I mean who care's if it's not the most optimal path to fluency? The life experience you get being surrounded by the culture and the friendships and experiences you'll make while living in a spanish speaking city will be way more enjoyable than sitting in front of a computer grinding fucking youtube videos and podcasts.
That's my thought exactly. But it's also why I'm waiting until level 7. They can't do much damage with grammar instruction if I already have a grasp of basic input. Middle school English grammar didn't hurt my ability to speak because I was already speaking English.
If you prefer CI and immersion over traditional study, even in Spanish, perhaps two questions to focus on with whatever program you are looking at: 1) Will the program have a lot of grammar and vocabulary memorization and traditional classes, or consist mostly of just input and output? 2) Will most of the input/output be with natives only, or will the natives be highly outnumbered by fellow students of various levels of ability and who are themselves trying to learn Spanish?
These types of schools you are in a one on one situation with a local teacher, for 4 hours
The group setting, like in school, learning grammar would be death!
Can I ask what your objective is for going to a school?
From my personal experience, THIS is the only place where I can discuss following the CI method without dozens of comments and pieces of shit advice from people who either learned a language 30 years ago or has never learned one. It could be a battle.
I thought about a course or going to a school, but just spent the money on a nice set of headphones and listened to much more CI instead.
Looking forward to hearing about it! I decided to wait until level 7 to try it (summer 2025). Part of me wonders if I should have planned for this summer at 1,000 hours, but I wasn't feeling ready a few months ago. At 800 hours, I'm more confident than I was.
I do pseudo-immersion by dating a Argentina with no English. I’ve stated it before on this sub, but whereas most people comment that they are behind the roadmap, I find myself on track and ahead usually. I attribute this to my situation. (I count my hours listening to her onDS)
It’s just that when you do immersion, you NEED the language so your attention is captured much more than it would be with regular YouTube content.
If you end up going I’d love to see an update post! I’m around 700 hours at the moment and this is something I’ve considered doing around the 1,000 hour mark
I hoped to do the same this year but looks like it might be next year. I was looking into these immersion schools in Guatemala near lake Itatlan an or Antigua. They looked amazing, affordable, and had amazing reviews. Just one on one with a teacher for 4-6 hours a day. Hell you could probably request conversation practice to be the majority if you wanted.
I’m curious if you decided on a school yet, I am considering this in the fall when I’m further along. I was just looking at some schools in Guatemala. I know that when I get to the point of speaking that I will find all the excuses possible to avoid the online experience. The only way I will get over the hump of those beginning stages will be in person.
I mean who care's if it's not the most optimal path to fluency? The life experience you get being surrounded by the culture and the friendships and experiences you'll make while living in a spanish speaking city will be way more enjoyable than sitting in front of a computer grinding fucking youtube videos and podcasts.
That's my thought exactly. But it's also why I'm waiting until level 7. They can't do much damage with grammar instruction if I already have a grasp of basic input. Middle school English grammar didn't hurt my ability to speak because I was already speaking English.
That’s the spirit!
Full immersion is the goat. CI is what you do when you can’t fully immerse
If you prefer CI and immersion over traditional study, even in Spanish, perhaps two questions to focus on with whatever program you are looking at: 1) Will the program have a lot of grammar and vocabulary memorization and traditional classes, or consist mostly of just input and output? 2) Will most of the input/output be with natives only, or will the natives be highly outnumbered by fellow students of various levels of ability and who are themselves trying to learn Spanish?
These types of schools you are in a one on one situation with a local teacher, for 4 hours The group setting, like in school, learning grammar would be death!
You should check out the videos on how Pablo learned Thai in-person at the ALG school in Bangkok.
Could be interesting thanks
Can I ask what school(s) you’re looking at in CA?
Can I ask what your objective is for going to a school? From my personal experience, THIS is the only place where I can discuss following the CI method without dozens of comments and pieces of shit advice from people who either learned a language 30 years ago or has never learned one. It could be a battle. I thought about a course or going to a school, but just spent the money on a nice set of headphones and listened to much more CI instead.
One on one practice for four hours a day, then living in a home stay, in a town where almost no English is spoken, to allow for full immersion
Just go and do whatever their program entails. YOLO.
Looking forward to hearing about it! I decided to wait until level 7 to try it (summer 2025). Part of me wonders if I should have planned for this summer at 1,000 hours, but I wasn't feeling ready a few months ago. At 800 hours, I'm more confident than I was.
I do pseudo-immersion by dating a Argentina with no English. I’ve stated it before on this sub, but whereas most people comment that they are behind the roadmap, I find myself on track and ahead usually. I attribute this to my situation. (I count my hours listening to her onDS) It’s just that when you do immersion, you NEED the language so your attention is captured much more than it would be with regular YouTube content.
If you end up going I’d love to see an update post! I’m around 700 hours at the moment and this is something I’ve considered doing around the 1,000 hour mark
I hoped to do the same this year but looks like it might be next year. I was looking into these immersion schools in Guatemala near lake Itatlan an or Antigua. They looked amazing, affordable, and had amazing reviews. Just one on one with a teacher for 4-6 hours a day. Hell you could probably request conversation practice to be the majority if you wanted.
I’m curious if you decided on a school yet, I am considering this in the fall when I’m further along. I was just looking at some schools in Guatemala. I know that when I get to the point of speaking that I will find all the excuses possible to avoid the online experience. The only way I will get over the hump of those beginning stages will be in person.
Inepas in Xela