Tips for studing a language, Espanol, Italian and Tibetan

As I didn't have much time to write my blog, and I didn't realize that I can activate the email notification service, so I found I missed a lot of messages on my blog. I am really sorry that I didn't reply in time to all the questions. So I decided to write some useful tips for the people like me, who wants to go abroad to study.

I am fond of learning languages. So I spent 7 weeks learning Spanish in Quito in Ecuador, 3 weeks learning Italian in Rome, Italy and 1 month learning Tibetan in Mcleod Ganj in India.

Concluding my experience, I can tell that if you want to learn a language WELL, you MUST go to a place where the people speak that language.

For Spanish, I recommend a few places, Quito in Ecuador, Antigua in Guatemala, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Cusco in Peru, Guanajuato in Mexico. But they all have their advantages and drawbacks, so those who are interested need to find the place best suits their criteria.

Quito in Ecuador: I put it to the top doesn't mean that it is the best among all, but because I studied there, so I have better information about the place.

Quito Historical center.

Advantages:
1.For HK people, we don't need a visa and we can stay up to 90days.
2.Reasonably cheap tuition fee(I only paid around 4.5USD per hour for a one to one class) and affordable living standard(Esp home-stay, I paid around 13 to 15USD per day for 2 or 3meals). If you eat out, a set lunch(with a soup, main course with meat, a glass of fruit juice and a sweet )costs you only 1.5USD.
3.Abundant of schools: Quito is very developed in terms of learning Spanish schools for foreign students. There are over 80 schools and so you can have a great variety of choices. If you feel unsafe that you only pay a few bucks for a class, you can choose to pay 15USD per hour, from which you can obtain more security and services.
4.Proper accent: The accent of Ecuadorians are easy to listen to, and they speak correctly and slow(though at first, I didn't think they spoke slow, but after comparing with people from Chile and Colombia, they were SUPER slow actually!). So it will be good to learn the accent there.
5.Big enough to travel in: Quito is the capital of Ecuador, there are plenty of things to do in Quito or outside of the city during the weekends, including cultural activities and adventure sports(please refer to my travel entries).

Drawbacks:
1.Some people consider Quito is not a safe place. Yes, I admit that it is a big city like all the big cities in the world, so it is full of crimes. BUT very importantly, it is a matter of YOU, but not the city. In my experience, if you are not alert, not prepared and not sensible, the same thing will happen to you everywhere, no matter in London, New York or Tokyo.
2.Maybe it is very far away from HK. But if you go to Ecuador, of course, you won't just go there, study and go back to HK! You will travel around South America! Then it turns to be an advantage because you can take this chance to travel around.

I haven't studied in the places I will mention below, but I gathered the information from other travellers and have the recommendations as follow.

Antigua in Guatemala

I didn't have any pic of Guatemala(I wish I have!). But I was in San Cristobal de las Casas, which is one of my favourite cities in Mexico and very close to the border of Guatemala. The indigenous people there are just the same as in Guatemala. Their traditional and amazing clothing dazzled me a lot.

Advantages:
1.Much cheaper price. It costs half price of that of Ecuador, around 2 to 4USD per hour for a one to one class, the accommodation also costs half, around 6 to 8USD. To live there is also cheaper than in Ecuador.
2.Very popular for foreign students to study Spanish there, so there are lots of schools to choose from.
3.Beautiful places to travel around. To visit its magnificent Mayan ruin, Tikal in Guatemala is still my unaccomplished dream in Latin America.
4.Proper accent. They speak clear and good Spanish.

Drawbacks:
1.If it is so good, why I didn't go there? Yes, it was a pity that I couldn't go there. The biggest drawback for HK people is that we need a visa to travel there. Worst of all, it is not easy to get a visa. I planned to go there, but after finding out all the troubles, I changed my plan to Ecuador. As there is no embassy of Guatemala in HK, we HAVE to fly to Taiwan(or if you go from Mexico, you can apply there) to apply for the visa. And it is required that we need to submit the information of a guarantee Guatemala local citizen! (What the hell is that? I never heard about such a thing before!)
The good news is if you have a BNO passport or you are not from HK, Guatemala is the best place for you to study Spanish!
2.Same issue - Crime. As mentioned above.

