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1. Use the search engines to research! DON'T decide your program yet! 2. In which country should I go learn Spanish? 3. Should I go for 1-on-1, small group or a larger class? 5. Should I homestay or find another housing option? 7. How safe is it to study abroad? 8. What about traveling around while my study abroad? 9. Should I use an airport pickup service? 10. How can I keep in touch with my family and friends back home? 11. What about money? Can I use US dollars there? 12. Can I drink water there? Do I need anti-malaria shots? 13. What if I'm a vegetarian / vegan / a person with special dietary requirement? 14. How can I get a cheapest flight? 15. How can I avoid speaking English all the time in my host country?
1. Use the search engines to research! DON'T decide your program yet! So, you wanna study Spanish abroad, huh? Excellent choice! On top of being a graduation requirement for most of academic institutions, being able to use Spanish opens up lots doors in job markets. And of course, meeting new "amigos" and "culturas" really expands your horizon. But, where do you start? In this series of articles, we will be covering one important topic each week to guide you on selecting the best Spanish language program for you. Now let's get down to business. This week's topic is... "How do I get started on finding the best Spanish language program for me?" Well, we will be direct. Here's our answer. "Use the search engines to get research! DON'T decide your program yet!" What do we mean by this? Well, unless you want to book your flight and go abroad tomorrow, you should take plenty of time to shop around. Because you should be considering topics such as... In which country should I go learn Spanish? Studying abroad is a big ticket item with huge after effect like buying a car or insurance so take a deep breath to remain calm, take your time and make a well informed decision. Now that you are ready, we'd like you to get going. There are various sources of information. Your school's international program office and your friends or family who have gone abroad before are good choices. But for the sake of wealth of information, we are going to recommend you... Search engines! How about searching a "spanish language school" in Google? 33,300,000 search results. That's plenty of choices! And so, just like 80% of internet users, you just look through the first 2 pages. We don't blame you. Who has time to go through all those listings? But have you noticed that in those first 2 pages, most of schools are from either Mexico or Spain? And as you already know, those are not the only countries where Spanish is being spoken. So what's our point? Look at the big picture by comparing all those Spanish-speaking countries! Not just Mexico and Spain! Don't worry, we won't just leave you standing. Here's a nice web site of Directory of Spanish Language Schools! http://www.studyspanish.com/schools/index.htm Here, you will see a wide range of countries including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala and more. Your homework for this week: Browse through schools from those countries by paying careful attention to differences among them. But, we repeat, DON'T decide your school yet! Because our topic of the next week is... "In which country should I go learn Spanish?"
2. In which country should I go learn Spanish? ¡Hola! Welcome back! Last week, we have just began the first step to find the best Spanish language program for you via Internet. But if you type a general keyword like "spanish language school", you won't be able to see the full range of options since the top listings are dominated by either Spanish or Mexican language schools. So we suggested to use a directory of Spanish language schools to compare what those countries are offering. But since there are so many countries to choose from, we would like to suggest 2 guidelines to go about... 1) Special attraction / interest / friends 2) Budget 1. How many hours of Spanish classes can I have? with how many classmates? All these questions really depend on your budget. Although the Hispanic world share lots of common characteristics, cost of living and economic development of each country differs widely. You can go look up GDP of each country but let us just give you something a bit more useful. For example, in Madrid, Spain, a private Spanish lesson is offered for $850-$900 a week, plus the payment of $350-$400 toward a host family. At San Joaquín de Flores, Costa Rica and Playa del Carmen, Mexico, the same service is offered for $475-$525 of tuition and payment of $175-$225 toward a host family. Let's see a country from South America now. For instance in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the cost of private lesson is $350-$400 per week but homestay cost of $150-$200 is still separate. Now, in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, the total cost including tuition is less than $250 per week. So to make it easier on your life, let us group those countries by budget requirement. Luxury: Spain Medium luxury: Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico Medium economical: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru Economical: Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua As we said earlier, what you pay is really different depending on where you go. And here, the question arises... "Does it mean, I get better education in Spain, and the quality of service in Guatemala is really really low?" In other words, "More I pay, better education I'll get?" TRUE or FALSE? Your homework for this week is to review your special interest in the Hispanic world and also, don't forget to set your budget! Next week, we will answer your question about what kind of Spanish education plan you should go for: "Should I go for 1-on-1, small group or a larger class?"
