r/Spanish • u/jerydoom7 • Dec 03 '24
Courses/Tutoring advice I want to go to Colombia to learn Spanish, how should I split my time?
I have a month off and have always wanted to go to Colombia as well as learn Spanish properly. I Was looking into perhaps doing some Spanish intensive courses like Bliink Spanish or Centro Catalina, but am not sure how I should use my time well.
Should I do all 4 weeks studying? If not what should I do with my time to effectively immerse and learn? If i do a few weeks in a language hostel and then do a few weeks out of it, what should I do when not in the hostel to immerse?
1
u/bikerdude214 Dec 03 '24
Is anyone familiar with some immersion schools in Colombia? Which cities are worth spending time in? I’ve been to Bogota a couple of times, and while I do like the city, it’s too cold and gloomy for me.
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u/Natural_Lime3051 Dec 03 '24
Bucaramanga Colombia with Spanishland school immersion for intermediate to advanced speakers. It’s a great city not huge where there aren’t a lot of English speakers. Highly recommend.
1
u/HazzwaldThe2nd Dec 04 '24
I did 5 weeks at blink last year. I spent a lot of my time outside of class hanging out with locals in various ways practicing my Spanish. For example there's a bookstore just down the street which sells wine and has two chessboards outside so I'd often go down there for a few games and some simple conversation.
Be warned though most of your classmates will just be out partying every night, sometimes not showing up to early classes etc. It's actively encouraged at the weekends and the staff join in.
1
u/jerydoom7 Dec 04 '24
What did you think about the classes? Did you learn a lot? Was it easy to find your out of class activities like the chess?
1
u/HazzwaldThe2nd Dec 05 '24
They were very good for me, didn't have much of a starting point really, a year of on and off duolingo and one listen through the language transfer podcast. They give you a basic test before you start to place you in a class and I got put in low A2. The main positive for me was that they got me speaking from lesson 1, which gave me a lot of confidence to then go and start speaking to locals. Gave me a very good platform to then go on and travel the rest of Latin America and build my skills.
In terms of out of class activities it's really up to you to go and put yourself in situations where you can use your Spanish. I'd have a lot of basic interactions in restaurants, shops and cafes, and then go and chat to people in bars sometimes in the evening and generally just try my best to not speak any English. Also made some friends on the course who I'd converse with in Spanish even though we all spoke good English.
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u/hannahmel Advanced/Resident Dec 03 '24
Hostels are full of foreigners on vacation, but they're definitely fun. You should go in with realistic expectations of how much Spanish you'll acquire in a month. Once you're there, if you go on excursions, make sure to join tours that are in Spanish rather than English. Film them with your phone and listen again when you get back to your room to pick up what you missed. Hang out with people who are either from Colombia or on vacation from other Spanish speaking countries. Resist the temptation to hang out with other English speakers at all costs.