Starting January 28th, 44 adults (and one child) embarked on a journey to improve their spoken Spanish via Spanish Immersion.
We all know that Spanish Immersion is absolutely the best way to learn Spanish… but what is Spanish immersion specifically? A lot of trips and tour providers define and market themselves as “immersive” – but is all Spanish immersion really the same?
Absolutely not! It’s one thing to travel and experience moments of immersion, but it’s totally different to be fully immersed 24/7 in another language and culture. Common Ground International’s Spanish Immersion Trips create this immersive environment with one common commitment and several important components.
Our common commitment:
- “I will always at least start in Spanish.” When we commit to always starting our conversations off in Spanish, it’s amazing what happens within a few days… day by day you’re able to keep going longer and longer in Spanish!
What are the essential components of a great immersion trip? An amazing immersion experience is created when you intentionally add a few components to your travel:
- Intensive Spanish classes (20 hrs/week) that are conversationally focused. It’s important that these classes are small group, divided up by level, and are conversationally focused without overlooking important grammar and vocabulary that support your conversational skills.
- Amazing host families that provide more than a bed and breakfast service. The host family provides the fully immersive environment you need to push through your Spanish limitations in spite of your fatigue and through the ins and outs of daily living in Spanish.
- Language-rich volunteer work requires you to think through your volunteer project, plan for how you will carry it out in Spanish, practice it, and actually do it with local community members! There is limited language benefit from a construction or beautification project because those don’t tend to be language-rich experiences; they don’t require much communication or collaboration. Our volunteer projects are educational and interactive in nature which requires you to stretch your Spanish skills and meet communicative objectives in Spanish!
- Adventure travel in Spanish gives you the chance to participate in fun activities while you’re speaking Spanish. It’s easy to lapse into English on a weekend trip because you’re not with your host family and you’re not in classes. But when you travel on Common Ground’s Spanish immersion trips, you experience tourism, biology, and adventures in Spanish.