3. Should I go for 1-on-1, small group or a larger class? Welcome back to the 3rd issue the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" Let's start from a brief recap of what we did during the last 2 weeks. Well, we began searching for the best Spanish language program for you using the internet. It's a wonderful tool. You get to see so many options out there. And one of the most obvious differences among all those Spanish-speaking countries is the program cost. So, to start weighing your options, we will start from looking at one of the most important component of your study abroad experience: Class size. It's one of our shameless plugs but we'll be straight to the point. Get an one-on-one class! Basically there are 3 types of class size among those language programs. 1. Normal: Assuming that you are in a class of 15-30 students in your home institution and you register for a language program abroad with this size, it really makes no difference. Why bother? 2. Small: It's usually less than 10 students per instructor and since the class is smaller, you get more attention and peers that you interact with in the class tend to have similar level of Spanish as you do. 3. 1-on-1: Some programs call this as an "executive program" since having a personal Spanish instructor costs so much in many countries. But then, you will love the effectiveness of this lesson format. Having a personal attention means... 1) You will be speaking and listening 100% of the time instead of waiting for someone else to finish an incorrect sentence. 2) You will be learning what interests you best and how you learn best. Since this is an individualized program, you can make the customized lesson with your instructor. OK, we admit that we are totally biased and we suppose there are some advantages in normal and small-sized classrooms. Honestly, we don't know those advantages that they have other than you can meet lots of English-speakers and if you are interested in those programs, probably you need to check out "luxury-medium" range programs. Actually, one-on-one Spanish language program is not as expensive as you think. Yes, it's expensive in Spain where you should be prepared to shell out close to US$1000 a week for the individual lesson, but in some of those economical countries like 'ahem... Guatemala, you are going to get quite a bargain on the similar lesson plan (We said "similar" because Guatemalans usually don't teach "vosotros" form and the accent from Spain.). So the class size is the one of the key on what you can get out of your language program. Another main factor is your place of living. Hotel? Apartment? Homestay? But before we go on to the living arrangement, we forgot to mention one important issue last week. Sorry! That is... "Should I use an agency? Or should I register directly with a school?" ¡Hasta la próxima semana! PS: Your homework for this week is to reflect upon your preference on class size.
Welcome back to the 4th issue the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" As usual, let's start from a brief summary of what we've seen before. We started out by saying that using search engines is a great way to go. But we shouldn't forget that there are wide range of options available in many different Spanish-speaking countries. One of the big differences is the class size and its associated cost. For this week, we will take a look at the issue of "Should I use an agency? Or should I register directly with a school?" Language schools teach languages. Obvious. But agencies? What do they do? Basically they are sales people for the language schools. They provide information about their language schools to potential customers (YOU!) and they charge more than what the language schools charge you. The difference will be their income. Also, many agencies charge their schools commission for every students and every student emails that the schools receive. So they are intermediaries who charge you more. But before rushing into the conclusion of "Just Say NO," let's examine some services that they provide. Do they worth your money? 1. Time: When you search for a Spanish language program, most likely, they are the first ones to come up. So if you have no time to type "country name + spanish language schools" in a search box, using an agency is an easy way to go. 2. Information: They often provide a detailed information of their schools and countries. Some claim that they provide more information on their website than what theirs schools do on their own websites. 3. Contact: They have US and European offices where you can contact them. OK, so these are what you get for paying somewhere around $50 and more. You might have guessed already, but this is our advice. SAVE YOUR $50!! About saving time... unless you are a super busy executive or a mother of 11 children, it's not so much of work, and it could even be a little bit of fun to get to know something about Spanish-speaking countries by internet. When you search for a Spanish school in a country of your interest, you can compare many school and it's simply the best way to meet the best school for you. Now, we will see about the information you can get, including contact information... Just go directly to an individual school's website. If you feel like the school is not providing enough information, it's time to move on to another one. The agencies claim that they provide 20 page information packet for students, but the information packet is made by their schools. Only differences are that the packet comes with a fancy logo of the agency and a price tag. The agencies also claim that they respond quickly to your emails and phone calls. The language schools also do the same and if they don't, that's not your school then. "Although the agencies provide a broad range of information to compare different Spanish-speaking countries, they charge you for what you can get for free with almost no extra work." For our next week, we will take a look at "Should I homestay or find another housing option?" ¡Hasta la próxima semana! PS: If you found something nice about the agencies, don't forget to contact us. hehehe.
