Want to take a vacation and give your kids a new life skill at the same time? Creating a language immersion vacation for your family is one of the most fun ways to make a trip educational, can be beneficial at any level in your language journey, and doesn’t require any formal organization to facilitate your trip.
Last week, I shared how we saved thousands of dollars traveling to Europe by staying for a month instead of a week. And because we got to extend our trip, we got to go on three different language immersion vacations.
We used our Spanish in Spain, our Italian in Italy, and our German in Germany. We have different skill levels in all three of these languages—Italian is very new and we’ve been using Spanish for years. But we had an unforgettable time as a family using all three of the languages in their respective countries.
Today, I’m talking about all the ins and outs of creating your own language immersion vacation for your family.
What is a language immersion vacation?
A language immersion vacation is when you purposefully go to another country or perhaps another part of your country with the intent of learning more of their language as you use what you know in the language.
There are three juicy parts of this that I want to focus on.
I’ll start with the first one in this post, and it’s the intent.
If your intention is to use a language, you will want to select the location and activities to give yourself this experience. I’ll cover what to look for in both the location and the activities to have the best language experience.
The second part I want to focus on is getting to use what you know in the language. Your language skills. And it doesn’t matter if you’re just starting to use the language as a family or have been using the language as a family for a while.
There are different stages in your language journey when you can go on a language immersion vacation, and each will have different benefits.
So in the next post, I’ll cover each stage for you to decide when you want to go on your language immersion vacation.
In the last post on language immersion vacations, I’ll cover strategies for learning more of the language as you’re there. Especially strategies that help you and your kids feel more comfortable as you step outside your comfort zone.
Now, let’s jump in.
Language Immersion Location
First up, let’s talk location.
If I’m going on a vacation to use my Spanish, for example, I don’t want to choose a location that is super touristy for English speakers.
If it’s a hot spot for Americans — you feel like everyone goes there — chances are that when you try to use your Spanish, the person talking to you will use their English — even though you’re in their country.
Like, you might be excited to order your food in Spanish and although your Spanish sounds phenomenal, the waiter responds in English. You talk again in Spanish, and the waiter responds again in English.
Suddenly, I’m the American in Mexico speaking Spanish and the Mexican is in Mexico only speaking English. What I’ve found in these cases is that they want to show you their abilities, and it really becomes a stronghold where they’re offended you don’t want to use English with them. I’m the guest, but they are the more hospitable host.
So where in Mexico does this happen? Well, if an American thinks Mexico, they most likely think Cancun… and over the years Tulum and Cabo have changed so much. These are hot spots for American tourists.
To make more money in tourism, of course, people in that industry are learning English and their companies want to hire those that can speak English. You will be approached again and again in English.
The old city center of San Miguel de Allende is also heavier with English speakers — because this is an expat or American retiring hotspot in Mexico. And the inflated prices show it.
Even in smaller cities on the cruise lines, there will be more English speakers. For example, La Crucesita, Mexico is a great beach vacation spot to use your Spanish — with crystal clear water, great food, and a beautifully manicured town — it’s really my favorite spot.
But on days when cruise ships come into the Santa Cruz port there, it becomes a different town. All the English-speaking Mexicans suddenly turn up and the taxi prices shoot up. That’s actually not allowed, and you can and should pull up the standard rate on your phone.
All right. So where in Mexico do you go if it’s not where all your friends are going on vacation? Of course, you want it to be safe and include beautiful sites and maybe even historical events. So I absolutely recommend going where Mexican families like to go on vacation.
These cities or towns are going to be safer while having great food, more things to see, and more activities to enjoy.
Like, not too far from San Miguel de Allende is the city of Guanajuato. This city is a UNESCO city and holds a lot of significance in the Mexican Revolution from Spain.
At that time, the people had been slaves to the Spaniards for over 250 years — picture worn down people wearing loincloths in mines. In fact, ⅔ of the world’s silver at that time came from the mines in Guanajuato. You’ll learn more about this inside the granary where the people overthrew the Spaniards because it’s now a museum. You can also hike up to a statue of one of the greatest heroes of this revolution and visit some of the mines that contained so much of Mexico’s riches.
Many Mexican tourists visit Guanajuato every year. And, yes, you will find some people who speak English or speak some English and even an expat community — but many more who live there do not speak English… unless it’s the music students downtown dressed up in their traditional outfits trying to sell their tickets.
For all of these reasons, Guanajuato makes a great first town to get your toes wet using your Spanish aboard. You can use your Spanish and stretch yourself, but if you get stuck, there’s usually someone who can assist you. And if not, you’ll learn even more.
So let’s recap so you can use these principles in any country.
