3 month trip Volunteering/spanish school

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Tiffiny

New member
May 2, 2013
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Good morning,

I am not sure which thread subject I should put this under so I will post it in a couple different threads.

I am new to DR1 and I joined specifically for help with a trip I am planning. I am a 27 year old female with a boring 9-5 and I really want to do something meaningful, and fun before I get married and have kids. I am saving up to quit my job next year and go to the Dominican Republic for 3 months. I want to volunteer at an orphange as well as attend spanish lessons/school. My boyfriend is Dominican who speaks fluent spanish but despite living together for 3 years I still have not learned the language. I know a few things but Im not nearly where I should be. So I want to do a spanish immersion program. My boyfriend will not be coming with me as I feel like I would rely on him to much to translate and I want to do this completely on my own.

I am looking for a reasonably priced spanish school or tutor. I would like to take lessons from 8-12 Mon-friday and volunteer at the orphanage the 2nd half of the day. All of the spanish schools that I am finding on google are all big companies that are based in Europe and have different school locations all over Latin America and Spain. As you can imagine they are really high in price and have pretty large class room sizes. I am not looking for that type of experience.

I would prefer a small locally owned school or even just a private tutor for hire that would work with me one on one every day. I am also looking for a host family/home stay that I can live with and truly immerse myself in the culture and language. Most schools offer this type of accomadation for an extra fee.

I would prefer the location of La Romana as I have already been in contact with an orphange there and they will accept me as a volunteer. I have also been to La Romana before (on a cruise so it really doesnt count) but I love the proximity of being near the capital and near nice beaches.. (bayahibe/Punta Cana). I found one school that offers lessons in La Romana called Inspanishdr.com but they have not answered my email request for more information so I am assuming they are no longer open.

If anyone out there knows of anyone in this area please advise!! If you know of any other small Dominican owned schools in other areas please advise as well. Also if you know of any orphanages that allows volunteers please let me know. I am looking for all the information I can get.... suggestions... anything.

Thank you for any help you all can provide!!!
 
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Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
You could look at volunteering at Mustard Seed Orphanage in Sosua. You should be able to find a tutor in the Sosua/PP area at a good price.

Regarding Spanish, I don't know what method you are using to learn but take it from me you need to study the grammar because it is quite different than English. I speak Spanish as a second language and live in Santiago. I would also say I've never met a foreigner that was functionally fluent that only used immersion to learn. Best of luck.
 
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Viajero

Bronze
Dec 16, 2011
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You might also want to google orphanages because there are some around the country. Check this link, for instance: Charities to help out the Dominican Republic Also there are many language programs. You can do a search on DR1 for studying spanish in the DR. I tend to like Santo Domingo and Santiago because they are majoy cities with more critical mass and opportunities to practice and see more culturally.
 
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tommeyers

On Vacation!
Jan 2, 2012
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I live in Santiago
If you end-up near Sosua you may find that Cabarete Language Institute (CLI) has the reasonably priced language training you desire; I have spent 2 weeks there and it helped me. It is next to Ali's kite school and you can get a (very simple) room for $25/night.
 
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Tiffiny

New member
May 2, 2013
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Thank you! How long did it take you to become fluent and what methods did you use? If you dont mind me asking.
 
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Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
Tiffiny said:
Thank you! How long did it take you to become fluent and what methods did you use? If you dont mind me asking.
Click to expand...

You'll find out fluent is a relative term. In my own case I have been speaking for 13 years now and it has only been in the last couple of years that I have been able to communicate with 99% of the people I meet on a daily basis. The issue isn't understanding educated persons but one's who's Spanish is replete with idiomatic expressions not to mention poor pronunciation. Fortunately I have found out that I speak to them relatively slowly and correctly and given that most Dominicans are impressed by well spoken Spanish they will slow down and try to pronounce words better.

Nonetheless, regarding a minimal level of fluency with more or less educated persons that took at least 5-6 years for me.

I never studied Spanish formally but bought a grammar book when I met my Dominican wife, who speaks no English. I am a diligent student and spend a lot of time studying grammar on the web and read a lot of news in Spanish. I also am studying at one of the local universities.

Regarding immersion, from what I've seen it only works if one has enough background in Spanish grammar, otherwise it is a disaster in my opinion as I have met foreigners who never cracked a book and the very best they are able to speak is a pigeon Spanish that is only hit and miss. Generally they are married to Dominicans and believe it or not in order to communicate the Dominican wife/husband speaks like their foreign spouse. It is basically it's own language and I have wondered if this is how so many languages were formed over the years.

In retrospect here is my advice:

1 Study grammar
2 Practice speaking and watching tv
3 Don't be afraid to make mistakes, that's what is supposed to happen
4 Don't imitate everything Dominicans do, especially with catchy phrases, cutting words and speaking rapidly, rather learn correct Spanis
 
AlterEgo

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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South Coast
Criss Colon said:
Children the World over, prefer the "Total Immersion" method.
I used that to learn "English", AND "Spanish"!
To each his own.
Cris Colon
Click to expand...

I agree Cris, except immersion in DR means you're probably not speaking proper Spanish. Taking classes, along with immersion, would be the best of both worlds there. Just IMO.
 
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Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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I had partial immersion - Spanish is my mum's first language but she always spoke to me in English. Somehow I ended up understanding 100% but speaking very little - I think this is known as 'passive knowledge' of a language. I definitely needed to learn some grammatical rules when I wanted to bring it up to a reasonable standard.
 
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latitude19

Active member
May 29, 2011
419
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I second Cabarete Language Institute, although for Dominican Republic I think it is quite expensive. She had private lessons, which is the way to go, but a bit more expensive than group. My wife learned enough ENGLISH there in 3 months (4 hrs per day, 4 days per week) to be able to speak to just about everyone here in the US. They also I'm sure could give you info on charities/orphanages in the area. There is a good beach in Cabarete which you can easily walk to from the school. The only negative is Cabarete is loaded with expats; you will not experience the Dominican culture the way you would in an area with less expats.
 
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Olvidado

New member
Jun 19, 2012
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AT 27 years old, you can learn Spanish or any language for that matter, without the difficulties that a 60 to 67 years old will encounter. At your age, any method will work for you as long as you stick to it. What is your prefer method of learning? Are you capable of learning using the computer. or is it better with a live teacher? How do you learn best? We all have a prefer methods of learning...do what is best for you. The fact that you will be immerse in a Spanish speaking culture, and working with Dominican children, you will be learning every second by direct/indirect ways, sounds, reading, listening, and most of all, repetition. You will be fluent in Castellano in no time!
 
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bchris964

New member
May 14, 2013
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This is appreciable you are going to DR.
Your problem of learning Spanish language is real.
why don't you join learning Spanish classes before going?
 
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