5. Should I homestay or find another housing option? Welcome back to the 5th issue the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" Last week, we have looked at what the agencies do for your money. Basically, not much. So we recommend that you do your own search via internet, comparing schools in different countries in the Hispanic world. And when you search for your best school, one of the most important aspect to consider is instruction format of the school: 1-on-1, small group or normal-sized class. But since you are not going to learn Spanish just during a class time, there is another important factor to think about. Thus, this week's topic is... "Should I go for a homestay, guest house or rent an apartment?" Pretty much all schools offer some options as your housing arrangement during your study abroad. But which one is right for you? Let's take a look at them one by one. Homestay: Typically middle class, your host family will be taking you in as another member of their family. Most of cases, you will have 2-3 meals a day and your own room with this arrangement. The best thing about homestay is the wealth of interaction you get with the local family. If your purpose of study abroad is the language and culture, this is the best option as you will have plenty of opportunities to practice using Spanish and sharing time with your host family will immerse you into the life of your host country. The downside is lack of freedom as each family has their own rules and you have to respect that. For example, some families don't want you to be taking shower in the midnight or come home with a group of friends. One last thing on homestay. Make sure that you are comfortable with type of food served (vegetarian, etc) and number of students per host family because some host families can't cook vegetarian meals and pack as many students as possible to get more money. This is something that you definitely want to work out with your language school prior to the trip. Guest house: They may not be as luxurious as hotels, but they do offer enough comfort for most of our needs and they are economical. Refer to a guidebook to choose which place you want to be in but in most of cases, what you pay is what you get. The major difference from homestay is the amount of your freedom. You cook your own meal in a shared kitchen to save money or although it may cost you a bit more, you can do a restaurant-hopping to enjoy the local cuisines. Also you can get to know other travelers to find out about interesting places you can go. The downside, comparing with homestay, is that you don't get as much language and cultural exposure as homestay. Also, if you are choosing a guest house option to save money by cooking your own meal, you might want to find out cost of living before you go because you often end up paying more by paying your room and food separately than in homestay option. Apartment / house: While homestay and guesthouse are good options for both short and long term students, renting an apartment is definitely for long term students. It's your apartment, so you can pretty much do whatever you want to accommodate your taste in your host country. But this could be the most expensive option of all, so we usually recommend our students to be with a host family or stay in a guest house for at least a few weeks to get themselves use to the host country before they settle down. So they are the basic options. And if you have special condition such as vegan, traveling as a family, medical condition, etc. all you have to do is ask your school. It's their job to make a best hosing arrangement for you. Before we wrap up this week's topic, think about your travel objective to help you choose your housing option. For our next week, we will take a look at "Should I volunteer?" ¡Hasta la próxima semana!
