Starting January 28th, 44 adults (and one child) embarked on a journey to improve their spoken Spanish via Spanish Immersion. We all know that Spanish Immersion is absolutely the best …
Winter ’23 Adult Spanish Immersion Trip in Costa Rica Read More »
Winter 2022 Spanish Immersion in Costa Rica: We’re back on Spanish immersion in Costa Rica this winter with a wonderful group of travelers. There are a handful of working professionals …
Summer 2021 Adult Spanish Immersion trip in Costa Rica: We all know that Spanish immersion is the best way for adults to learn Spanish. It’s intensive and the nature of …
Summer 2021 Adult Spanish Immersion trip in Costa Rica Read More »
An exciting message from Leslie & Rory about summer 2021 Spanish Immersion programs in Costa Rica: 4 Adult Spanish immersion programs in Costa Rica this summer Program Dates 1wk Spanish …
Spanish Immersion Programs in Costa Rica for Adults are back! Read More »
5 Practical tips to keep your Spanish proficiency moving forward after your immersion trip: Finishing up your Spanish immersion program is always met with mixed emotions. You’re happy with the progress …
During the third week on immersion, the high school participants visited Kamuk School in Tibás, Costa Rica to participate in a language exchange. This was truly a once in a …
High School Spanish and English Language Exchange in Costa Rica Read More »
High School Students on La Fortuna Excursion with Spanish Immersion Imagine opening the door of your hotel room and seeing a volcano right in front of you! That’s what the …
High school students experience first week on Spanish immersion in Costa Rica. Two of the main focuses of the Common Ground International (CGI) high school Spanish immersion programs are host …
First Week on Immersion in Costa Rica: Host Families and Community Service Read More »
High school students on surf and Spanish immersion in Costa Rica! What an amazing first weekend on immersion! Last Thursday was arrival day for the high school Spanish immersion participants …
On April 18th, 2018 the Nicaraguan people stopped acquiescing to the oppression from their government and broke their silence in peaceful protest. The tipping point for the Nicaraguan people was …
Day 1: Orientation & Getting to know the town of Granada Nicaragua. Today (Sunday) we met up at 9am for a brief tour around Granada to learn about the history …
Day 1: Spanish Immersion for Adults, Educators & Medical Professionals Read More »
Summer Spanish Immersion Programs in Nicaragua & Costa Rica Begin! Students and professionals from all over the United States begin their Spanish language immersion program with Common Ground International over …
Summer ’17 Spanish Immersion in Nicaragua and Costa Rica Begins! Read More »
International volunteer opportunities naturally attract good-hearted people who want to do service learning that feels great and helps others at the same time. Unfortunately, good intentions don’t always result in good …
Avoiding Ethical Complications With International Volunteer Opportunities Read More »
International travel suggestions; especially in Central America International travel is amazingly fun and educational, but it does offer plenty of opportunity for challenges and difficulties. Thankfully, most of these can …
International Travel Suggestions: 10 Tips for your next trip Read More »
Some of our favorite tropical fruits from Central America may or may not be familiar to you, but here is how you can enjoy them! We love sharing these tropical …
How to cut, prepare & eat favorite tropical fruits from Central America Read More »
When you are learning a language, you often find yourself scrambling to build vocabulary first. Shortly thereafter you realize that you need to string that vocabulary together into meaningful thoughts …
101 Verbs in Spanish – Essentials for Surviving Everyday Communication Read More »
The Immersion Fund does fundraising for travel scholarships by partnering with the House of Hope. The Immersion Fund offers unique fundraising opportunities and student travel scholarships for Spanish immersion participants. We …
Fundraising for Travel Scholarships Serves a Greater Purpose Read More »
The Immersion Fund is about fundraising with a purpose. The Immersion Fund partners with the House of Hope, a place of refuge and dignity for many women in Managua, Nicaragua. …
Fundraising with a Purpose- Meet the Women at House of Hope Read More »
What is the Tuesday Morning Program and what does it have to do with student fundraising? The Immersion Fund began with two primary goals of raising funds for scholarships for …
Student Fundraising and Changed Lives on Tuesday Mornings Read More »
There are literally thousands of language schools in Latin America – how will you know if the school you’re looking at will be a good choice for you? If you’re …
10 Question Framework to Vet Language Schools – Particularly in Latin America Read More »
The inside scoop on details that matter when searching for the right trip for your student… This is a great tool that helps guide your research to evaluate student travel programs. I am …
10 Essential Questions to Evaluate Student Travel Programs Read More »
Everyone says: “immersion is the best way to learn Spanish”. If that’s true, what makes Spanish immersion the best way to learn? Nearly every article you read about the best way …
Educator Immersion Trips Make a Difference Communicating with parents can be a challenging, but essential, aspect of teaching. It gets exponentially harder when your student’s families don’t speak English. Being …
Have you ever had that experience where chaos serendipitously turns to beauty, and you see rainbows and unicorns? Okay, maybe the rainbows and unicorns are a stretch, but linguistic chaos …
The Secret to Successful Language Immersion is Creating and Managing Chaos Read More »
The Immersion Fund has finally emerged… Since July, I’ve been working on a VERY exciting project, and it is finally ready! Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to introduce to …
International travel to the developing countries in Central America offers amazingly rich opportunities to explore the tropical beauty of the Americas that you don’t see in other parts of the world, …
International travel is an amazing opportunity to get out and experience the world. But traveling itself doesn’t guarantee language development. In fact, a high percentage of university students who spend …
10 Bulletproof tips to maximize language growth on any travel experience Read More »
Communication style is the way you say what you say – and it has huge implications on the results of a conversation between parties. Pay special attention to this post …
Indirect Communication Style – Straight Talk about Beating Around the Bush Read More »
Living with a host family in Costa Rica and attending interactive and stimulating language classes, puts you in a unique position to learn Spanish outside of just a regular classroom. …
Live It Up and Make the Most of your Immersion Experience! Read More »
Small talk is a big deal! Conversational Spanish topics that are sure to get people talking. Don’t let yourself be at a loss for words when you’re on Spanish Immersion! …
Keep reading, because the information below will keep you from thinking: “I wish someone had told me that earlier about my host family!” Okay, picture this… You have just touched …
Everyone knows intuitively and experientially that Spanish immersion is the best way to learn Spanish. However, just because you’re traveling, doesn’t guarantee language growth on Spanish immersion! We love Spanish …
4 Obstacles to Exponential Language Growth on Spanish Immersion Read More »
The host family experience on our Spanish immersion programs in Costa Rica is always a highlight for the majority of our participants. At the same time, it’s also one of …
8 Surefire Tips to Have an Amazing Host Family Experience Read More »
What did our participants think of learning to speak Spanish in Costa Rica? “I’m going to Costa Rica!” is a statement that brings to mind sun-filled sandy honeymoons or …
Reflection: The Summer High School Spanish Immersion trip Read More »
There are many medical Spanish immersion programs and thousands of Spanish study abroad opportunities around the world – so what makes Common Ground’s Spanish immersion programs so unique? Several more things …
Medical Spanish Immersion Trips – What makes CGI unique? Read More »
Summer ’13 High School Spanish Immersion in Costa Rica: Our High School Immersion Students had a life-changing summer in Costa Rica! Before departing the USA, we talked extensively about …
Spanish Immersion in Costa Rica and the 5 C’s of Foreign Language Education The 5 C’s of Foreign Language Education have been developed by ACTFL as the national standard for …
Spanish Immersion and the 5 C’s of Foreign Language Education Read More »
