I need to learn Spanish and have been considering a Spanish Immersion class. Does anyone know if Bonaire offers something like this?

If not has anyone taken a Spanish Immersion class that they would recommend.

Hi Michael,
You'll get a better answer to your question from some folks who live on Bonaire or have been there more than my nine measly times in the last 11 years.

A week on Cozumel would immerse you in Spanish but not necessarily teach you the language
I quickly learned the Spanish on "where is the bathroom" on my first trip to Cozumel because by the time I found someone who knew the English word bathroom, I was getting pretty desperate!

The primary languages on Bonaire are English, Dutch, and Papiamento,,,, I think.

But to get back to why I posted,,,, why do you want to spend a week on the most tranquil island you can ever possibly visit and with some of the best diving on the planet and spend a lot of time learning a new foreign language?

May you have a wonderful vacation on Bonaire, learn all the languages you'd like to learn, have a wonderful life and most of all have a joyous, loving, holiday season.

63 days and counting until my next trip to wondrous Bonaire.

Daniel

Daniel,

Thanks for the response and the selling "points" of Bonaire.
I need to learn Spanish enough to race in a 7 day endurance motorcycle rally in Patagonia next year. I am not good at sitting in class all day or making myself use video or computer training so was hoping I could get in a little diving between lessons.
We are already familiar with the diving side of the Island. Just got back three days ago and have serious withdrawal pains but fortunately are returning in two weeks to stay for a month.

Michael,
Good luck with your learning. I refuse to learn Spanish

Husband and I ride our Yamaha dirt bikes every weekend when we can here in VA. Lots of forest trails around our area Hubby's good friend owns our local dealership. I'm a Yamaha girl. I want to go out west and ride sometime soon! Good luck with your endurance rally; safe riding.

Also, safe diving in Bonaire

(Message edited by ayorkiemom on December 8, 2007)

Maggie and I enrolled in the Spanish course at the Venezuelan Institute across from Cactus Blue. Our teacher was amazing. I learned more in 8 weeks than I did in 5 years in high school and college. It was free!

My girlfriend did a 3 week Spanish immersion course in Costa Rica & loved it. But, without upkeep/opportunities to use the language, the skills quickly evaporated. I doubt there's something like that here, since Spanish is only one of the 4 languages; you'll never hear only one language spoken on Bonaire. For some experience, kinda a DIY, try putting closed captioning on your favorite TV shows in ESP (espanol), or, if available, watch Spanish language TV with English captioning. Better than nothing, and not as boring as classes or video lessons.

"I refuse to learn Spanish :-)"

Thanks for the laugh, Kobi.

The TV works great, Ruth, until you try to read the lips of the cartoon characters like I did in Italy.

It's not the speaking so much, it's the understanding and comprehension. First time I was in Italy, I asked where the bathroom was in excellent Italian. Then the guy I asked answered me back in Italian, and I knew I had a problem.

Eventually I realized that they could stumble around in English while I stumbled around in Italian, and we were communicating!

Thanks for the laugh Seb! Been there...I was at Upim in Rome and in perfect Italian asked for a restroom. Boy that was funny! It was a few floors down and in a back corner. Thankfully between the limited English/Spanish/Italian/German my stay in Italy went well.

As for Immersion courses, Ruth is correct, if you don't continue to use the language you lose the knowledge very quickly. If you can find someone who runs a language course for the military, that would be good. They have an amazing immersion course. However it is hard as a civilian to get into it.

Ok...ignore my post. I am a dork. I just noticed you wanted to do it on Bonaire. I guess I need more coffee.

There used to be a course that the military and State used which relied heavily on the words that were the same in English as the language you were studying.

I have had some great luck myself using the Berlitz software, which has a meter to assess your accent.

I will say I think Italian was easier to understand than the English they speak in Ireland.

(Message edited by seb on December 8, 2007)

Just curious - Seb & Kobi why you don't want to learn Spanish?