#1. Avoid American wild vacation spots.
#2. Avoid giant expat cities or neighborhoods.
#3. Go to where local families go on vacation.
Which Country for the Language?
Now, one question I get asked specifically about Spanish but it applies to other languages is, “What if I go to a country that speaks a different Spanish than the one I’m learning?”
So as a bonus, I will cover this now to give you more confidence as you choose your location.
It’s true that the way Spanish is spoken in Mexico differs from the way it is spoken in Spain. And it’s also true that the way English is spoken in the US differs from the way it is spoken in England.
Like in England, there’s a different accent. Sometimes different words are used. It might take you a second to process what was said in an accent. Or when a Brit says there’s a lollipop lady and you see a crossing guard, you think, “Hm… did they just call that crossing guard a lollipop lady?” Or there are audible gasps when you tell your child to sit on their fanny because that’s a derogatory word for something else and little did you know…
So in Spain, the accent is different. They sound like they speak Spanish with a lisp. It’s cute. There are some words that are different. You might look at the menu and realize that chicken is the same word but beef is another. They also have a more relaxed way of addressing two or more people, so you sound a little bit more formal.
But keep in mind that native Spanish-speaking tourists from Mexico also go to Spain, and they speak Mexican Spanish as they encounter the same things you encounter when you speak American English in England.
It’s really quite fun. We used our Mexican Spanish in Spain and connected with others without a problem. It was actually really nice for me because in Mexico, the Spanish speakers are like, “I’m pretty sure that woman speaks English, so I’ll address her in English.” They don’t do that with my husband in Mexico. Can’t put my finger on why. He actually hails taxis without me so that he can keep the rate down.
In Spain, with so many countries surrounding it and so many immigrants that might look like me, they address me in Spanish. It’s so nice that they start the conversation in Spanish. We can just speak Spanish. They don’t think anything of it. Except for one very proud waiter, and he eventually caught the vibe that we were happy to use his language in his country.
So instead of it feeling harder to use Mexican Spanish in Spain like many people worry about, it didn’t. I’ll go back again and use my Mexican Spanish.
Language Immersion Activities
But I’ll still go to Mexico because really, I’ll say it, they have the best food.
With that, let’s move on to activities.
The goal here on your language immersion vacation is to pick activities where you can use the language or at least pick more activities where you can use the language.
This might be signing up for a cooking class as a family, but the class is taught in the native language of that country.
Or going on a tour that interests your family, and the tour guide speaks the country’s language. I would only recommend this if your child is really interested in the topic — because tours are hard for kids, and if they zone out more, you might lose them.
When our oldest was four, he was obsessed with mines, and he hadn’t even played Minecraft yet. He was happy to go on a Spanish-speaking tour of real mines and listened intently and asked questions. We had only been using Spanish for a couple of months, but this was his jam.
Another option is hiring a private tour guide that is bilingual and letting them know that you want them to switch languages every so often because your kids are learning to use the language.
We did this in Costa Rica — not for my kids but because my mom was with us, and she only speaks English. The tour guide took us to the different types of forests in Costa Rica and switched to Spanish as he addressed interesting things for the kids and used English to recap for my mom.
Remember, not all your activities have to be in the language. You can pick one a day if you don’t want to overwhelm everyone or make it feel like a chore.
Just choose something fun that you’d like to do together.
We’ve gone fishing in the ocean off the coast of Costa Rica with Spanish-speaking guides. We took a boat ride in the Bacalar Lagoon — yes a Lagoon where pirates used to be — to learn about the animals in the area from our Spanish-speaking tour guide.
My kids absolutely love going to the grocery store on their own in Germany. I give them a shopping list. They get to walk there on their own, use their German, pay with the money, and come home. They love it.
They feel so independent, and they beg to do this.
And one of my favorites — we love going to the movie theater in Mexico to see a movie that was made in Spanish — not dubbed. Why do I love this so much? I can get my entire family tickets, all the drinks, all the popcorn, and all the treats, and it costs less than one ticket in the US.
Oh, and eating out is absolutely a language immersion activity. You get to talk to the water, order your food in the language, make requests in the language, and ask for recommendations for fun activities all in the language.
Stopping to buy something at food stands also counts.
In fact, I have a rule that if my kids can order it in Spanish, I’ll ignore the price. And they love it! They use so much Spanish willingly when buying food. Perfect incentive.
Similarly, shopping is also a great language immersion activity. The person selling — wants to sell — so they will talk to you and talk to you. They’ll explain the product and even ask you questions about yourself, and you can ask them questions too.