Buenos Aires in Argentina

Tengo, the passion of Buenos Aires.

Advantages:
1.I haven't written anything about Argentina in my blog yet, but I have to say I love this country, esp Buenos Aires, it is my favourite city in Latin America. It is a vibrant and incredible city. I spent 4 weeks there, exploring the beautiful places and learning about the cultures. I would still like to go back.
2.There are lots of schools to choose from and lots of travellers go there to study Spanish, so you won't be lonely during your studies.
3. For HK people, we can get 90days of visa-free stay.

Drawbacks:(Though I love the city, if you really like to learn GOOD Spanish, it is not a good place to learn.)
1.Most importantly, they don't speak Spanish properly. Many people think that the language they are speaking is not Spanish, but Argentinan. The pronunciation of 'll' and 'y' change totally. Eg, instead of speaking 'lla' as 'ya', they pronoun as 'Sha', the same as 'y' as 'playa' becomes 'plasha'.
And they have a whole set of different vocabularies. For example, strawberry normally is Fresa, but they say Frutilla. If you learn that, you will find it 90% of other Latin Americanos have difficulties understanding what you are talking about!
Actually, I just fall in love with the accent of Argentinians, I love to speak their accent when I was there. But it is just fun to speak sometimes, better to learn the proper accent instead.
2.Expensive. The tuition fee per hour is around 10USD and it is NOT one to one. At least 4 persons in a class! Some people may like to learn with fellows. But in my experience, learning a language is better to be alone with the teacher. For example, my English friend was complaining to me in B.A. that there was a woman in the class that she already spoke French and know some Spanish, which made the whole class unbalanced. Because sometimes the teacher taught something too difficult for him, but too easy for that woman.
Moreover, in a one to one class, my teacher always corrected my pronunciation which was my worst part, and I found it was very useful for my improvement. Needless to say, the living standard is very expensive. There is no home-stay choice(you miss the chance of knowing local people and cultures). You can only live in a hostel or rent an apartment.
For hostels, even in the low season, it costs around 10USD per day, and it is only a dorm bed. To eat out, sorry, I didn't do much, most of the time I cooked with my friends. But I know the famous steak dinner costs at least 30bucks. Yeah, it seems not so expensive compared with HK or Europe provided that they have the best beef in the world. But as a long term traveller, budget is my no.1 concern.  So why do I bother to go to a restaurant, if it just costs me 2 bucks to buy the same quality steak and cook it by myself?
3.Crime.(Refer to Ecuador)

Cusco in Peru

Cusco, the capital of the ancient Inca Empire.

Advantages:
1.A beautiful city situated near Machu Picchu, you will have a bunch of opportunities to explore this ancient city and its ancient Inca history.
2.Cheap living standard. It is cheaper than B.A., but not as cheap as Ecuador and Guatemala. As Cusco is an international tourist destination, I saw another McDonald beside the one in Lima in the whole of Peru. So you can't expect the price is too cheap.
3.Proper accent. They speak as proper and clear as in Ecuador and Guatemala. And slow!
4.For HK people, for the first time entry, you will be granted for 183days of visa-free stay.

Drawbacks:
1.The tuition fee is not so cheap. I once considered studying there, but when I know the price is near 10USD(one to one though), I gave up the thought.
2.Cold in Winter. I still remember my Argentina friend, Juan advised me before I left, don't study in Cusco, it will be too cold for me. Yeah, it is freezing in the winter.
3.Too many tourists. I admit that I didn't have much time to explore this city and its surroundings. But for my few days there, the touristic feeling was so overwhelmed that I didn't like it so much. I hope I will have more time to find out its true beauty next time.
4.Crime.(Refer to Ecuador)

Guanajuato in Mexico

The beautiful city, Guanajuato.


The terrace of my hostel has a splendid view.

