LITA: A Unique Approach to Language Immersion in Spain

I have never experienced such deep cultural and language immersion anywhere in my life. You truly are sent with a support system to help you create a family of Spanish citizens and other Americans. The incredible views you see, stories you hear, and activities you partake in is incredible and unique to the LITA program. In the first week, my group and I lived in a town of around 300 people where generations of families live—we heard incredible life stories that I could have only ever dreamed about.

LITA was by far my best and most special summer. In the months before the summer, I was honestly really nervous. I wasn't sure if my Spanish skills were strong enough. During these months, Jordan did a great job ensuring that I would have the best experience possible through multiple individual video calls. By the time June came around, I knew I was in for a good time.

My experience in Spain was everything I imagined and more. Everyday, we had interesting activities to do. We met incredible people who spread their unique knowledge to us students. Additionally, the food was so good. I got great experiences from going outside my comfort zone and trying new foods.

The relationships I created with LITA students and my host family exceeded my expectations. Today, I'm still in constant contact with many students and my homestay family, and I expect for that to continue for a long time. I went into my trip solo, so I was a little nervous about connecting with other students. However, LITA does a great job selecting the right people with amazing personalities. Everyone in my group was supportive, caring, and friendly at all times. We easily meshed together, which significantly enhanced our experience. LITA also selects the best host families. They gave everything they had to support me and teach me the most about Spain. We went on weekend vacations to explore and out to dinner with their extended family multiple times. They were always willing to slow down and repeat what they were saying as many times as I needed to make sure I was understanding and learning.

Being a Spanish immersion program, my skills improved dramatically. For the whole summer, the group and I stayed committed to the language. We spoke with each other and many others throughout various communities to help our growth. It can be difficult at times, but it's extremely rewarding in the end. The five weeks I spent in Spain most definitely helped improve my skills more than any in school experience.

I couldn't have asked for a better experience in Spain, and I highly recommend LITA to all.

My experience with LITA's 5 week program in the summer of 2023 was completely unforgettable. I had the privilege of getting invited by my friend to travel with her but most of my peers during the trip were solo travelers. My group got super close very quickly because of the vulnerable environment we were in but I would not have it any other way. During the 5 weeks we experienced so many different unique things from nature exploration to "scary" social situations and by seeing each other as a "family" in a new community, we all grew closer. We as students had a lot of autonomy but that just caused us to encourage one another to stay true to the LITA plan and improve in our Spanish and to branch out and make the most of the trip--especially the homestay experience. My Spanish improved significantly after being thrown into the “deep end” of complete immersion and the bonds that I made on the trip have lasted until today. Every travel program comes with its "cons" or hardships but I think the challenges I faced in this program were far outweighed by the pros. I would recommend the LITA program to anyone who was looking for an immersion opportunity and I am forever grateful for my experience with it.

LITA was an unforgettable experience. It is an incredibly unique and personalized program. Every meal was traditional Spanish food prepared for the group. The lodging and activities were incredible as they were completely off the beaten track but just as remarkable as tourist-packed sites other places in Spain. The homestay is the part of the trip I will remember the most. Even though I only stayed there for ten days, I made a lasting connection with my host family (all in Spanish!). I learned so much about Spanish culture, travel, living in rural Spain, and of course Spanish language. If you put a bit of effort in to prepare, you will be left with a summer that greatly improves your Spanish and gives you an experience of a lifetime.

My sumer with LITA was an experience I will never forget. Before the trip I was super nervous because I was the youngest student with the least experience on the trip. The program directors were very clear and communicative every step of the process and made me feel very safe. As soon as I showed up at the airport, all of the students and group leaders welcomed me and we bonded quickly. One thing I would say about the experience was that you got from it what you put into it. I, along with my fellow students, was very dedicated to speaking only Spanish and this program helped me immensely with that. My host family was incredible and so understanding of the time I needed to adapt to the difference in culture. They taught me so much history of the town we were staying in as well as the country of Spain. Everyday was a new adventure and it was everything I wanted and more.

I can't say enough great things about LITA! Going into it I didn't know what to expect, but I saw such a huge improvement not only in myself but in the other students. I felt so much more confident in my speaking abilities. I made amazing friends, had once in a lifetime experiences and got to see a non-touristy side of Spain that most people don't get to see. I had an incredible family and I'm still talking to them almost every day. Overall, I would recommend LITA to anyone who wants to have a fun summer and improve their Spanish!

When I first decided to sign up for a full emersion program, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had thought I would not be able to speak a lot of Spanish, and I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the family that I was staying with. However, it ended up being the complete opposite.
This summer, my experience in Spain with LITA was like no other. The friendships I’ve made (with those who’d lived in Spain and fellow students), and the activities in which we partook, were unforgettable. In this experience, students are pushed out of their comfort zones, and are able to truly immerse themselves in a Spanish culture.
With the guidance from the programs leaders and other students, I was able to feel a lot more comfortable when speaking, which allowed me to step out of my comfort zone, and improve my speaking ability by practicing with conversation.
Looking back to before my experience with LITA, my growth as a student learning Spanish has been phenomenal. I feel much more confident now speaking in class at my school, and have developed an obsession with the language.
Overall, this trip was an incredible experience, and I highly recommend this to high school students who are obsessed with the language, and truly want to test their ability of speaking, as well as having an incredible time.

This entire trip EXCEEDED all of my expectations. I went on the North 5 week trip and met some of the coolest people! The group was perfectly curated by the Lita Director and everyone was avidly speaking and immersing each other in Spanish. My homestay was perfect. The family completely accommodated all of my needs, was avidly helping me learn spanish, and I felt like became part of the family. I took the classes and everyday we would walk around the town and interview someone or be actively involved in the community. Also, as a person who doesn't eat meat, the entire trip I had many options and accommodations. I felt safe the entire time, but also had the freedom to walk around the town with my host sister by ourselves and venture as pairs in many cities. I went from not being able to speak spanish, to understanding and speaking it fluently! I would HIGHLY recommend this trip to anyone who wants to attend, it truly was the best summer of my life:)