LITA: A Unique Approach to Language Immersion in Spain

I had an incredible experience traveling to Spain and living with a family there through the LITA Program. The program is uniquely small and only does trips to Spain which means that you receive a lot of individual attention. This is very nice when faced with the difficult yet incredibly rewarding task of being totally immersed in the Spanish culture. It can be overwhelming to all of a sudden be living with a new family that only speaks Spanish and lives in a part of the world you have never been to before. However, LITA prepares students very well for the language barrier, culture shock, and other challenges that they will face living abroad. Once students are living with their host families they are in for a very special and pretty life changing experience. LITA puts students in small and rural Spanish towns so students will get to know not only their host families but also the surrounding community and all the kids who live in the town. Furthermore, the fact that these are rural towns means that the majority of people in the town don't speak English. This forces students to become totally immersed in the Spanish culture and use Spanish almost 100% of the time. Being forced to use Spanish greatly improved my understanding of the language and made my experience much more authentic. Living in a small community also allowed me to form strong relationships with many people from Spain some of whom I am still in contact with today almost 2 years later. By the end of the trip I had a much greater understanding of Spanish. I also looked at the world in a much different way as a result of my experiences. LITA is a very rigorous experience but it is more than worth it in the end. The program definitely changed how I see the world and gave me some of the best memories of my life. This is an incredible program and I would highly recommend it to anyone with a passion for Spanish and a passion for adventure.

LITA is by unarguably one of the most enriching, educating, and enjoyable experiences I have ever had. It is a perfect opportunity to see how beautiful Spain is while also improving your Spanish, I only had two years of serious Spanish classes before I travelled to Spain through LITA, and by the end of the fifth week I felt confident in my ability to both understand and have meaningful conversations with native speakers. The most important thing I got through LITA was a second family. The homestay is really the highlight of the trip - my host sister and I have stayed in touch throughout these past two and a half years and will continue to throughout all of the years to come.

What makes LITA so special is the detail with which the program is put together. Every day brings an opportunity unavailable to without the connections the program holds, whether it be a field trip to a private farm for bulls, a cheese store, an ancient castle. The three-week stay with a host family was such a special time-- living out an entirely different way of life, and meeting fantastic people.

I can hands down say that my trip to Spain with LITA was not only the best summer of my life, but also the best experience of my life. I remember so clearly waking up and thinking to myself that any given day on the trip so far had been the best day of my life. I expected to have an amazing experience but am still shocked on how much the trip exceeded my hopes and expectations.
I lived with my host family in a small pueblo named Estepa and grew inseparable from my four host sisters, specifically the younger two closest to my age. I don't have any sisters in Texas and I couldn't even believe how incredible it was to live with four. My host sister, Celia, and I couldn't be more in common. We both loved doing the exact same things and bonded more and more every day. Our days usually consisted of waking up, going to the internship, swimming in her or one of her friend's pools, going home for a family dinner, and meeting all of the other Americans with their host siblings at the parks. However, we strayed from this routine many days, like when I went with all of my sisters to go shopping an hour away in Banalmádena, this beautiful beachy little town area. There, along with countless other experiences, I began knowing what it's like to have sisters. Not only was I completely welcomed into the family, but Celia's friends group readily accepted me and even added me to their ongoing group text. I felt so welcomed and blessed each day that I was there and with each new experience. Celia and I still talk every single day..(we have over a 120 day snapchat streak :)))
Not only was my host family incredible, but the American group could not have been better. I met one of my best friends on the Spain trip and we also still talk every day. We were able to experience the beautiful culture of Spain with some of our closest friends, and I still remember each dinner with the strange but delicious Spanish food we shared. We went to so many different areas of southern Spain with the group and each location was filled with so many fun and distinct opportunities. Our group leaders were incredible and the whole American group completely bonded into a family.
I honestly cannot recommend this trip enough. Seriously. It was so amazing. I miss it so much some days, I just sit at home looking through all of the pictures and talking to Celia. I have to text my American friends from the group from time to time to literally just rant about how much fun it was (I'm serious, this happened last week). I would do the whole thing again and a million times after that. I loved it so much and will cherish the memories for the rest of my life.

Participating in LITA was honestly one of the best decisions I have made so far. Every moment was filled with an exciting new learning opportunity. Whether it be sitting at the dinner table with my Spanish family, conversing in Spanish about whatever came to mind, or wandering the streets trying to navigate this foreign place, every moment was one that I will remember forever. I felt completely welcomed with open arms as I hopped off the bus and was introduced to the family I would be staying with for the next few weeks. Truly living like a Spaniard for these five weeks, I was able to open my eyes to how people in a different society may live.
The attentive and unique nature of this program gave me experiences I would never be able to find elsewhere. Jordan and my group leaders personalized the trip in an amazing way. Activities like singing songs and eating homemade paella in a bodega with a highly appraised musician and making cheese in a cheese factory are only two of the many things that I was able to partake in on this once in a lifetime journey.
I keep in touch with my host sister to this day. I even went back to Spain the following summer so that my parents could meet my Spanish family. The relationships created during this trip are so strong. I felt the support of my group members as we all were suddenly exposed to a new culture, a new way of life, and a new way of communicating for these few weeks. I learned so much not only about speaking Spanish, but about Spain in general and the people that live there. This trip allowed me to gain an independence I did not have before. It created a love for Spain that I still embody to this day and even inspired me to possibly minor in Spanish in college. LITA is a trip you will most definitely not regret going on. I would go back year after year if I could.

