| Congratulations on your decision to study | | | | you can begin shopping around for your |
| abroad Spanish! Yes, one of the best way to | | | | airfare. They are: Economy Travel , Airline |
| improve your Spanish is to immerse yourself | | | | Consolidators and Best Fares. If you have |
| in the environment and live the language. But | | | | been buying tickets from places like Expedia, |
| the other side of the coin is that the study | | | | Orbitz, Priceline and Travelocity, you will |
| abroad experience requires a huge commitment | | | | see the difference. I guarantee it. |
| on your part. For example, money. Depending | | | | |
| on how you do it, it could cost you a small | | | | Finally, another way to cut the cost of your |
| fortune. In order to harvest the great return | | | | Spanish learning experience is to go direct |
| of improved Spanish, you have to invest in | | | | to the Spanish school by skipping through the |
| yourself, right? But what if you can optimize | | | | language school agencies. When you search for |
| the investment by getting the most Spanish | | | | Spanish schools on the web, most likely, |
| out of your dollar? This article is about | | | | those agencies are the ones that you will |
| that. More specifically speaking, there are 3 | | | | encounter first. They come up on the top of |
| ways to obtain maximum amount of Spanish by | | | | the search engine list and they offer lots of |
| studying abroad. There are: 1) Picking the | | | | options too. After all, that's their job. |
| right country to study Spanish in, 2) Picking | | | | They are the "advertising agency" for Spanish |
| the right airline, 3) Not signing up with the | | | | school. They charge tons of money from the |
| language school agency. | | | | individual Spanish schools and from you too |
| | | | by marking up about 10%-20% on top of the |
| Out of the 3, Picking the right country holds | | | | tuition you pay to the school. Yes, some of |
| the utmost importance because it will | | | | them do offer fairly nice information of the |
| determine significant portion of your study | | | | countries and schools and we should use them |
| abroad expense. Of course, the countries | | | | to familiarize ourselves about the potential |
| determine the available touristic resources, | | | | destinations. But it's not rare that those |
| difference in how the Spanish is spoken, etc, | | | | agencies have problems communicating your |
| but we'll focus on monetary issue today. | | | | needs to the school (My friend had to wonder |
| Let's say that you are looking for an | | | | around the street of Guatemala with all his |
| one-on-one class in Spanish because you've | | | | luggage because the agency didn't notify the |
| already taken some high school and college | | | | arrival time to the school) and there is no |
| Spanish class with 30 other students and that | | | | point paying extra $50 for the "introductory |
| didn't give you much opportunity to practice. | | | | packet" from the agency when you sign up with |
| As you know, Spanish is spoken in Spain and | | | | them because that's the copied one from the |
| many Latin American countries and thus, you | | | | Spanish school. So, once you find out the |
| now have a huge selection. And cost of the | | | | name of the school you are interested from |
| study varies significantly from one country | | | | the agency, just go to Google or Yahoo and |
| to another. For instance in Spain, the | | | | type in the name of the school to go to the |
| individual class in Spanish for a week runs | | | | school's home page and sign up directly. |
| around $850-$900. If you want more complete | | | | |
| immersion living with a host family, there | | | | In conclusion, I'd recommend that you use the |
| goes another $350-$400. If you are going to | | | | language school agency to learn about the |
| study for 4 weeks, it's a safe bit to budget | | | | going price of tuition in various Spanish |
| around $6000! On the other hand, there are | | | | speaking countries and when you find a school |
| less expensive options in Central America. In | | | | of your interest, go to their web site to |
| Guatemala, you can find both the one-on-one | | | | register directly with them. Finally, use the |
| Spanish class and homestay within $150-$250. | | | | discount airfare web sites indicated |
| You definitely don't want to ignore this | | | | previously as a reference point to shop |
| enormous range of difference. | | | | around for your best airfare. With this |
| | | | little bit of research, you are well on your |
| Another huge expense is the transportation | | | | way to get most Spanish out of your bucks! |
| fee. Since most of us will be going to the | | | | |
| destination country by air, we'll look at how | | | | Gen Takahashi is originally from Japan and is |
| you can save on airfares. But, first of all, | | | | an ex-Japanese language teacher. Based on his |
| let me just tell you that since I don't work | | | | previous study abroad experience of learning |
| in travel industry, I don't have the | | | | Spanish, he now dedicates his time bringing |
| insider's secret. I don't have the travel | | | | together the students, the Spanish teachers |
| wisdom of a nomadic super backpacker either. | | | | and the host families in Quetzaltenango, |
| All I can give you is a few web sites where | | | | Guatemala. |