Welcome back to the 6th issue of the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" "Should I volunteer?" This is our topic for this week. So far, we have been looking at wide range of options available in the Spanish-speaking countries including class format and housing options. Now, let's take a close look at volunteering experiences. So, should you volunteer? YES! Provided that you have enough time for volunteering (if not, you should consider making some time for it!), you should definitely add volunteering in your itinerary. But what's so good about volunteering? 1) Learn more Spanish: You can't really say that you have learned something until you have put the new knowledge into practice. If you are a kind of person who learns best in nature, taking care of baby trees in a local greenhouse for reforestation is the place to go. If you happen to be a medical professional, then, helping out a local field clinic will give you the real world experience of how to understands the needs and treat your patients in Spanish. 2) I scratch your back and you scratch mine: Even if you don't have specialized skills, there are plenty of opportunities to help out people and do something for your new local community. For instance, you can teach English and play soccer with local youths. In most of cases, there won't be any monetary reward, but receiving a big hug and maybe getting invited to a family party/dinner is well worth the effort. It sounds like there is no downside to volunteering. But you should definitely be aware of all the costs associated with it. To give you the better picture of costs associated with volunteering, let us quote from www.volunteeringoption.org. "People who are considering volunteering overseas sometimes express surprise at being asked to pay a participation fee. However, it needs to be remembered that volunteering can be an expensive undertaking, with possible costs including transport, accommodation, food, administration, training, on-the-ground support, and potentially, medical and other insurance. Most organisations cannot cover these costs unless your volunteering will make a significant contribution to their work, or unless they are in receipt of substantial financial supports, for example from regular public donations or support from governments or religious organisations." In other words, you should be prepared to pay for volunteering and when you do so, don't forget to ask how your payment is being used. That way you will know exactly where your payment/donation goes. Of course, it is possible to arrange your own volunteering by contacting organization to volunteer for but be sure to plan ahead and have lots of patience as many organizations don't have much time to answer your questions. For this week's homework, go through websites of Spanish programs and see the programs are offering your kinds of volunteering works. If not, just ask! They may be able to find the one just for you! For our next week, we will take a look at "How safe is it to study abroad?" ¡Hasta la próxima semana!
7. How safe is it to study abroad? Welcome back to the 7th issue of the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" "How safe is it to study abroad?" This is our topic for this week. Up until now, we have been looking at your options in country to study in, class format, housing arrangement and volunteering. All these can be done from your home thanks to use of internet. Now, this week, we will examine the safety of the country you are thinking about doing study abroad. Our recommendation is to ASK to those people who have gone there. But if you don't know anyone who has gone there, what can you do? Well, if you have some time, you could start by reading academic reports such as... Violent Crime: Does Social Capital Matter? No time? Want more data? Then, you can get to know about countries of your interest from visiting these sites... CIA - The World Factbook Background Notes U.S. Department of State They will tell you "Geography, governmental structure, Infant mortality rate, capital, transnational issues, GDP..." but it's hard to tell exactly how risky is it to travel there. Also, picking a destination country really depends on your personal risk tolerancy. When some people hear a name of Central American country, civil war and drug trafficking might come up in their mind. Regardless of reality of those countries, it's just not worth it to travel to those countries if you feel uncomfortable about those countries. So the best way to find out exactly "how safe and comfortable" to travel in your country of interest is to ASK! Yes, ask a person who has been there and done it. Try visiting sites such as... Trip Advisor TravelBlog Read up on other travellers' experiences and ask questions if you need to. The greatest advantage of doing this is that you can get the "real feel" of what is it like to be there. You can visit other sources such as language schools and travel agencies' web sites but in most of cases, they only tell you the good side. After all, all of them (us included) are in business of getting travellers to come to use their services and come to their country. There is a conflict of interest telling you the ugly side. The real life experience of other travelers and students could give you the better picture and if you are lucky, you might find information on what you can do to avoid falling in the same error. So, for this week's homework, go through these websites (or find your own, because there are tons of places where you can read about other travelers' experience.) and see if you can get your questions answered. For our next week, we will take a look at "How about traveling around while studying abroad?" ¡Hasta la próxima semana!
