known have thought their own nation's Spanish was the best, but most carved out an exception for Columbia being especially nice.

 

Argentina would have to be last. Nice country, but they talk funny.

 

Bill

[LydiaG]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

My husband is not a native speaker, so speaking Spanish at home does not come naturally to him. (He learned Spanish while serving a mission.) I have asked him to speak only Spanish to the kids (I think the oldest was 5 when I asked this), but they all just gave him blank stares and asked him to speak English.

 

My kids are not motivated to learn Spanish, but that might be because they don't like Rosetta Stone.

 

If we moved to another country, we would want to stay at least three months, probably longer, and enroll the kids in school there. Homeschooling in a foreign country would ruin the full-immersion experience.

 

I, too, have heard about the beautiful Colombian accent and the sing-songy Argentinian accent. I have a college friend who grew up in Cartagena, Colombia; maybe he still has connections there....

[Mabelen]

If your husband is going to have to work there, the first thing you need to check are immigration requirements. I don't know which if any country at all that will allow a non national to just set up shop and work there without a permit, even for a short period of time such as 3 months. You will have to do your homework first. Also, if you intend to send the kids to school while you are there, you will have to find out the residency requirements that you need to meet for public schools. You might want to search expat forums to give you some idea of what is involved and where you can find fast, reliable Internet connection etc.

 

Having said that, I agree that Colombians seem to have very good Spanish, although there are differences between regions. In Spain, where I am from, the region of Old Castille is reputed to have the best Spanish.

 

Good luck with your search and good for you for considering this option for your family!

[leeannpal]

Columbia. All the Spanish speakers I've ever known have thought their own nation's Spanish was the best, but most carved out an exception for Columbia being especially nice.

 

Argentina would have to be last. Nice country, but they talk funny.

 

Bill

 

Colombians may speak Spanish well, but I wouldn't move there-too dangerous! Uruguay has one of the highest standards of living of any Latin American country. Montevideo looks like a gorgeous city. I would definitely move there.:)

[elegantlion]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

My husband is not a native speaker, so speaking Spanish at home does not come naturally to him. (He learned Spanish while serving a mission.) I have asked him to speak only Spanish to the kids (I think the oldest was 5 when I asked this), but they all just gave him blank stares and asked him to speak English.

 

My kids are not motivated to learn Spanish, but that might be because they don't like Rosetta Stone.

 

If we moved to another country, we would want to stay at least three months, probably longer, and enroll the kids in school there. Homeschooling in a foreign country would ruin the full-immersion experience.

 

I, too, have heard about the beautiful Colombian accent and the sing-songy Argentinian accent. I have a college friend who grew up in Cartagena, Colombia; maybe he still has connections there....

 

Well I would ditch the Rosetta Stone, it would not inspire me to want to learn a language. Sorry, I know some people use it and it works, but check some reviews on this board (do a search), you'll see some diverse reviews.

 

Before I'd up and move, I'd change curriculum. Just my .02

[deacongirl]

Colombians may speak Spanish well, but I wouldn't move there-too dangerous! Uruguay has one of the highest standards of living of any Latin American country. Montevideo looks like a gorgeous city. I would definitely move there.:)

:iagree:

[J-rap]

Your decision may need to be based on which country would allow your family to come and stay long-term. Some countries are very strict on that.

[Laura Corin]

You probably need to think about visas. Most countries don't allow you to just turn up and work - normally you have to find a job in advance and then get the company to help you to apply for a work visa.

 

Laura

[Nan in Mass]

What if you continue to work for your old company over the internet? (Just curious. With our lovely extended family situation, we are highly unlikely to try this. Unless we could convince everyone to move at once, which isn't actually beyond the bounds of possibility. Not probably but not impossible lol.)

 

Nan

[QuirkyKapers]

Guatemala? Classes and living costs are very reasonable and the climate is pleasant.

 

:iagree:I did mine there too.

[Ariston]

Buenos Aires, Argentina or Uruagay

:iagree: Uruguay is a beautiful country with a great quality of life and very high literacy and education rates. Also if you plan on sending your kids to school there the uniforms are so adorable and haven't changed in decades!! The people are extremely warm, laid back, and friendly. I would not worry about the accent, but I'm partial as it is my accent. Some of the vocab and grammar is different but its not so different as to not be understandable.

 

(I personally would stay away from Puerto Rico though, b/c I find that some PR accents are very difficult to understand, and I think the non-touristy parts are iffy.)

 

I have heard wonderful things about Costa Rica but haven't been there.

 

Elena

[Ariston]

Also wanted to add I have never been to Buenos Aires but I have friends there right now who moved with their 5 year old for a year. They are having the best year of their lives and are loving the people and the country. (They go to Uru. frequently too and have fallen in love with it.) Their daughter is enrolled in preschool there and has just recently broken through the language barrier and is off and running (after 9 months.) They chose Buenos Aires because they were looking for a European-y city and liked the idea of moving to 'the Paris of s. America.'

[5wolfcubs]

My younger sister taught in an English immersion school associated with a(n?) University for a couple years. I asked her what she thought and here is her reply:

 

**************

I was in Guadalajara and I really loved it. However, how old are her kids? I don't recall it being particularly kid friendly. The buses are super crowded and packed. Not so easy to get around. Costa Rica seems to be popular now and nice cities, easy to travel. Pretty safe I think.

 

Puerto Rico has really good infrastructure I have heard and has a safer feeling than say Mexico. However, everyone there speaks English too so may not make the immersion process that easy (everyone may switch to English).

**************

[Spock]

:iagree:I did mine there too.

 

We have family in Guatemala. If you choose to go there, you would want a private school rather than a public school. The private schools can be very good, but the public schools have very low standards. (All our relatives with school aged children in Guatemala use private schools, and they are all Guatemalan.)

