Spanish lessons Mexico

Hit the highways… for Spanish fluency?

Here’s a slightly ‘out-there’ suggestion for learning languages: have you ever considered the wonders that hitch-hiking could have, not only for getting from A to B, but also for picking up a chance to improve your language ability?

Ok, maybe this is one for the more intrepid travelers out there, but it’s a great opportunity to enrich your travel experience and get talking, and keep talking. Try thumbing a lift in Spain, Mexico, Central America or South America, and see how far it gets you… literally and figuratively! For anyone with a full-sized sense of adventure, a medium-sized backpack, and perhaps an intermediate level in Spanish, it could just work a charm.

Imagine this, you’ve been studying at Spanish lessons Mexico, or Spanish lessons Costa Rica, or Guatemala, or Chile, or wherever you happen to be. This is not a recipe, listing fixed ratio ingredients, it’s merely a suggestion. You need to get from one town to another, you need to be at the destination at a certain hour… and you’ve just missed the bus. This is how a hitch-hiking addiction often starts, born out of necessity.

Alternately, it could be a conscious decision to thumb a lift in the first place, a choice often made by experienced hitch-hikers or professional skinflints. Either way, it all comes down to the same outcome. Drivers pick up hitch-hikers either out of compassion, a similar mad streak, or because they’re looking for conversation on a long drive… and this is where your Spanish practice comes into play!

If you’ve, for instance, chosen to learn Spanish in Spain and then found yourself in Central America, chatting with people is a great way to learn about all the regional and national differences when it comes to the Spanish language.

Just a word of advice: Hitching lifts on the back of hay-carrying pick-up trucks in northern Mexico isn’t so great for practicing your Spanish when you’re the only one riding in the back of the trailer. Nor is it very good if you wear contact lenses and actually wish to see something later in the day (it gets pretty windy and dusty back there!)

Hitch-hiking of course has its risks, everyone knows this. But not everyone’s aware of its educational value as well! There are two sides to every story, and you’ll learn a lot more in conversation with a random driver than you will vegging out on a bus or tuned into your iPod.

For those who err on the side of caution or greater certainty, ride-share agencies are another way to help you hit the highway!

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