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"The Ultimate Guide: Top Destinations to Learn Spanish in South America"
Learning Spanish in today's world provides you with a tool to open up a vast world of communication opportunities. With over 460 million native speakers worldwide, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world by native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese. Additionally, there are over 75 million Spanish speakers who speak it as a second language, further expanding your potential for communication.
Learning Spanish allows you to communicate not only with native speakers in Spain and Latin America but also with Spanish-speaking communities around the globe. From the United States to the Philippines and beyond, Spanish is widely spoken, offering countless opportunities for meaningful connections, cultural exchange, and professional growth.
Whether you're traveling, conducting business internationally, or simply seeking to broaden your horizons, the ability to communicate in Spanish opens doors to new experiences and connections with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
But once the decision has been made, where to start? In this blog, I would like to provide you with the ultimate Guide to Learning Spanish in South America: Top Destinations and Tips.
Top Destinations and Tips to Learn Spanish in South America"
But first of all, why South America? Studying Spanish in South America provides an immersive language-learning experience, allowing you to practice your skills in real-life situations in 8 countries and interact with friendly native speakers on a daily basis (Latin people, have the reputation to be very patient and friendly towards foreigners) Besides, this gives you the opportunity to immerse yourself in local traditions, customs, and cuisine, providing a deeper understanding and appreciation of the region's heritage.
Secondly, compared to other regions, studying Spanish in South America can be more cost-effective, with lower tuition fees and living expenses while traveling.
Well, with all these benefits, don't hesitate and check:
The Ultimate Guide: Top Destinations and Tips to Learn Spanish in South America
Here's a breakdown of some of the top destinations and tips for learning Spanish in South America:
- Montañita, Ecuador: We are located in Ecuador and it’s only fair that we mention it first, but these are the reasons why: Montañita, situated one of the beautiful beaches of Ecuador, offers an excellent climate, incomparable nature, wonderful waves and conditions for learning to surf or engaging in any refreshing pastimes. It's a small coastal town, with many gastronomic options, culture, very friendly local people, nightlife for those seeking fun, and also peace and quiet for those looking to relax.
- Buenos Aires, Argentina: The capital city offers an interesting cultural scene, making it an ideal place to learn Spanish. There are numerous language schools and cultural immersion programs available. However, the accent from the locals can make a little bit difficult the learning process but you will definitely be entertained in this beautiful city.
- Cusco, Peru: Known as the gateway to Machu Picchu, Cusco offers a rich historical and cultural experience along with Spanish language schools that cater to international students.
- Cartagena, Colombia: While primarily known for its beautiful beaches and historical sites, Cartagena also offers Spanish language programs for those looking to combine learning with leisure in a very modern city.
- Sucre, Bolivia: As the constitutional capital of Bolivia, Sucre offers a tranquil environment for learning Spanish with its colonial architecture and affordable language schools.
Have you picked your location? Okay! Go to buy your ticket! you are one step ahead to find the perfect place to Learn Spanish in South America. But before doing that… take a look at these tips:
Learning Spanish, like any language, requires dedication, consistency, and practice. Here are some tips to help you along your Spanish learning journey:
a) Immerse Yourself: you just arrived at the location! Great... you are feeling the rush, smelling the food and seeing the faces of the locals. Let's imagine that you are in Montañita, what’s the next step? put on your bathing suit and go to the beach, but surround yourself with the Spanish language as much as possible, get to know people, the workers at the hotel, talk to the vendors, chat with the neighborhood.
b) Practice Speaking Spanish: Don't be afraid to speak! Practice your Spanish wherever you go! Whether it's at the restaurant while you order your food, at the hotel while you ask about tourist attractions or even at the store while asking about the price of that fruit you have never tried! Practice speaking Spanish as much as possible, whether it's with native speakers, language exchange partners, or even by talking to yourself in Spanish.
c) Unlock Spanish Essentials: If you want to master the basics to spanish, there are many ways to learn it, for example download Duolingo, but remember that this app is very useful but sometimes words are not really native, so the better way to learning Spanish firsthand is from native speakers or you can also join an online Spanish survival program with La Escuelita where you can have the basis to start your trip!
d) Dont be afraid of grammar: in our native languages, we learn very young how to use the language by repetition by later, we understand the rules at the school, something similar can happen while learning a second language, we need some rules to understand how the spanish language works, and that is why we recommend to join a formal classes, one or two weeks can help a lot to plant the seed. Whether online or in-person, spanish language courses offer a structured approach to mastering grammar and vocabulary. You could join us and build a strong foundation in Spanish with our local teachers! Dive into Spanish classes at La Escuelita Spanish School!
e) Create your own material to learn: create vocabulary lists focusing on high-frequency words for effective communication, utilize flashcards, and for those technology lovers there are plenty of resources where to practice tenses and vocabulary. We will post the best websites to practice spanish soon! Stay tune!
f) Practice Listening Comprehension: Improving your listening skills is crucial, so expose yourself to native speakers. If possible, visit a local tienda (shop), locals have the reputation of being friendly and for my own experience, Yes we are! If you cant, don't worry! Use podcasts and Spanish videos with subtitles (our recommendation is short videos, we have a full post about online resources here!
g) Be Patient with yourself: Learning a new language takes time and effort, so be patient with yourself and celebrate small victories along the way. If you learn a new verb and you use it in one sentence or you catch it in a song, Celebrate! you are doing progress…Stay consistent with your practice and don't give up, even when it gets challenging.
Remember that language learning is a journey, and everyone progresses at their own pace. Stay motivated, stay curious, and most importantly, enjoy the process of learning Spanish! and if you need help, we are here to help you reach the level you want and I promise you, you wont regret it!
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