INFO Meeting: Spanish Immersion in Argentina & Chile
(5pm Pacific, 6pm Mountain, 7pm Central & 8pm Eastern)
This presentation is a general overview of our Spanish immersion programs in Argentina and Chile.
This presentation is a general overview of our Spanish immersion programs in Argentina and Chile.
- Schedule a call with Leslie for our Wine & Patagonia Immersion Programs
This experience is on the epic travel list, not because it is extreme or dangerous, but because you will visit some of the most beautiful places in the world while you live, interact, speak, engage and share with the local communities.
This new immersion experience will transform your Spanish speaking abilities – guaranteed. You will walk away with the opportunity to be exposed to two different subsets of Spanish vocabulary and culture as you visit both Argentina and Chile. You will increase confidence in your Spanish as you experience Mendoza and the Chilean Patagonia and interact with local community members, host families, bodega owners, take Spanish classes, converse with local guides while trekking in Torres del Paine and experience these rich South American cultures.
Why travel with Common Ground International on this luxury adventure?
We created this program in response to our wonderful community of immersion travelers that have traveled with us to Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua and have asked for more. It is pure joy for us to help you with your Spanish and take you places that might seem overwhelming on your own. Explore this part of the world on this luxury immersion trip while you learn Spanish, engage with the local cultures, taste the wines of the Malbec region and trek in the Chilean Patagonia.
You’re not alone
When you travel with Common Ground you are not on your own. You are surrounded by like-minded travelers with similar Spanish language goals, and you have the CGI program coordinator with you 24/7.
We prepare you before you travel
Preparation is essential for establishing clear expectations for your trip, staying safe while you travel, knowing the day to day plan, and positioning yourself and your Spanish for maximum success on your program.
Our custom pre-departure course is an amazingly effective online course that connects you with your fellow travelers and prepares you for every single detail – including culture shock!
You know who we are and where we live
We’re a Colorado-based family business with a clear track record of amazing Spanish immersion programs.
Our children have been a part of this since they were in diapers… which means:
We’re real people balancing all the same “adulting” things you are.
You know this is safe.
You can call us up at any time, (303) 684-5557 speak English (or Spanish), and get your questions answered immediately.
We offer the best language and cultural outcomes
The primary difference with our adult Spanish immersion programs is that we weave 3 Spanish language components into your everyday experience. In other words, you learn Spanish through everything you do:
Here is how we do it:
* Learning Spanish in daily immersion classes with native Spanish speaking teachers.
* Staying with a local host family so that you’re immersed in speaking Spanish 24/7 and acquiring Spanish as you relate to your host family and experience daily culture.
* Exploring the local sites and National Parks with local guides and teachers in our “Travelling Classroom” experiences. Visiting local bodegas, farms, estancias y más and learning from the locals.
Wine & Patagonia Luxury Immersion
For people looking for a unique and delightful cultural immersion experience
Program FAQ’s – You asked, we answered
TRAVEL LOGISTICS
March 7th – March 21st plus or minus a day or two on either end depending on flight schedules and final itinerary adjustments.
We will start out in Mendoza, Argentina. To get to Mendoza we will fly into Santiago, Chile. From Atlanta it is a 9 hr flight to Santiago. Most flights are overnight. When we arrive into Santiago we will have a down day, catch up on sleep and visit a local winery. The next day we will fly to Mendoza, this a 40 min. flight. Stay tuned for specific flight details
YES, absolutely! We have one built in that includes catching up on sleep and visiting a local vineyard outside of Santiago, Chile.
YES!
YES! We will not arrange a group flight, as some participants will want to use miles, others stay longer or arrive earlier.
Priority will be given to those that register for the full program and your name will be put on a wait list. If there is still room at the end of the registration period, we will contact you.
Yes, in this case, that person could do all the cultural and tour activities and have some down time while the participants are in Spanish classes. This has worked well on our other programs in the past. And it allows for those that might need to work to get a chunk of work time in while we are at language school.
PROGRAM DETAILS
We are expecting between 15 and 20 participants this trip
Coming Soon! But we can tell you that the Patagonia is pricey!!!
Yes, and yes! Kids need to be at least 8 years old to participate in the Patagonia explorations. And when we have some wine tours planned, there are kid friendly options as well.
Week 1: morning Spanish classes, afternoon cultural activities or local tours and evenings with host families.
Week 2:Patagonia explorations with Spanish learning on the trail with local guides. Half day and full day excursion options for hiking, horseback riding, glacier visits, etc.