 

Also, the school calendar there is different. We were there for 2 weeks at the end of August, and the kids were all in school. [The picture in my signature below is of 3 of my children and the boat operator on Lago de Atitlan this summer.] Their end of school year break is closer to Christmas, though I didn't ask for the school calendar, of course.

 

Costa Rica is the Central American country with a culture most like the US, so it would be the easiest to adapt to. Puerto Rico is part of the US, so you wouldn't have the Visa problems.

 

There is a slightly different accent for each Latin American country, so it will be obvious to native speakers where your children learned Spanish. However, people from all the countries can understand each other just fine. (Though non-Argentines do think Argentinians speak "funny"--not just the singing tones, but also some variants in pronunciation and grammar.)

 

We, of course, would pick Guatemala because my husband is Guatemalan. Puerto Rico might be the obvious choice for your situation, though you need to be aware that many Puerto Ricans speak "Spanglish" more than Spanish--mixing Spanish and English words and phrases and not really speaking either one alone.

 

Are there many Spanish speaking immigrants in your area? If so, there might be church or community events that you could participate in to motivate your children to learn Spanish. This is more likely to be helpful if most of the children are new immigrants, though. The children tend to start using more English than Spanish by the end of their first year in school, or partway through their second year. However, this might still be a lower cost way to motivate them to use Spanish.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Spock

[Mabelen]

... When I started eyeing Spain, he mentioned that unemployment was 50% there (implying that he wouldn't be able to find a job), even if we could afford the airfare. Since we live in Florida, he joked about just moving to Miami for full immersion. ...

 

Just wanted to clarify that, while it is true that the unemployment rate is high in Spain, the overall rate is around 20%. The 50% unemployment rate your husband has heard of is among young people only, not something to be proud of, but not quite the same as an overall rate at all.

 

I also wanted to add that moving to Miami might not be such a bad idea after all. I have never been there myself, but my dh tells me he has always been addressed to in Spanish whenever he has been there for business, even though he is not a Spanish speaker. Also, since you are open to putting your children in school for language immersion, you might want to check Spanish language immersion options in your own state.

[Brenda in FL]

Another vote for Costa Rica! They have language schools there where you can take classes in the morning and go on cultural excursions in the afternoon. If I was to embark on this for the benefit of the kids learning the language - I would choose to go through one of the learning programs even if we did our own sightseeing.

 

I wish I could remember the name of the school that I went to. It was in San Jose.

 

I would love to take my family to Costa Rica someday!

[Jackie in NE]

I second Deacongirl's vote for Chile. My dh has had extensive travel and business dealings there, and he loves it. He especially commented on the nice European influence in the country. The Spanish is Castillian, and there are many private schools that are well-regarded. We also really liked that the government was stable and heavily influenced by American economics and property right laws. We wanted to be able to hang on to any investments we made there. Dh wanted to move there, and we were ready to go, but things changed and we ended up staying. It is so interesting to me that you're ready to pack up and move for an immersion experience. Best wishes!

[Matryoshka]

I was thinking of bringing my kids to Costa Rica this summer, but as I was reading the travel guides, they were saying to take malaria preventives. Is that really needed? I'd like to go somewhere I don't have to worry about tropical diseases...

 

Are Chile and Uruguay more temperate?

[elegantlion]

I was thinking of bringing my kids to Costa Rica this summer, but as I was reading the travel guides, they were saying to take malaria preventives. Is that really needed? I'd like to go somewhere I don't have to worry about tropical diseases...

 

Are Chile and Uruguay more temperate?

 

I think it depends on where you go in Costa Rica. We didn't go to the Jungle, we only had so much time and money so we chose the secluded beach, no malaria issues. This has also been a few years ago. We didn't drink non-bottled water and had no issues (and I have a sensitive system).

 

I would be more concerned if you were doing jungle tours.

[Jamee]

I was thinking of bringing my kids to Costa Rica this summer, but as I was reading the travel guides, they were saying to take malaria preventives. Is that really needed? I'd like to go somewhere I don't have to worry about tropical diseases...

 

Are Chile and Uruguay more temperate?

 

If you go during the US summer, it'll actually be inter tree and probably too cold for Mosquitos. My husband spent a "summer" in Montevideo and was actually quite cold.

[Xilka]

Guatemala. It's close. It's cheap. And the pronunciation is the clearest and least affected, unlike other countries who silence certain letters.

[chiguirre]

I also wanted to add that moving to Miami might not be such a bad idea after all. I have never been there myself, but my dh tells me he has always been addressed to in Spanish whenever he has been there for business, even though he is not a Spanish speaker. Also, since you are open to putting your children in school for language immersion, you might want to check Spanish language immersion options in your own state.

 

:iagree: We go to south Florida every Christmas. I don't speak much English during those 2 weeks. That's partially because I'm with Spanish speaking relatives, but it's also because there are lots of places that just assume you speak Spanish because almost everybody does. I get addressed in Spanish even though I'm a 5'10" and have light brown hair and turn red in the sun. This never happens in Houston, but it does in Miami.

 

I'd also skip Argentina and Uruguay to learn Spanish. I got no end of guff over my porteno accent when I first moved to Venezuela. It amused everyone! It was a good ice-breaker for making friends in grad school, but it probably would have been a bit embarassing in a work situation.

[Starr]

Miami, New York, LA :D

[LydiaG]

This has been interesting to read.

 

I think I will return Rosetta Stone. (There's one airplane ticket....)

 

My MIL suggested we look into a full-immersion school locally. I think there is one in town, actually, so I might try that in the fall.

 

I still would like to go abroad with my kids, but it might have to wait. DH balks at me taking the kids to another country, especially me going without him. We'll see.