Michael, I agree with Ruth in Costa Rica they great programs to learn Spanish and besides the country is beautiful. After you learn, you need to practice it either listening to music, watching the Spanish channels or seeking someone who speaks Spanish and meet every week for conversation.

Mucha suerte/good luck

I'm not sure I would choose Bonaire as the place to learn Spanish, either (although mine is much better now than when I moved here, and I can get by in it for shopping and simple conversation with Spanish speaking friends). I will second one thing, though: television. Whatever you use to get your feet wet, nothing helps retain listening skills better than soap operas, and Spanish soap operas usually are fun to watch as well. I used to watch Japanese soap operas religiously, and they helped my Japanese immensely. I would do it with Dutch, but "Onderweg Naar Morgen" is the dullest piece of television I have ever encountered.

(Message edited by kww on December 8, 2007)

Vira,
Please don't take offense to my response but in my part of the country the Hispanic influx, including the language, is being thrust down our throat. I'm 39 and had 4 years of Spanish waaaay back in high school...out of necessity to graduate Now, however, many I know refuse to learn the language.

Michael -

I don't have an idea about an immersion course, but I do have a criterion for choosing.

As with many languages that are spoken in disparate geographies, be advised that Argentine Spanish can be enough different from other New World and Old World Spanish to cause problems. Vocabulary and expressions can be quite different.

So in choosing a course, you might wish to inquire as to the extent you will be learning Spanish as used in Argentina vs. Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Bonaire, etc. And if you wanted to get really specific, you might inquire to what extent the Spanish you will be taught is typical of the Patagonia region.

Buen suerte.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

Thanks to everyone for the input and ideas. Let me clarify that I agree Bonaire is not the ideal place to learn Spanish but I am there about 5 to 7 times a year for 10 days to three weeks at a time so it is where I have the most time to study. I just need to be "forced" to do the studying. Seem like I alway hear some creature in the Ocean calling so I end up spending time trying to learn fish talk or eagle ray talk.

If I find instruction some place else in the world then I have to deal with reducing my time on Bonaire.

Continuing to use what I learn will not be a problem because of multilingual people I have working with me and the traveling I do.

Has anyone tried that Rosetta Stone language program so advertised?

Michael, why not volunteer to be an "intern" at Patagonia Restaurant? You'll learn Spanish in any kitchen or construction site here (but it might not help you in the real Patagonia, to know how to say "Who has my hammer?" or "Where are the onions?"

Ruth: I've used the Japanese and Dutch programs, and used the English one to help my staff at The Great Escape with their English. It doesn't work miracles, and it won't take the place of real instruction, but it does help a lot with listening skills and building a base vocabulary. The best thing about it is that it doesn't use any other language, so it doesn't matter what language the student speaks.

I think it's a good addition to any class, and is a good way to study before starting a class to get over that initial fear that always gets you when you are starting a new language.

It is pretty weak in terms of teaching the student to actually speak. You wind up where I am with Dutch ... able to read reasonably well, able to follow simple conversation, but people say it sounds like I'm speaking Swedish.

Ann
Somehow it seems as though your post didn't get through. Apparently a great course, on Bonaire and free too boot! What could be better. If I live long enough and stay that long on Bonaire, I 'll give it a shot.
Mick

Michael S.,

I believe what you need on Bonaire is a Spanish speaking, friendly lady friend. Best sort of 'immersion' I can think of!! :–)

I had four years of French in high school. I was also taught by Belgian priests, who spoke French. When I entered the military in 1968, I was sent to DLS (Defense Language School) in Montery, CA to learn Vietnamese. Amazingly, the Vietnamese dialect that we were learning was not even close to where I was in Viet Nam. I was way north of Saigon, very close to the North Vietnamese and Laotian border. When I could not get through with Vietnamese, I went to French and everyone understood me. They had been a French colony until 1954 and many still spoke French.

I do know this. Many people, including the FBI, are having great success with Rosetta Stone for languages. (Farsi and Arabic) I had even toyed with the idea of starting on Dutch, since we go to Bon so frequently. However, as Ruth said above, if you don't use the language, you really do start to lose what you learned.