Advantages:
1.I love Mexico. Its delicious food. Its charming and friendly people. Its dynamic cultures and wonderful history. It is a beautiful place to explore while learning the language. And Guanajuato is regarded as the city of students. You will like the energy bringing by the young university people and the vibrant nightlives.
2.Proper accent. I remember I was so grateful to arrive in Mexico when I had a hard time speaking with Chileans and Colombian, as they both speak super fast and with lots of slang. I found that I could speak Spanish again! As very often I had difficulties in understanding and being understood in Chile and Colombia! On the contrary, in Mexico, I understood the people perfectly and they had no problem understanding me also. Though in Mexico, they have their slang also, I was able to catch it and learn it as they spoke very clearly(they don't eat their words like Chileans and Colombians do) and slow enough.
3.A wonderful country to travel to. Even if you only travel in Mexico, it will be enough for you to spend more than a year! And flying from Cancun to Cuba is very cheap. I still like to go back to Mexico. 

4.For HK people, we can get 180days of visa-free stay.

Drawbacks:
1.Expensive. It is always my concern. Think about it, if you need to study for one month, 5days per week and 4hours per day, 1USD per hour difference can make a BIG difference in total. You also need to calculate the additional accommodation fee and the living expenses. Mexico is a developed country compared with other Latin American countries, of course, it is the neighbour of the USA! So you couldn't expect it is too cheap. The tuition fee is at least 10USD per hour and it is not a one to one class. For hostels, I pay at least 10USD per night. So you know its living standard is similar to Argentina and Chile. Actually, if money is not a consideration, Mexico is my priority. But it is never possible that money is NOT a consideration! But lucky enough, I was still able to travel to this fantastic country!
2.Crime.(Refer to Ecuador)

Where to find information about schools? Before clicking on the internet, I recommend you to go to the library, borrow all the guidebooks from that country and look for the school information. Then go to the internet website of those schools.

Actually, I found it is the most useful method, and it was the way I found my two schools in Quito. Because when you go to the internet to type in the keywords, there will be an excessive amount of websites appearing, including those bad schools. Once you click on a few schools, comparing a few items, you will be exhausted already.

Most of the guidebooks give much good information about learning languages, no matter Lonely Planet, Footprint(my choice) or Rough guide. If it is a popular destination for learning a language, the guidebook usually lists all the recommended (by readers) schools in the information of that city, then you can go straight to the school(this is what I did), or you can go online to do research.

My beloved friend, Footprint guidebook for South America.

Register before? Or drop in? If you are not in a hurry, I mean if you not only have 1 month(or less), so you can start right after you arrive. I suggest you drop in. And it won't delay you too much. For example, I arrived at Quito on day one at night, I set off to search for the school on day 2 and I could already start my class on day 3.

Because it is very possible that you may not like the school, the teacher, the environment, the home-stay...just don't register before and most importantly, don't register for a month! If you can, do the minimal, for example, 1week, so as to give yourself a try. If the school insists you register for a long time and pay beforehand, just choose another school!

In my case, I stopped and travelled for a week after 2weeks of study, as I was too overwhelmed. I even changed my schools as I started to feel bored of Quito. And, I stopped to live in the home-stay as I didn't like the home-stay Grandpa.

Therefore, give yourself the most flexibility.

My Spanish teacher, Patty, in Quito.

For Italian and Tibetan, the case is different. If you want to join the group class, you better do the research before, as I had the problem of joining in the class because the schools only have fixed schedules for group classes.

The best place to learn Italian, of course, is in Italy. Different from the case of Spanish, that there are so many once-colonized countries to choose from. As the developed country that Italy is, the tuition fee is incredible(in my eyes) but still reasonable(in European standard). And the only choice for poor students like me is a group class, as a one to one class costs at least 60EUROs per hour(incredible, huh?), and a group class with up to 13 people still costs me near 10EUROs per hour.

So for a group class, they have set a schedule for the whole year, if you are late, either they won't let you join the class(you have to wait for another month), or you need to drop in. I was lucky and also unlucky that I was able to drop in, but I had a hard time coping with the first few lessons.

For Tibetan, it is the same, I joined the group class in the government Library in Mcleod Ganj, and this time my situation was much worse. Because the class had started for one and a half months already, and I dropped in in the middle of the term. Unlike Italian, it is similar to Spanish, Tibetan is similar to nothing(you can say Japanese and Korean as they have similar grammar structures). So I had a very very hard time learning Tibetan.

My Tibetan teacher is very powerful, though most of the time, a very cute nun.