Immersion Island

I went to one of Immersion Island’s camps for adults this weekend, and it was terrific. As a beginner (I’ve been studying Spanish for 9 months), I was worried that it would be difficult (not to mention tiring) to keep up with an 8-​hour day of conversation entirely in Spanish, but Jennifer did a great job of structuring the day so it did not get tedious and had plenty of variety.
The camp is offered over a weekend and students can go for one day or two (I just went on Saturday). There were about 10 students there, at various stages of proficiency from beginner to advanced, along with 6 or 7 native speakers. There were times when we spent time listening to cultural presentations, other times when we practiced conversation one-​on-​one or in small groups. The theme on Saturday was a «visit» to Venezuela. The most interesting thing was learning from, and speaking with, 5 native Venezuelans who told us about the country and talked about traditions, the landscape, the food, etc. One of them was a very skillful musician who plays the «cuarto» (four-​stringed guitar) and led us through several songs, which was fun and also useful for practicing vocabulary. They also showed us how to make arepas, which we had for lunch. All of the native speakers were patient and encouraging, so I felt like I absorbed a lot without feeling stressed about my beginner speaking skills. The students with more advanced speaking skills also had opportunities to have more in-​depth conversations.