8. What about traveling around while my study abroad? Welcome back to the 8th issue of the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" "How about traveling around while studying abroad?" This is our topic for this week. The class, homestay and volunteering are all important parts of your study abroad but hey, it's a great shame if you just let go this great opportunity to go travel around. So for this week, we'd like to give out 3 advices on how to take advantage of traveling opportunities during your Spanish program. 1. Research, Research, Research! Although most of the programs do offer some travel information along with their academic information, you should definitely do your own research to find your best destinations. Just like the safety information, places such as Trip Advisor and TravelBlog will come in handy. A school-organized trips are great ways to get to know your classmates but doing your own travel is not a bad idea either. 2. Stay healthy Going for a volcano hike, visiting Mayan ruins in jungle and snorkeling in Caribbean can be physically demanding. Bombarded with foreign languages and being faced with corrupted border inspectors can be a source of mental exhaustion. In addition, the sudden change of environment from change of altitude and temperature could be yet another burden to your health. Stay informed about these potential risk to your health. If necessary, protect yourself with insurance. If you plan to enjoy outdoor activities a lot, consider taking along enough suntan lotions since they can be pretty expensive in your destination (because locals don't need it and foreigners are the only people who buy them. Thus, price hikes up.) 3. Be flexible Researching though internet will give you plenty of information but you really won't know everything until you get there. Your host family might tell you their favorite spot that won't show up in neither a guidebook nor in internet. Or you might meet another traveller who could invite you to come along to his/her destination. It's nice to have a well-organized schedule but you might want to leave some blank space to do something spontaneous too. We could keep on giving you more advices but those are the basics you should know to enjoy traveling around. And if you have more questions, just ask someone from your program! For our next week, we will take a look at "How do I get to the school on my first day? Should I use an airport pickup service?" ¡Hasta la próxima semana!
9. Should I use an airport pickup service? This is our topic for this week. We have been discussing about the Spanish class, homestay, volunteering and traveling around in and out of your host country until last week. But, to get everything started, you probably have to be at your host institution in the first place. It could be that your school is in a city with an international airport where you fly into. Or it could somewhere several hours away. If you have been to a country of your study abroad program before, you will have easier time figuring out the route but what if this one is the first time? So, this week, we will talk about "Should I use an airport pickup service?" To answer your question, consider this question... "Which one is more important to you? Challenge or comfort?" To give you some background information, we can say that majority of students (around 60-70%) look for comfort and use the pickup service. The rest of students do it on their own. Now, let us explain some of the challenges in finding your own way to your language school and host family. Imagine this. Your flight took off from O'Hare airport at 2 in the morning and although you are bit tired from not sleeping well, you are safely here in Guatemala at 7am. For some reason, your luggage was mishandled and took you about 1 hour to find everything. You went though immigrations and customs with no problem. You just received an entry stamp on your passport. Finally, you are set to go and steps into the exit hall where a puck of wolves, we mean, cab drivers and their assistant are waiting for you. One of them caught your attention and he asked you if you need a taxi. Since that was exactly what you were looking for, you say yes to him. The gentleman was nice enough to carry your luggage too. In 15 seconds you are in the taxi. A big taxi, actually. It's a SUV that fits 10 passengers. Worried, you ask the driver how much is the fare to the bus station you are going to. He shows you a laminated price chart and since the bus station is in zone 10 (obviously it's very far), the fare is X quetzales. And the gentleman who helped you with the luggage has his hand out to you, not to shake your hand for good bye of course, but for his tips. In the end, you paid in dollars (because you forgot to exchange money to the local currency at the airport) and got the excellent service. Only to find out next day from your host family that you have paid more than 5 times a local person would pay. (Also, in this country, tipping is not required.) This fictional story is a combination of what we have heard from our students who have been to not just Guatemala but other Latin American countries. To avoid those pitfalls... 1) Don't accept help unless you really need one. 2) Be informed and find out normal taxi fare before you go. 3) Exchange at least $50 at the airport or before you arrive. Now, imagine that you opted for "comfort" by hiring a pickup service offered by your language school. Once you go through the gate, the school's staff will find you immediately and will take you to their shuttle bus. On you way to the bus station, although you are tired from the red-eye flight, you manage to strike up a couple of mini conversation in Spanish. The driver hands you a bus ticket and wishes you good luck in your study. At the end of the bus ride, your host family would be waiting for you there. Again, this is a fiction, but this is pretty much what you can expect from using a school's pickup service. Of course, it will be an extra cost in comparison with the option of doing this on your own, but for a small amount of fee, you can reduce so much of potential stress. But in the end, it's up to you to decide "challenge or comfort." For our next week, we will take a look at "How can I keep in touch with my family and friends back home?" ¡Hasta la próxima semana!
