• What IS a Spanish Immersion Course?
• Six Reasons Why Immersion Learning Is So Impactful For Learning a New Language
• One Student Recalls His Own Experiences During And After His Total Immersion Program
• The Role Host Families Play During Spanish Immersion Programs

What is a Spanish Immersion Course?

Immersion language study is based on a process for learning a foreign language the same way we learned our primary language: by living it.

In a typical language immersion school, a student doesn't only study in the formal sense; they live the language in everyday experiences which enhances their understanding of the people and culture of the country.

Learning Spanish in a Spanish Immersion Program can be the fastest way to learn the language in the shortest period of time.

It has been proven that complete immersion into another cultural and language environment actually accelerates the pace that someone is capable of learning a new language. In addition to the benefits of learning the language faster, students also have the opportunity to enjoy the host country while they study and experience the rich culture of that country.

Total immersion classes are taught entirely in Spanish and speaking in another language at any time is discouraged. After a day’s studies, the student goes home to a Spanish-speaking environment to listen, practice and learn to speak their new language.

Most Spanish immersion schools offer the option for living with a Spanish-speaking family during their training, and some schools insist on a live-in arrangement to enhance the overall learning experience. Living with a Spanish family offers a student the chance to hear the language outside the classroom as it is spoken in real life.

Six Reasons Why Immersion Learning is So Successful and Easy

1. Successful learning modalities incorporate feelings, thinking and behavioral experiences in order to improve long-term memory functions. Immersion learning takes all three of these components into consideration for the purpose of enhancing the learning experience.
2. As the immersion program becomes more integrated into the student’s day-to-day activities, there are more opportunities available for absorbing a greater amount of new information as a holistic learning event in and outside the classroom. For example, the first time a student takes a walk into town, they may notice activity, colors, and sounds. The next time, they may begin to read the names of the businesses above the stores, interpret menus in cafe's, and understand some of what people are saying on the streets. This process of awareness deepens with each walk the students makes into town and becomes an unconscious learning experience in the Spanish language.
3. Students are taken out of their own familiar 'back home' environments and normal routines, and placed in a relatively structured new environment allowing their mind to find new references to the ordinary tasks of everyday life. For example, a trip into town to purchase batteries for their camera becomes a lesson in finding a store that sells batteries, reading street signs and even the exchange of money.
4. The longer a student is immersed in the program, the less stressful and relaxed they become because they are creating a new sense of 'ordinary' which stimulates creativity and curiosity.
5. As a student's creativity and curiosity are ignited, they are naturally more relaxed and the processes of learning and retention become easier.
6. The immersion process quickly reduces the need to consciously translate each word or phrase whether spoken or read because they are completely surrounded, both visually and through the spoken word, with their new language.

One Student Recalls His Own Experiences During and After His Total Immersion Program

"I remember when I moved into the student hostel during my own Spanish immersion studies; the lady there spoke no English and I spent the first two weeks looking up words to ask her something. Being lazy is not an option if you want to eat. Taking a bus required asking the driver where they are going and where I should get off. Riding in a taxi required explaining where I wanted to go. If I wanted to eat in a café, I was forced to order off a Spanish menu and speak to the waiter in Spanish. Plus, television and newspapers were all in Spanish, as were billboards, signs in front of businesses and directions to perform simple daily tasks. Leaning quickly was my only option. All my classes were in Spanish, and I found myself immersed 24-hours a day even if I did not want to learn, I would. I remember speaking Spanish with a lady in San Diego when I returned to the US and she asked me how long I had been studying and I told her only four months. She genuinely surprised thought I had been studying Spanish in college for a couple of years. I was very humbled by her compliment and I knew I owed my rapid learning to my total immersion experience.

I also remember going to a coffee plantation in Guatemala, with my teacher, and speaking to her and others there, in Spanish, and it was a wonderful experience. For those who love to travel, speaking Spanish makes everything so much easier and more fun. You will meet people and make friendships that would not be possible if you do not know how to speak Spanish."