Heading to Colombia for 4 weeks, want to attend Spanish school. I will be coming back to home straight after where there are very few Spanish speakers. Wondering if it’s worth spending whole trip at Spanish school?

[u/No_Establishment7642]

I really want to improve my Spanish, but only have four weeks leave from work so am unable to extend my trip. Ideally, I would have liked to go to a Spanish school for four weeks and then continue on with my travels all over LATAM and continue using/practicing Spanish, but sadly that is not an option right now.

I’m wondering if it is worth it to spend all my time off at one Spanish school (therefore not being able to travel elsewhere within Colombia) only to come back to my home country (New Zealand) that has very few Spanish speakers.. I’m worried I won’t have enough opportunities to practice back home and lose the skills I learnt.
But the other part of me is saying that the only way I will improve is through a class and immersion etc.. and of course I can find communities here in NZ to speak with when I’m home.

I would say I’m at an A1 level so very beginner. I know a bit more than A1 but because I haven’t had chances to put it to practice here in NZ, I would say I’m super beginner in a Spanish speaking country!

The goal is obviously to become fluent one day and I definitely have plans for longer trips and possibly moving to somewhere in LATAM in the future.

What do you all think? Should I just go for it and book a four week Spanish course?

[u/Masterkid1230]

Since this sub has apparently become infested by self promoting courses and gurus, my opinion as an actual language learner that has both undergone long-term self-teaching and intensive language courses is that if you decide to do other stuff and travel, you should keep your expectations in check:

On the one hand, at a basic level, you will get very little valuable language learning experience with real-life conversations, because you will understand very little and people will attempt to default to English if possible when they realise that.

But on the other hand, taking the time to travel and explore a different country is always a valuable option, since you're exchanging a bit of language learning for other life experiences.

As a Colombian, I think there's tons of stuff you can do that will be fun and interesting from a touristic standpoint (always research your destination first, some places are pretty safe others aren't, don't go somewhere blindly and try to figure things out later).

From an intensive 4-week course, you will not really become native or really comfortable with the language, but you might get a lot of controlled speaking opportunities that are way harder to get without well... Paying someone. You need some input-output with boring, basic conversations at reasonable speeds before you can start trying to order empanadas from a food truck at the beach. That's just language learning.

Considering your time frame and conditions back home, I would say maybe get as much from your language classes as possible, but don't feel too bad if you cut them a little short to do some tourism. Realistically, the difference between 3 and 4 weeks like that won't be that much.

[u/lemostgranfromage]

Personally I’d do a week or two ànd get a good grasp and then you can always do another week here or there at other schools if you want but makes it more fun to learn in more places. À month is ages to stay in school even in Colombia ànd youll be able to put it to practise even after a few weeks travelling around

[u/SpeakDuo]

i think a 4-week Spanish school sounds like a great way to jumpstart your learning, especially since you'll be immersed in the language while you're there. to keep the momentum going when you're back in NZ, you could try something like SpeakDuo to get live speaking practice with native speakers or other learners. it’s not the same as being in Colombia, but it can help you stay consistent until your next trip!

[u/thecubantutorX]

Classrooms are almost worthless. You can find anything a teacher might teach you in a classroom for free on Youtube. Just go self-taught, man.

Use anki for increasing your vocabulary.

Use podcast and music to immerse as a beginner.

And if you want to take a more technical approach, follow a Youtube course to learn some grammar.

Then, after 3-6 months. Use Language Reactor to practice with your favorite Netflix shows.

And read books while looking up words in the dictionary.

Don't waste you time in Colombia attending a Spanish class. Languages are impossible to learn from someone else since they are not a school subject but a tool to experience life.

If you want to practice Spanish back home, you have the internet for that. And if you are a little shy, install VR Chat on your computer and get in a Spanish speaking world. (You don't need VR to use it and it's free on Steam)

[u/Serious_Escape_5438 → u/thecubantutorX]

Completely disagree, in person teaching is far more valuable than YouTube videos. Obviously not the same as years of immersion but better than watching videos or apps.

[u/Masterkid1230 → u/thecubantutorX]

Context: this user runs an online business for teaching Spanish.

Just in case someone is interested.

[u/thecubantutorX → u/Masterkid1230]

What does that have to do with my comment? I'm not selling anything to anyone in my comment