My experience at a language school was almost a decade ago at this point, but I'll share it.
The school I was at set up a homestay where students slept, and had the option of having breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was the first student my family had stay with them, and so they were super excited and willing to go the extra mile to converse with me in my baby babble Spanish. Talking history with my host parents and watching Disney's Kim Posible with my little host sister probably did as much for me to learn the language as my classes did. That being said, I spent three weeks at the school in the city, and got a better feel for Spanish than I would have had I been in class here in the good ol' USA or learning on my own. The school made an effort to incorporate lessons on local history and current events (primarily the Guatemalan presidential election and the the local soccer team), which I've found to be really helpful in my travels (Protip: every taxi driver on Earth wants to talk either politics or sports and probably won't rip you off if you make friends.)
The fourth week at the school was at a separate site located in a poor community in the mountains. There I was able to focus on Spanish slang and just playing around with the language as my teacher insisted on never saying a word to me in English. Ultimately I left the school after a month without a command of the language, but went from 2 useless semesters in the classroom to being able to travel and get around Central America on my own.
The school I was at set up a homestay where students slept, and had the option of having breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was the first student my family had stay with them, and so they were super excited and willing to go the extra mile to converse with me in my baby babble Spanish. Talking history with my host parents and watching Disney's Kim Posible with my little host sister probably did as much for me to learn the language as my classes did. That being said, I spent three weeks at the school in the city, and got a better feel for Spanish than I would have had I been in class here in the good ol' USA or learning on my own. The school made an effort to incorporate lessons on local history and current events (primarily the Guatemalan presidential election and the the local soccer team), which I've found to be really helpful in my travels (Protip: every taxi driver on Earth wants to talk either politics or sports and probably won't rip you off if you make friends.)
The fourth week at the school was at a separate site located in a poor community in the mountains. There I was able to focus on Spanish slang and just playing around with the language as my teacher insisted on never saying a word to me in English. Ultimately I left the school after a month without a command of the language, but went from 2 useless semesters in the classroom to being able to travel and get around Central America on my own.
If you are going to impose your will on the world, you must have control over what you believe.
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