If you decide to learn a language in a different country, don’t miss the opportunity to live with a host family to get involved in their everyday life and culture. It makes learning easier and more effective because living with locals will help you relate to what you are learning, force you to think and communicate in the new language and make the learning real and necessary for survival. For example, when I studied Spanish in Guatemala, I needed to use the language constantly to communicate with local people, ask for directions, buy food and goods, or just to have a friendly conversation. When I and my parents came to our host family house on the first day, we could not speak a single word in Spanish and had to use Google Translate to communicate. The host family and we took turns speaking into Google Translate so we could understand our questions and answers. As time progressed, we got better and soon were able to understand whole sentences and have full conversations. We had a remarkable experience with our host family - especially, the elderly lady, who made great typical Guatemalan food and took care of our needs, was extremely kind, helpful, and cared for us almost as if we were her grandchildren. Because of our strong bond with her, when we decided to come back the next summer, we pleaded to stay with her again. Another great thing about being with a host family was that we got the opportunity to meet with other language learners in that home. We practiced Spanish with them, gave each other advice, and played Spanish board games together.
Spain and Columbia, 2020
When in a foreign country, try to do
something engaging so that you will want to learn or even return. For example,
if you are learning Spanish and decide to go to a Central American country, you
may want to try making chocolate with local people, buying food from a local
market, going zip-lining, seeing ancient ruins, hiking on a volcano, or seeing
beautiful exotic plants and animals. Young learners usually have many memorable
and fun experiences from studying abroad which enables them to realize that
studying a new language is not as difficult as it seems. As with all types of
academic pursuits, learning a language is most effective when it is engaging
and enjoyable. Studying should not be too intense because this would make the
learner dislike the subject. When my family and I traveled to Guatemala and
Ecuador to learn, we did four hours of one-to-one tutoring every day and in the
afternoons, we explored the town, different tourist attractions, and culture;
or just enjoyed talking to the locals. From my experience, I can recommend the
small town of Antigua in Guatemala and Ecuador’s capital, Quito, as great
places to study Spanish because they are safe and affordable, the people there
are very kind and easy-going, and they have many language schools,
accommodations, and restaurant options.
Columbia, 2020
The best way to learn a new language is to
go abroad, but if you don’t have that option, you can also try to make new
friends who speak the language you want to learn, write to a pen pal, read
articles or watch movies in that language, go to a restaurant and order in the
foreign language, teach yourself, break your learning down and learn a
different topic each week, or in other words, immerse yourself in the language.
It is important not to be hindered to speak even if you make mistakes and to
learn a language “lento pero seguro,” which means slowly but surely. Don't give
up learning because you will forget what you have already learned with so much
hard work. Take a small step every day, and over time you will learn an amazing
amount of vocabulary and grammar. After you return home from your trip, keep
practicing the language. You can do this by taking online classes with native
speakers, finding people who speak the language, and keeping in contact with
friends from the country you visited. Because of my method of learning, I was
able to learn Spanish almost effortlessly.
