Review of Edu-Culture Immersion (ECI) San Sebastian program - parent perspective

My sixteen-year-old daughter Lauren traveled to San Sebastian, Spain with the Edu-Culture Immersion (ECI) program for two weeks in the summer of 2019. I would highly recommend this program to anyone who is interested in a language immersion program for their child. We chose an immersion program instead of a classroom setting as we were concerned that if she were studying with other English-speaking students that her Spanish would not improve significantly.
She had a wonderful experience. We found the whole process – from the initial inquiry to the application to getting her to her host family to be very smooth and well run. Lauren’s availability to travel was limited by other commitments that summer, and Marie Harris from ECI headquarters worked with that schedule to find a time, location and family that fit our plans. And the experience was exactly what we had hoped for and more. ECI placed her with a lovely family that has two girls roughly her age (one was 16 and the other 18), and with a lovely host mom who has an educational background. The family could not have been more welcoming or inclusive. Lauren is a vegan, and she also has some food allergies, so she presented more of a challenge to feed than the average teenager. Her host family embraced her preferences, and they went out of their way to be accommodating. Through her host family sisters, Lauren met many other teenagers her age while she was in Spain, and she was able to fully participate in the regular life of a Spanish teenager, and to learn about Spanish (and Basque!) culture. Her host mother gave her daily Spanish lessons in addition to the immersion. Lauren’s Spanish improved markedly in just the two weeks that she was there, and the experience gave her a new appreciation and confidence for learning the language. The in-country coordinator (Eva Arrospide) met her (along with the host mom) at the Bilbao airport, checked in regularly on Lauren and the host family, and was very helpful and supportive throughout her stay.
San Sebastian is a strikingly beautiful and safe location, with wonderful beaches, architecture and food, and it’s hard to imagine a better place to spend some time learning another language. I can’t say enough positive things about the program; we feel very fortunate to have found it. Lauren is still in touch with her host family, and we expect that this will be a lasting friendship.