Immersion works!

The immersion concept, which I have been told is the only way to go, works. This excellent program proves it. I was exceptionally worried about the teacher speaking only in Spanish. But, this concept works wonderfully well, too. I remember it from high school and college when I studied another language. My teacher was excellent. The classes were fun and the teacher was flexible when I was struggling with vocabulary or verb conjugation or use of the proper prepositions (all difficult at times.) The homework was helpful and always forced me to study. That's why I came, without my family - to study. I was ¨drinking from a firehose¨ most of the time, but it works, to force the learning. The teacher´s gentle manner for correcting me prevented me from getting too stressed out. She was knowledgeable, easy to work with, and a fun teacher. The school offers several opportunities to learn the language and experience the culture and the people outside the classroom. Spanglish, movies (with subtitles), interacting with children in the barrios, tours of the city, tour of the farmer´s market, visit to the national park (Rincon de la Vieja). Very interesting, and all optional. I enjoyed them all. Club A showed me, as did so many other experiences here (in the school and elsewhere) that children and families, for the most part, are the same all over the world. Certainly there are differences in the economic conditions in each country, but people are people. Club A was fascinating. The visit and 6 hour walk in the park (Rincon de la Vieja) as fun - long and hard, but that's what long hikes are supposed to be. Conversations with others where English is a second language were a bit intimidating, but fun. The teachers and staff were all friendly, professional and attentive. Could not have been better. I stayed with a family only two blocks from the school. The mother and her son spoke English well; the grandfather not well at all. That was fun, though. The mother and her son were able to help both me and the grandfather when we made mistakes in each other´s first language. I ate several times at the house - some breakfasts and dinners. All the food was wonderful, and not particularly different in many ways than in the U.S.; some local variations, but we eat rice, chicken, beef, pork, beans,yogurt, bread, and desserts, and drink juice, coffee, milk, beer everywhere. House and bedroom were spotless, and overall the family was wonderful!