Chile meets the highest quality standards in the world, compared to the USA. In Mendoza City also. Rural areas of Argentina require bottled water.
Yes, there will be local places to rent
Yes, por supuesto
Mendoza where we will be spending time studying Spanish and living with a host family is super walkable. A fantastic and huge park sits right in the heart of the city and offer great walking, running trails. There are many small cafes and restaurants, bodegas, shops dotting the streets.
While we are in the Patagonia; we are in remote areas where there is not access to city life.
12-14 days
Nope
HOST FAMILIES
Yes, they will.
There are not many English Speakers in Mendoza, Argentina and as per our other programs, the goal is Spanish Immersion through host families, Spanish classes, local guides and explorations. While we will find more English tourists in Patagonia, the goal is still Spanish. Rory and I are committed to doing our part to keep the group commitment of speaking Spanish AND all our guides and explorations will be with local guides speaking Spanish.
Yes, por supuesto
Yes, it is!
You can expect to have your own private bedroom, a shared bathroom experience, a host family that is genuinely interested in getting to know you and two meals a day; breakfast and dinner.
Yes, there is a fantastic park in the heart of Mendoza and it is very safe. Just like any city / town there are areas to avoid and we will inform you all about where to go and where not to go in our pre-departure preparation.
LANGUAGE PROGRAM
The school in Mendoza is small, there are 8 classrooms, an outdoor patio and right next to several lovely cafes and bakeries. It is on a tree-line street, with great side walks and just a few blocks away from a huge park called Parque San Martin.
Yes, the program is focused on general Spanish. At this time, we will not have specific classes for medical Spanish or teachers.
Just like our other programs, participants will have to take a Spanish placement exam and based on these results we will place students at an appropriate level. We will most likely have a variety of levels from high beginner to advanced.
Going into this experience, we were super-aware of the common sentiment that both Chileans and Argentinians have strong accents and it could be more challenging to learn Spanish. We noticed the biggest linguistic differences in Chile. And we discovered that the Spanish in the Mendoza area was clearer and easier to understand. The Spanish in Buenos Aires is apparently thick and harder to understand with the “zcha” sound, but this was not the case in Mendoza.
No. If anything, you will gain a great ability to comprehend diverse Spanish accents, rates of speech, and tones. This will increase your fluency and your language comprehension. This is especially true for those with an intermediate level or higher.
Yes, the teachers focus on standard Spanish and avoid the strong regional accents.
We will not offer private lessons on this program, but off-program tutoring is an option.
We are still able to offer CE’s for health care professionals for this experience. We are not able to offer CME’s.
Yes! You will have a step up in comprehension and you can challenge yourself by trying to use it with your host family!
Yes, we will offer various levels of Spanish classes. Participants will have to take a Spanish placement exam and based on these results we will place students at an appropriate level. We will most likely have a variety of levels from high beginner to advanced.
Yes! Rory and I will be there for support AND we expect to have various levels of Spanish learners on this program.
OPTIONAL EXCURSIONS
Great question…and we are so excited about all the options these two countries offer! Some excursions are included and some are optional. Here is a current list of what we are planning with more to come!
In Mendoza we will participate in:
– A mate tea class and tasting (included)
– A winery tour and tasking- home of the Malbec wines (included)
– A national park hike in Aconcagua National park (optional)
In the Patagonia everything is included:
– Catamaran to a Glacier
– Full day guided hikes in the park and half day guided hikes
– Horseback riding
Yes, it is included in the program price and this is the second week of program
No, not at this time.
Yes, yes, and yes!!! We have some fantastic wine tours planned with tasking, pairing and more.
We will have half day and full day options each day. The half day hikes are between 3 and 5 miles. And the full day hikes are between 8 and 10 miles. We will have plenty of snacks and rest. And full day hikes include lunch. We will split up into groups of 8 people per hike. You can select the length of hike and your activity. All hikes will be in Spanish with a local guide AND either Rory or I to keep our learning happening on the trail.
Yes, there will be various options of excursions on the trip. All options are in Spanish with local guides and teachers.
Our excursions in Mendoza are suitable for children. Those include city tours, cooking and mate class, local hikes and park visits. When we go to the Malbec wine tour, there will be an alternate activity for children.
In Patagonia, kids need to be at least 8 years old to participate in the excursions.
Yes! Stay tuned, one of our excursions includes the gaucho life!