I attended LITA the summer of 2013, and I can say with absolute certainty that my decision to attend is, without a doubt, the most impactful experience I’ve ever partaken in. I’m from Los Angeles, CA, and yet despite Los Angeles’ large Hispanic population, prior to LITA, I did not have a passion for Spanish, and was consequently struggling to get by in my high school Spanish classes. Attending LITA, I was given a cultural worldview and a passion for Spanish and Spain that I still hold to this day. This is what led me to pursue a degree from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, where I am currently a sophomore.

This may come as a shock given how far my University is from my hometown of Los Angeles, but when I was younger, I had a bad experience attending a summer program, and suffered from homesickness. For a long time, I thought a summer program on another continent would never be something I would be interested in; I wanted to stay close to home—to have ready and constant access to what’s ‘familiar’. I decided to step out of my comfort zone & applied to LITA because it gave me both the opportunity to intern in a Spanish restaurant (kitchen) and to hone my Spanish skills. LITA was the most incredible experience I’ve ever been fortunate enough to participate in; it taught me that in order to fully experience the opportunities you’re presented in life, you have to be comfortable and confident enough to step out of your comfort zone.

In high school, the focus is to get into a good college, which is done through high-level academic achievement and by differentiating yourself from the competition. However, what high school doesn’t prepare you for is your first few months of college. Much like one's freshman year in college, an immersion program removes you from your comfort zone. The difference is that an immersion program is far more temporary than a college career. Practicing pushing through the discomfort prior to attending college is monumentally important to one’s academic and social success.

Jordan Romm, the head of the LITA program, makes a strong effort to compile a group of students that bond with each other, and to pair students with host families that they will stay in contact with for the rest of their lives. I am still in constant contact with my host family from what is quickly approaching 4 years ago, and have had the good fortune of visiting them the two summers succeeding the summer I spent in Spain with LITA.

To summarize, in just under 6 weeks, LITA made me proficient in Spanish, which allowed me to excel in my Spanish course, which was the most difficult level offered by the school, and played a huge part in the success I had with the college applications process by differentiating me from other applicants. My host family and I have become incredibly close--we 'WhatsApp' each other at the very least once every two weeks, and sometimes send care packages to each other for special occasions.

The only problem I feel compelled to warn about it that you may leave the program with a vastly altered world-view and increased sense of confidence. You will likely develop a strong passion for Spain; its culture; its people; and its language, and develop relationships to last a lifetime.

In one word, I would describe my LITA experience with the 2015 South Group as transformative. However, ’transformative’ does no solely reflect how my mastery of the Spanish language improved, yet in stead it reflects how, through my phenomenal experience, my outlook on life, my interpersonal skills, and my ability to accept and adjust to other cultures and people have changed for the better. Throughout my LITA experience I was challenged to make these changes. Whether it be the first day in Spain when we truly began to speak Spanish, or our last day in the homestay when we gave full speeches in Spanish to thank our host families, my LITA experience challenged me to advance my mastery of Spanish, which resulted in an enormous improvement in proficiency by the end of the trip. I went from having a shaky control over the language to feeling like a fluent speaker, complete with Spanish dreams. However, as I mentioned, my LITA experience also challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone and mature intellectually and socially. Each day during the entire trip, whether it be the homestay, the hike, or the time spent in Seville, I was presented with the opportunity to meet and interact with a new person in Spanish. While this clearly helped my speaking abilities, it also taught me to be courageous and to be more outgoing. I developed interpersonal skills that I can use in any situation and any language. My most vivid image of this type of challenge took place one day while I was working in my internship on a farm, La Communidad Tierra Esperanza. That day, I was working along side not only the usual inhabitants of the farm, but also a group of new Spanish students from Madrid. I took a chance, and began to introduce myself to some of these new students. One of them, Jesús, managed to carry on a conversation with me, in which I discovered that he was actually from Italy and had even met the pope. Although those factoids aren’t as significant to me today, that memory reminds me not only of the incredible relationships that I was able to build through my LITA experience, but also the interpersonal skills that I developed. In a similar way, I also developed an appreciation and respect for cultures different than that of the United States. By living side by side with my host brother everyday and having no choice but to live the Spanish lifestyle, I realized that different doesn't mean worse, as I often had perceived of other cultures from the American perspective. Through my experience with LITA, I feel that I have become more open-minded and accepting of all types of people and cultures that I encounter. I believe that LITA truly did transform me in a unique way that other programs might not have, and for that reason I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to take part. What a wonderful experience!

When I reflect on the experience I had with LITA, I only have amazing things to say. When I was looking for an immersion program in Spain, I wanted one that would be extensive, personal, and teach me both about the culture and language of the country. It was a brief search, for as soon as I heard about LITA, I knew it was perfect, and my expectations were only exceeded when I actually had the privilege of going. The rural focus of this trip leads to an experience you would never get as a tourist, allowing you to go behind the scenes of what you would typically expect from a travel program and focusing on the people and culture. I built amazing relationships with my group and locals alike, many of which are still maintained through social media and mail, and I felt like I was able to genuinely experience the country as a native. This program had the ideal balance of structure to ensure safety and engagement, and plently of time and opportunities to explore and grow independently. There were definitely times where homesickness, the total Spanish immersion, or a variety of other factors became overwhelming, but the program was always there for support, and ultimately, these challenging moments helped everyone become more resilient, self-aware, and independent. Finally, I think what truly sets this program apart from others is the homestay. I became incredibly close with my host family, especially my host sister, I was able to apply my Spanish by working in the mayor's office for my internship, and I learned so much about what it means to be a teenager and person in Spain. LITA truly helped me improve my Spanish, increase my confidence, and become a global citizen, and I recommend it wholeheartedly to any student willing to throw themselves into an incredibly rewarding experience.