When I decided I wanted to study abroad I knew that I wanted go a Spanish speaking country so I could learn Spanish. That’s ultimately how I ended up in Costa Rica. I mean and the price wasn’t too shabby. Like all students who decide to study abroad I did research about what the experience would be like and I discovered that just being in Costa Rica was not going to necessarily make me magically become fluent in the language.
While abroad, I discovered and my host mom gave me different tools to immerse myself in the Spanish language. If you are like me and want to utilize Spanish in your career then you should definitely take these tips seriously. Here are a few things you can do while studying abroad in a Spanish speaking country to learn the language.
- Homestay
This is one of the first things that the study abroad office will tell you. If you want to immerse yourself in a county’s culture and language you need to live with a host family. With a host family you will be forced to speak Spanish to be able to eat and have a wonderful experience with your family. These will most likely be the people to help you with your Spanish homework and to provide a safe environment for you to actually practice the skills you acquired.
2. Conversation Partner
When I studied abroad with USAC, I was intrigued by the Conversation Partner program. This was mainly how I was able to meet individuals around my age group. As a Conversation Partner we would spend time talking in English and sometime speaking Spanish. The thing about this program is that it really helps you to develop friendships outside of those in your programs. During this time you are more likely to learn slang and talk about topics of interest.
- Watch TV/ Netflix in Spanish
My favorite show to watch in Costa Rica on Netflix was called La Reina del Sur. Its funny because when I decided to study abroad I told myself I would not pay for Netflix so I could spend all my extra time exploring but I kid you not, not even a month later what did I have? In the beginning, I watched English shows but my host mom was telling me about how if I listen to music in Spanish I would be able to learn the language faster so I tried that with watching Netflix. It was the best and I found a few shows that I loved. So if you plan to keep your Netflix account open while abroad, let me know which Spanish show is your fave?
- Duolingo
This is a mobile app that I used before studying abroad to brush up on my Spanish. This app will help you to study basic terms and terminology in Spanish. Duolingo is great for increasing and retaining vocabulary. The cool thing is that you can compete against your friends for the highest score. It could spark a little friendly competition against those studying abroad with you.
- Explore town by yourself
It is cool to explore town by yourself because you will have to rely on your Spanish skills to get you around instead of others. When by yourself go to restaurants and practice making your order. Ask different people for help when you are lost. When you do things by yourself your survival skills will kick in. Who knows you may even be able to make some friend along the way.
- Volunteer
There were many things that my study abroad program offered to help me immerse in the culture which in turn would help my Spanish skills. This included volunteering. I ended up volunteering at a elementary school teaching English. It so funny because during this experience I mainly spoke English but when the students were not listening or I was left in the classroom by myself I had to squeeze out my little bit of Spanish knowledge in order to get their attention. No matter what volunteer opportunity you get you will need to use some sort of Spanish so do it so you can build more relationships and have even more people to practice Spanish with.
I am pretty sure there are even more ways to get more practice speaking Spanish while abroad but here are just the ways that I was able to do so. I hope you enjoy. Let me know in the comments below if there are any more ways that you know of to practice Spanish while? We are a community so let’s help each other out. Until next time, bye!