My ten-year-old wanted to buy a hat at one of the oldest hat stores in Madrid — he saw it in a travel video — and it was an absolute yes because he could use his Spanish to shop. He had so much fun shopping and got the cutest hat that made him look like he walked out of the mid-1900s.
The next one is one of my favorites that you might not have initially thought of.
It’s inviting another family over to dinner. It works better if you’re staying at an Airbnb but if you’re at a hotel, you can invite the family to meet up to do an activity with your family.
I know it might sound scary to make friends, but it’s so worth it. First, your kids will play with native-speaking children. This is a huge motivation for your child to use whatever they can in the language. It’s also a huge motivation for them to want to practice using more of the language later.
Second, it’s the same for you! You get to talk in the language as the kids play, and this experience will motivate you to want to practice using more of the language later too.
Making Friends Abroad
So here is strategy 101 for making friends that you’ll hopefully enjoy.
Step 1 is you sign up or attend something that interests your family. Like, sports. In Brazil, we signed our kids up for Ju-Jitsu. In Costa Rica, my husband and second son did Ju-Jitsu. And in Germany, my husband signed up for volleyball. It’s a great place to meet other families.
Another option is if you’re religious, attending a church or other organization that has families. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the same type of church you attend at home — just one that has high-quality families.
And last, knocking on the door or casually walking into your Airbnb neighbors if there’s another family there.
Step 2. You either invite a family you meet there that seems cool to do an activity with your family or you invite them over for dinner.
Step 3. It goes so well that you either go out again or they invite you over to their house. And the second option is the coolest.
When we were in Guanajuato Mexico, we met a family at a church and their son started playing with our son. They had a really good time together.
So we asked if they wanted to come over to dinner so that the kids could play more. We set up a nice dinner, and when they came, I apologized that our plates didn’t match. It was an Airbnb, and one weird thing about me — I only have white dishes at home.
They all look uniform and when a bunch of the dishes break, we just buy another pack from Ikea – no stress.
Why am I telling you this? Well, we had fun talking with them, our kids had fun playing, and they wanted to return the favor, so they invited us over for dinner.
When we got to their home, we went through the tall gate and gate door that blocked anyone from looking in, and there was a patio cover that was over their kitchen about fifteen steps in front of us. Their stove, sink, and table were outside under this patio cover.
By the gate where we walked in, there was a bathroom with a roof and door — not attached to the home and also not under the patio cover. The home was touching the patio cover and was two separate rooms each having a door to the exterior. The first room was a family room with a couch and belongings and the second was their bedroom. To go to the bathroom at night, you had to go out of the bedroom, run out from under the patio cover, and then out into the open sky under the rain to make it to the bathroom.
They told us that it’s their dream one day to have a roof over their entire house.
And all I could think was, “I’m so embarrassed that I said that our dishes don’t match.”
Despite me wanting to delete that moment, we had a great time with them — using as much of our Spanish as we could and listening to them answer questions and talk about themselves.
It was a powerful experience to make friends with another family that showed my kids the way most of the world lives, and in my opinion, my kids saw what it would be like for families in the United States if we didn’t have bank loans and built our homes room by room as the money came.
I hope these ideas inspire you to find an enticing — keyword “enticing”— activity that you can do in another language. One that will excite your kids as well as yourself to listen and use the language and one that will help you make meaningful relationships and motivate you to practice the language even more when you get home.
If you haven’t started using another language with your family, and you’d love to jump in and hear your family talking in minutes, while keeping a positive learning environment, go to talkbox.mom/free to get our Free Starter Pack.
You’ll start off with an activity where you and your family are talking in and understanding another language in minutes. Seriously minutes.
I also cover approaches to make sure everyone is confident and feels safe — not scared — as you practice.
Next week, we’ll help you to start using a few phrases from our phrasebook for families every time you go out to the car.
And the week after that, you’ll get a sneak peek into one of our Challenges in our signature box program — and you’ll start using some phrases as you eat.
Just head over to talkbox.mom/free to get started.
I hope this post opened up the possibilities and fun of taking your family on a language immersion vacation, and in the next post, I’ll cover the different benefits of going on a language immersion vacation in the different stages of your language journey.
And if this feels like it might turn into an obsession for you, tickets to TalkBox.Mom Week are now available at talkbox.mom/tbmweek.
On the first night, I’ll be covering how we’ve gotten millions of points over the years to go on many language immersion vacations.
And on the second night, I’ll be talking about how to start talking in and using another language from day one.
In the comments, I’d love to know where you’d love to travel to!
And of course, let me know in the comments what you’d like to learn about next after this series. I read every single comment.
Until next time. I’m Adelaide from TalkBox.Mom where you start talking in another language with your family from Day 1.
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