<p>I'm a current high school senior and am looking for a study abroad program to learn Spanish this summer. I'd love to go to Spain or somewhere in South America. </p>
<p>I've searched the internet and it's hard to figure out if a program is reliable or just trying to rob people of their money. My guidance counselor and spanish teacher also don't have any information. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience with this?</p>
<p>I went to an amazing program in Mexico last summer. It was also very inexpensive.</p>
<p>Learn</a> Spanish in Mexico - San Miguel de Allende - Academia Hispano Americana</p>
<p>one of these days I'm going to get around to posting detailed information about my time there, but for now just let me know if you have any questions.</p>
<p>I'm more interested in learning spanish than building up a resume, but will this particular program look good on a resume? </p>
<p>How long did you spend there? What was your spanish background like before the program? How much did you feel you improved? </p>
<p>I'd love a detailed post. If you ever have the time..</p>
<p>Oh, also, how will I know what level to sign up for? I'm currently in AP Spanish but my Spanish is definitely subpar.</p>
<p>I'm not sure about the resume, but it definitely can't hurt! It shows a lot of independence. You can also get college credit from the courses at some schools.</p>
<p>I was there for a four week session, though I arrived two days late. I had taken three years of Spanish and wanted to skip into AP, which I was able to do without problem. The classes aren't superamazing--your improvement is pretty much a function of what you put into it. I tried to use my Spanish almost 24/7 (except when hanging out with friends), and this helped a lot.</p>
<p>They actually test you to determine which level you'll take, and you can move up or down as needed. I'm guessing you'd be in V, maybe VI?</p>
<p>I plan to write more about it this weekend after the Spanish SAT II, haha.</p>
<p>I've done summer programs in Ecuador (<a href="http://www.latinoschools.com/%5B/url%5D">www.latinoschools.com/</a>) and Costa Rica (<a href="http://www.interculturacostarica.com/)%5B/url%5D">http://www.interculturacostarica.com/)</a>. You can do from as few as 2 weeks to the entire summer. Both are about $300-350/week, and have immersion classes for 4 hours a day, and include a homestay with 2 meals a day. The school in Ecuador offers college-level classes, and credit, but the school in Costa Rica has many more cultural activities for free. </p>
<p>I really enjoyed both, but in terms of improving Spanish, you really have to make an effort, because it is really easy to just go through the entire program just speaking English to the other Americans in the program.</p>
<p>Try BridgeAbroad</a> | Study Abroad, Language Courses Abroad, Language Schools, Language Immersion for south america.
Don't overlook Mexico. There are some great and quite inexpensive programs there:
TEC de Monterrey System - Study</a> in Mexico
Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua - [url=<a href="http://www.uachnet.mx%5DUniversidad">http://www.uachnet.mx]Universidad</a> Aut</p>
<p>I'm reviving this old thread to ask if anyone can recommend a program for a beginning Spanish course. Student speaks French, and is pretty good with languages, so could probably move quickly. But do any of these places offer courses for a novice? The one in San Miguel looks great, but I can't tell about the level of instruction. Also, could one begin in September/October, even though that is the tenth session? Thanks!</p>
<p>Has anyone been to summerschool in Bogota Colombia?</p>
<p>Anything cheap or something that have scholarships that are fairly attainable?</p>
<p>Mexico (see post 7)</p>
<p>I'm looking more for H.S. and it looks like Bridge abroad is the cheapest.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>e:that looks like it is more for college too though.</p>
<p>My daughter did a summer program in Costa Rica through AFS and loved it!</p>
<p>I did one in Guadalajara (GDL), Mexico. From my experience and what I've heard from other students at both the GDL program (at UAG -- la Universidad Autónoma de GDL) and other programs, your learning is really a function of your cultural immersion. I would definitely stay a minimum of 3 months (6-12+ would be best). Also, continuing to use the language upon return will facilitate further learning. I know I have personally learned just as much without taking classes in the last 3 months since I got back from GDL as I did while down there just by continuing to use it daily -- with clients at work, with fluent friends (I live in Southern California -- hay mucha gente q habla español muy bien). Remember that you'll also need to budget money for the flight (about $500 roundtrip for GDL) and any extraneous expenses. the UAG program costs about $350/mo in tuition and $375/mo for your homestay (sharing a room -- which I'd suggest doing, so you have a roommate to practice Spanish with and so forth; this includes meals 6 days/wk). All said and done, I spent about $3000 for 2 months, including my flights, tuition (2 month-long courses, each 4 units/80 hours/4 hrs/day), housing/meals, a trip to Mexico City as well as various smaller trips, a camp/retreat (campamento) with my Mexican church (getting involved in the culture is crucial if you want to really learn the language), souvenirs, laundry, food (i.e., restaurants, etc.), entertainment, taxi and bus rides, and various other minor expenses.
In terms of progress...
I had taken 3 years of Spanish in high school and was about average at that point but had not used it in 5 years since I studied abroad following my senior yr of college. I spent the month before I left brushing up on my Spanish, reviewing vocabulary, and getting myself ready for the placement exam. When I got there, I placed at Spanish III but dropped back to Spanish II to review (I shouldn't have but I did). Second month, I took their Spanish IV class and it was easy for me (I skipped Spanish III). By actually using the language, I ended up learning far more than my classes taught me (basically through Spanish V and into Spanish VI, which is where UAG's program focuses on mistakes native speakers tend to make) and native speakers here consider me fluent (not native fluency, but near-native fluency).</p>
<p>my daughter went to valencia spain last summer with the international learning experiment
it was a great adventure! she is still talking about it...</p>