In Latin America we all speak Spanish with the exception of Brazil - they speak Portuguese - the difference between an Argentinian Spanish and/or Mexican Spanish is the accent and the meaning of words. We all have beautiful accents!

Kobi, I am sorry that you had to learn a language just to graduate!

If a person has the opportunity to learn a language - take advantage - I guess this is because I enjoy learning languages and learning about cultures. I am teaching myself French, is going to take me a while but....

Miguel (Michael) buena suerte aprendiendo Espanol (good luck learning Spanish)

So that's Spanish I'm hearing in Belize, Guyana, Guiana and Surinam? ... interesting.

No need to feel sorry for me It was the cirriculum mandated and I loved school, did well, graduated, got married and then went on to further my education by receiving a BS.

I never used Spanish therefore it's all gone from my brain; with the exception of a few choice phrases.

Elvira, I have no problem in learning Spanish, except a lack of brain cells. I use a fair amount of hello, please, and thank you "Restaurant Spanish" living in NYC on a daily basis, just being polite to Spanish speakers I deal with in stores and such. I actually spent half of high school surrounded by various Spanish speakers from Venezuela, Mexico, Peru, Cuba, Nicaragua, etc.; I still say Mira instead of Look Out most of the time.

I found the "I refuse to learn Spanish" comment by Kobi to be humorous, because I figured her reasons were political, as her subsequent post has made clear.

Why can't those people simply learn English? ;-)

I spent most of my adult life in regions that were once Mexico, but are now part of the US. I always found the people that couldn't understand why there was a large Spanish-speaking population to suffer from a lack of historical perspective.

I found the "I refuse to learn Spanish" comment by Kobi to be humorous, because I figured her reasons were political, as her subsequent post has made clear.

Why can't those people simply learn English? ;-)
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I'm glad you were humored but I thought you were a moderator and not an interpretur.

Nowhere did I say anything political. Go re-read; don't put words in my mouth/posts! As a moderator I assume it's your unpaid job to keep things "friendly"? If so, stop trying to bust my b*lls all the time and do your job!

Exactly how were we supposed to read "but in my part of the country the Hispanic influx, including the language, is being thrust down our throat... many I know refuse to learn the language"?

Hi Michael,
I've moved your topic to Bonaire Languages. You are not alone in wanting to learn another language while in Bonaire. Click around on the other subtopics -- there was even a person who may still be willing to help you with your Spanish. As La muy elegante (very elegant) Reina de la Salsa said so well

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quote:

Miguel (Michael) buena suerte aprendiendo Espanol (good luck learning Spanish)

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Good Luck with learning spanish, Michael! I had learned french in high school and wished I had taken spanish now as a lot of folks I know speak spanish in the states and on Bonaire. My french does nothing for me now, plus I have forgotten it all from lack of use. I have often thought when I get to spend more time on Bonaire in the near future, I would ask someone local to teach me Spanish/and or Dutch and that should take quite a bit of time as I am not so young anymore and I hear it is so much easier for younger folks to learn. But I am willing to have fun trying to understand and learn as much as I can to communicate in both of those languages. Let us know how you do.

Glenn,

Thanks for your suggestion on the "friendly lady immersion".

I will see if my wife of 43 years thinks that approach will be the best for getting a good understanding of Spanish.

Ah, so. A wife. 43 years. It might be the best for you 'getting a good understanding of Spanish' but not best for you. :–)

Michael,why dont you just cross the pond and come to Venezuela for a couple of months?,here there are many institutions that teach spanish for foreigners,I think maybe about 6 months would be enough,also in Margarita island there is one institute in case you dont like to live in crowded cities.

You can learn Spanish totally free thanks to the Consulate of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The phone number is 7175275. We are located in front of Cactus Blue Restaurant. I hope to see you there. This is the Spanish teacher Rafael Fernández. Remember, learn Spanish in Bonaire, come to us. We are waiting for you...