Going to a language school? Part I: the pros

Now and then people ask my opinion about language schools, especially the ones abroad. Although I major Spanish in college, I learned most (lets say about 90% of the Spanish I know) by studying on my own. That doesn’t mean that I say language schools don’t work or that I’m against them. It’s simply a bit hard to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a school, there’re pros and cons. That’s why I created this small series of post (well, there are actually two, but there may come more in the future). Today’s espisode will cover the pros and tomorrow’s edition will take care of the cons.

It has been about one and a half years since I began studying (well, stuyding… lets say being immersed) Spanish. In that time I went to a language school once. Just one week. Now, I know quite some people who swear by language schools and know some other people who dispise them. I don’t have really strong feelings regarding language schools, I’m more inbetween. I believe that it’s up to the learner to decide if he/she wants to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on one or more language schools. Yes, they can help, but you should think about some things before enrol in one.

+ You stay immersed

Because an avarage class at a language school has students from all over the world, all things are taught in Spanish. This is good, because you want to stay immersed all the time (why else would you come to a language school in a Spanish-speaking country?). Next to that; you get to kick-start your Spanish because you’ll get comprehensible, and Spanish input only (example: when I went to a language school last year, less than 1% communication was in another language than Spanish).

+ You get cut-out Spanish and often nice teachers

Many students start to panic when they begin with Spanish. There’s simply so much to learn in order to become fluent that it can look pretty overwhelming. Although you can solve this by simply immersing yourself and stop worrying, some people don’t think like this and actually need a teacher/coach to guide them. That’s where specialized teachers can help. Because most teachers in language schools have quite some experience and love their job, they do it with joy which is always a plus is you need guidance.

+ It’s good fun

Going to class in your own country can be nice, but often isn’t. Although classes in a Spanish speaking country can be boring and tiresome as well, there’re more exciting things to see and do in a foreign country simply because most things are new to you. Meeting new people, connecting with natives, experiencing a completely new culture are things that can compensate a boring class. Nonetheless, in my experience language institute classes are often better than high school or college classes, where teachers tend to become way too technical.

+ You receive corrections

Hanging out with natives is a really good way to pratice Spanish, but can also leave you with bad habits regarding pronunciation and/or grammar. Yes, you will learn many cool words and phrases which you’d never find in textbooks, but is it worth it when you still have a gringo accent? That’s why language schools are good when you already messed up your Spanish a bit: you’ll receive corrections. Depending on the teacher, he or she will bug and irritate you until you won’t make that particular mistake anymore; one of the most effective ways to get rid of bad habits in speaking and writing.

+ You get to speak

Speaking too soon isn’t a wise thing to do (think of breeding bad habits and such). That’s why many language schools aren’t that good: they force you to speak before you’re reading. Sure, there are teachers to give you corrections, but why would you need corrections if massive input could save you from this all? On the other hand: if you’ve been studying/immersing yourself in Spanish for a while now, but still find it hard to find native speakers, going to a language school in a Spanish-speaking is a really good opportunity.

Do you have you own reasons to say that language schools are worth it? Drop a line in the comment section!

Tagged as: culture, immersion, language school, language schools, Methods, spanish speaking country