Has anyone gone to an immersion school?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

I took two years of Spanish and two years of Latin in school. I picked up a lot of Spanish, living in Texas, and didn't realize it.

I love Romance languages. When I took voice lessons I learned to sing in French, Italian and German. I love Italian the best. I once sang in the chorus of an amateur production of The Elixir of Love by Donizetti, in Italian of course. That was a whole lot of fun.

I would like to go to Mexico and do a month of immersion, package deal with room and board. i think I could get fluent fairly quickly.

Anybody done this before, with any language?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. No but I would be real interested

I would really love to learn Spanish and, for what it's worth, cant even find a beginning Spanish class in all of Tucson which is silly because Tucson used to be part of Mexico.

Going to south America for an immersian class would really appeal to me and no doubt help my communication with Tucsonians.

[Scuba]

2. I have two nieces and a nephew who went to German immersion school in Milwaukee...

... the two nieces are now working overseas in language-related jobs. Their language skills have been an enormous boost for their careers.

[RZM]

3. I've done it a few times

For Russian. Two different summer programs in the US and one at Moscow International University. During the latter I lived with a host family that spoke no English at all. That was pretty challenging and awkward at first, but I eventually got the hang of it.

I wouldn't expect to get fluent in a month, although Spanish isn't particularly hard. But look at it as a long haul. In any case, a few months of immersion will do you well, even if it won't get you all the way there. I say go for it.

[CTyankee]

4. my grandson is in an immersion school for Italian!

Franklin Elementary in Glendale, CA presently offers German, Italian and Spanish. It will not continue populating the German class and just let it dwindle down. It is starting a French program for next fall and is already oversubscribed for its kindergarten.

My grandson didn't know a word of Italian before going into this kindergarten program. He is going into 3rd grade in the fall and is fluent in Italian.

There are immersion programs for adults. I looked into one for Italian and was tempted to do it a few years back. All I did was just go on Google. I'm sure you can find something!

[Starboard Tack]

5. Yes, in Italy.

After struggling along and becoming reasonably fluent. To round out my knowledge, I decided to sign up for a class that taught Italian to Italians (adults, that is). I went through 5 grades in a few months. A fascinating and highly enriching experience, learning a language the same way as the natives learn it.
For those wanting to learn Italian, the University of Perugia has an excellent immersion program.

[whathehell]

6. Berlitz has immersion programs.

I took two (non-immersion) language with Berlitz and I was impressed with their technicque,

after having done a couple of other adult language classes using others.

[geardaddy]

7. I did a three month intensive course...

in Bangor, Wales for Welsh. I knew some Welsh before I went and got pretty good while I was there. The problem there is that everyone also speaks English. So, you really have to push to not switch to English when you get frustrated.

I also did a year in Beijing for Mandarin. That was much easier to focus on the language because few people then spoke English.

[DPC.Comment]

8. Immersion -- the best way

Immersion, IMHO, is the best way! While my immersion was atypical (tossed into a 4th grade classroom in a foreign country), it worked quickly and I'm grateful for it. Fast forward to modern era and there are speciality immersion schools that I strongly recommend and they are much kinder that Señora DeGracia! My only caution would be to tell you to be very careful choosing a school in Mexico -- there are safe places to go (Costa Rica, Chile, most of Peru) where you can have fun getting lost in the countryside or in the cities without worrying about your safety. Disfrute!

[cannabis_flower]

9. For Spanish

I recommend Guatemala. I only had time for two weeks but learned a lot and had a great time. It was really cheap. I paid $170 and that included room and board. Mexico was much more expensive.

I went in 2008 to Antigua. It's gone up quite a bit to$270 a week for Antigua but the program in Quetzaltenango is still only $220 a week. I would recommend going to Quetzaltenango because too many natives in Antigua speak English.

http://spanishabroad.com/quetzaltenango-spanish-school/

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. I haven't, but I sent my son off to an immersion program

in Montreal for French when he was in high school. He was really struggling, and had to complete three years to graduate. While he didn't become fluent, it helped him enormously. At the end of the third year his teacher told me she was NOT recommending him for fourth year. I doubt he'd have been able to pass at that level, to be honest.

My son is genuinely brilliant at science and math, and while he speaks English fluently, his brain just doesn't seem to want to wrap around other languages. Fortunately for him, the universal language in science these days is English.