10. How can I keep in touch with my family and friends back home? Welcome back to the 10th issue of the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" Well, we have been covering a quite many topics so far! Spanish class, homestay, volunteering and traveling around in and out of your host country, airport pickup, etc. Let's move on to "How can I keep in touch with my family and friends back home?" This is our topic for this week. So, let's go over a few methods available to keep you in touch. 1. Making a phone call 2. Email 3. Traditional Mail and Shipping a Package On the final note, if you have a really important envelope or package and you want it to send it fast without paying much, you can just ask another student returning home that week to bring it with him/her. That's probably the safest way to go. For our next week, we will take a look at "What about money? Can I use US dollars there?" ¡Hasta la próxima semana!
11. What about money? Can I use US dollars there? Welcome back to the 11th issue of the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" We have been already looked at Spanish class, homestay, volunteering and traveling, etc. Also, there are other services such as internet, phone, airport pick-up. And to pay for all this, you will probably need some local currency. Now, let's move on to "What about money? Can I use US dollars there?" This is our topic for this week. So, let's examine a few methods of payments. 1. Cash The easiest way! And if you are looking for some fun, do the origami by folding the bills to make a famous person in your host country smile : ) Although exchange rate at airport is not the best, we do recommend that you change at least US$50 or sufficient amount for a first couple days. You might encounter a taxi, hotel, restaurants that accept US dollars but they can be pretty expensive. 2. Credit Card It's very convenient, if stores in your host country do accept it. Our recommendation is... "Do, bring one. But, DON'T rely on it." That is because... 1) Not all businesses there accept VISA, MC, AE, DC as widely as in case of the US. 2) Credit cards charge foreign transaction fee by percentage. It could be OK to pay for a meal at a restaurant, but if you pay for some hotels, it could cost you a lot. 2) If you are going to withdraw cash from your credit card account, there will be hefty ATM cash advance fee on top of the foreign transaction fee. 3. Debit Card If your host country's ATM network accepts your country's debit card, this will be our recommendation. It's probably the easiest way to get local currency. The exchange rate is often better or same as the local banks and best of all, you don't have to wait in a line at the local banks. Just remember to use ATM machines at safe location and time. 4. Traveler's Check It works as a semi-cash with added safety as some businesses accept TC too. Our recommendation is "If you want one, go ahead. But you can go without it." If you do decide to take one, make sure that the local banks accept it. Your banks may claim "Our TC is accepted by 10 million locations worldwide!" but a bank at your host country may not be one of them. Ask your Spanish school's coordinator if your host city's banks accept a TC from VISA, MC, AE, etc. Some places only accept a TC from AE and you don't want to be stuck with a TC from MC. 5. Bank Check from your country Most of businesses in your host country will not accept it but if your Spanish school accepts it, this is fine. You could probably leave this home. 6. Money Sending services such as Western Union They are quick and convenient but their transaction fee can be costly. We say for emergency only. 7. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer Not very convenient as an international transfer could take up to several days and their fee could be more than $40. Unless you are thinking about buying a rental property in your host country, we don't recommend using this. In summary, we recommend that you take your 1) Cash 2) Credit Card 3) Debit Card 4) TC (optional). If you are not sure, just ask your Spanish school for advice. And for our next week, we will take a look at "Can I drink water there? Do I need anti-malaria shots?" some health issue in general. ¡Hasta la próxima semana!
