The advantages of personalized immersion in Spanish are:

1. Control over one's learning process, 2. Authentic communication, 3. Personal growth and 4. Low cost.

1. Control Over One's Learning Process

Numerous linguists and teachers agree that it's very crucial for the students to be exposed to inputs in the target language in a way that they can readily comprehend. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to put this theory into practice in a classroom of 30 students. Although all the students receive the same exact lesson, our individuality make us process the same information in different way. In other words, there will be 30 different levels of understanding in this classroom and for this reason, a highly comprehensible input for one student may not be appropriate for the rest. A solution to this problem can be found in a 1-on-1 format class. A student can learn according to his own pace with custom-made lessons provided by his teacher. On top of being able to control the learning pace, the personalized class has another advantage of being able to personalize the content of one's lesson. As an active member of the learning partnership, a student can select the topic that best suits his interest to fuel his motivation.

2. Authentic Communication

In Spanish classes, the educators are trying hard every day to provide their students with as much Spanish as possible. For a starter, there are musics and movies in Spanish. Some students are fortunate enough to be able to enjoy delicious Mexican food brought in by their teacher. Perhaps they could even learn a step or two in a traditional dance. However, their efforts to engage the students with all the 5 senses that we have lose their effectiveness as soon as the students leave the classroom or while unmotivated classmates keep on talking in English. It's much easier to avoid these distractions when a student is in Xela as the local atmosphere helps her use Spanish naturally as if she is breathing the air. The student will be surrounded by Spanish 24 hours a day and she could take full advantage of this opportunity by communicating in authentic Spanish speaking context. The friend of her teacher, the gift seller, the host family's child, the person who sits next to her in a "chicken-bus"... regardless of where the students goes, there is always plenty of chances to communicate in Spanish.

3. Personal Growth

Have you had opportunity to grow as a person through studying Spanish? Often personal growth comes from activities and events that we engage with much enthusiasm. Whatever the result may be, with much dedication, we learn something important from our lives. But when a Spanish class has its main focus on grammars ignoring the importance of communication in authentic context, the boredom could be overwhelming and it could discourage us to continue learning Spanish. Fortunately, the personalized immersion classes do not have emphasis on studying about grammar. However, their emphasis is on studying how to live in the different culture utilizing grammars as one of the many available tools of communication. Perhaps other tools to get to know the new culture could be good sense of humor, curiosity, flexibility and more than anything else, willingness to open up yourself to communicate. But regardless of how one adapts to his or her new environment, the most important point that the student should keep in mind is that the change of environment always provide us with a perfect opportunity to learn and grow.

4. Low Cost

The only disadvantage of personalized immersion program is its cost; it's not cheap. For example, in Madrid, Spain, a private lesson is offered for $850-$900 a week, plus the payment of $350-$400 toward a host family. At San Joaquín de Flores, Costa Rica and Playa del Carmen, Mexico, the same service is offered for $475-$525 of tuition and payment of $175-$225 toward a host family. Let's see a country from South America now. For instance in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the cost of private lesson is $350-$400 per week but homestay cost of $150-$200 is still separate. But in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, the total cost including tuition for the class and payment toward host family is only $150-$200 per week. It's an option that is worth considering for.