12. Can I drink water there? Do I need anti-malaria shots? Welcome back to the 12th issue of the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" Last week, we have looked at money issue while you are studying abroad. Our recommendation was to use 1) Cash 2) Credit Card 3) Debit Card 4) TC (optional) to pay for Spanish class, homestay, volunteering and traveling and other services. Now, let's move on to "Can I drink water there? Do I need anti-malaria shots?" The health issue is our topic for this week. So, let's examine some common problems. Stomach Aliments One of the most common ailments you might deal with is diarrhea and this usually occurs within the first week. Many times the body is simply adjusting to its new environment, food and fluids. If the problems persist more than a couple days, it could be evidence that you have picked up bacteria, parasites or amoebas. Tell your school's coordinator, Spanish teacher and/or host family about it so they can take you to a doctor. In most of cases, getting feces sample analyzed in a lab and/or some antibiotics is all you need. Insect / flea bites While most of people do not have any problem with fleas, some people tend to attract so much attention from fleas. If you happen to be one of them, let your family know immediately to spray your clothings and bed. You can also purchase the spray local pharmacies and supermarket. Eating and drinking outside your host family Tropical diseases, etc Just to be sure if your destination doesn't require you to have an anti-malaria shot, etc. check out CDC's website from here. http://www.cdc.gov/travel/destinat.htm We also recommend that you get covered by a value travel insurance. One last thing before we finish this issue. If you are planning to spend lots of time outside, you will need some sun tan lotion. We recommend that you bring plenty of them. You can get one locally but since locals don't usee it, they are only for tourists. In other words, it could be pretty expensive to buy one there. And for our next week, we will take a look at "What if I'm a vegetarian / vegan / a person with special dietary requirement?" ¡Hasta la próxima semana!
13. What if I'm a vegetarian / vegan / a person with special dietary requirement? Welcome back to the 13th issue of the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" We discussed about the very important topic related to keeping your health while you are studying abroad. After all, you can't enjoy any class, homestay or volunteering if you have to be in a bed. This week we will extend the topic from last week. "What if I'm a vegetarian / vegan / a person with special dietary requirement?" So, let us go over some bottom lines regarding eating and drinking in your host country. Basics No. 1: Go with bottled water. Treat all tap water with caution just to be safe. "agua pura" or "agua mineral" from any store will be fine. Just make sure that the cap is intact though. Most of tap water in a city area is filtered and treated with chlorine but it will be much safer for you to stick with the bottled drinks. Basics No. 2: Try to avoid old and raw foods. If you go strolling though a "mercado" you will inevitably see and smell wide range of foods but be careful on tasting them. If the food looks like it has been in open-air for a while, probably it's a wise choice to avoid it. Also, eating raw foods such as sea foods and salads from a street vendor could be risky as well. If you have a craving for a bowl of salad, just go to a good restaurant or ask your host family to make one. Basics No. 3: Just ask and use your common sense. If you are in doubt, you can just ask someone from your school and host family. Now if you are a vegetarian or a person with specific dietary requirement, you need to be very clear to your Spanish school and host family about what you do and do not eat. You must tell your school that you want a host family that could cook you a good range of vegetarian meals and you should definitely be as specific as possible on which type of food is no-no and OK for you. Here is a good example. "I am a vegan, meaning I don't eat any meat, fish, dairy, or cheese. If possibile, I would like to maintain this diet in Guatemala. If absolutely necessary, I may bring myself to eat dairy or eggs, but no meat." This process is essential because many Spanish schools do not communicate students requirement to their host families and when they do, the host families have no idea what a vegetarian meal is. If your host family gives you something you don't like, it's OK and you should be encouraged to tell them that you need something different. Now, even if you follow all the usual precautions such as drinking clean water and keeping away from unsafe foods, you could still get some stomach problems simply from the change of diet pattern and environment in general. In that case, just take it easy for a couple day : ) ¡Hasta la próxima semana!
14. How can I get a cheapest flight? Welcome back to the 14th issue of the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" For the past couple of weeks, we've been discussing about some ways to maintaining your health including what not to eat and drink, and what to do in case you get ill. Now for this week, we will change the topic to "How can I get a cheapest flight?" So, let us go over some tips to help you save on airfares. 1. Use multiple airfare search engines. There are so many airfare search engines if you look them up using internet and they are not all the same. We recommend that you use at least few of them to compare the cost of your flight. It might take a few minutes more than just using one of them but we think it's worth the try. After all, you might find a better flight that could save you a few hundred dollars more. Here is a list of some flight search engines. economytravel.com 2. Try to travel during week days. In many cases, it's more convenient for most of us to travel over weekends since we work and/or go to school during weekdays. That is why weekend flights are bit more expensive. If you can manage it, traveling during Monday to Thursday could save you a lot. 3. Think of saving through your entire trip. Not just from the airfare. To illustrate this point, imagine that you have 2 flight options. Schedule A costs $700 and arrives at your destination country at 6AM. Schedule B costs $650 and arrives there at 6PM. You might be tempted to take the Schedule B for the $50 saving but in some cases, you could be better off with the Schedule A. For example, if your Spanish language school is located away from the airport, you need to budget some time to travel. If you arrive with 6PM with the Schedule B, you need to travel after dark and there may not be a transportation available. In this case, you will need to find a hotel near the airport and total cost can be more than the Schedule A. 4. No war. Finally, when we have wars, not just the travel cost, but costs in general, go up as well. So we should avoid launching missiles and learn to communicate better. We hope that these tips were helpful : ) For the next week, our topic is... "How can I avoid speaking English in my host country?" ¡Hasta la próxima semana!
15. How can I avoid speaking English all the time in my host country? Welcome back to the 15th issue of the "Finding the Best Spanish Language Program for You!" Hi there! Since you are reading this, we are assuming that you are looking for the authentic immersion experience in the Hispanic world. But it takes lots of courage to jump into a foreign culture on your own. It's so much easier to hang out with other English speakers and the bad news is that it's pretty difficult to find a place where nobody speaks English. That means, it's up to you to take advantage of the opportunity to practice Spanish. So for this week, we will take a look at the topic of "How can I avoid speaking English all the time in my host country?" 1. Know your objective. As we mentioned already, it's down-right difficult to find a place where no English-speaker ever came before. You have to make the choice of keep on speaking English or take a time to practice Spanish. Thus your main travel objective comes into play. If your objective is more of tourism, there is no point trying to learn medical Spanish or talking about cultural differences with your host family at the dinner table. 2. Know the right people. Not everyone shares the same objective as yours. Some people travel because they love traveling. Some people travel for their job. And others travel for volunteering. It's nice to get to know wide range of people but for learning purposes, it's much beneficial and enjoyable to be with those with similar interests. Becoming friends with locals is probably the best way to go. 3. Take it easy on yourself. It's obvious but we won't be able to learn to speak Spanish or any other foreign language just by being at a foreign country. It takes time and huge amount of dedication. Unfortunately, some people expect too much and think that they can be fluent in the target language in a few weeks. You could get burned out really fast with that sort of unrealistic expectation. When you get tired of learning Spanish, take it easy on yourself. Call home, watch movies in English and savor American junk foods to sooth your craving. Basically, this week's topic deal with personal motivation and we are not experts on that. But in summary, we wanted you to be aware of what motivates you and how you maintain your motivation. Next week will be our final issue. We will be summarizing everything that we've done so far to help you get going! ¡Hasta la próxima semana! |