LITA: A Unique Approach to Language Immersion in Spain

Lita was hands down the best and most revealing summer experience of my life. The way in which they immersed their students into the rural areas of Spain had numerous benefits. First and foremost, their goal of improving their student's Spanish speaking capabilities was not only met but exceeded. From Lita, my Spanish has improved at an extraordinary rate. However, that is not close to all that Lita gave to me. The relationships built between me and the students and me and the kids during the homestay really helped shape my identity and many of these friendships will continue long after the trip's end. The thing that makes Lita so exceptional is that their pushing of boundaries. Prior to the trip, I had no idea how well my Spanish would get. The intensity of the trip gave me a base to improve it. However, the intensity of the trip also gave room for other aspects of life to be evaluated, and because of that, I came out of the trip a better Spanish speaker, but also a better person. Lita offered to build one's identity in a different environment. These environments included much of northern Spain (I was part of the northern group), including Galicia, Medina del Campo, and Barcelona. Each area offered a different atmosphere in which the students were able to grow. In Galicia, the students got to know each other and started to learn how to interact with each other in this very uncomfortable (for some) situation. In Medina, our limits were really pushed. We had to live as Spaniards, something that almost everybody was not used to. This helped all of us grow as both Spanish speakers and humans. In Barcelona, our last home of the trip, we were reintroduced to a more similar situation to our American home. This allowed us to bring in our reformed identity into the world that most of us were used to. Overall, Lita was the best summer experience of my life. This isn't because everything that we did was perfect, not in any sense, but rather that every single activity that I did during the trip helped me grow. I can't thank Lita enough for that, and I would 100% recommend anyone interested in improving their Spanish to look at Lita, it will make you a better person.

LITA is a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. Not only did I build close relationships all over the United States, but in Spain as well. This summer program pushed me to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. I integrated myself with an unknown community, culture, and language, which helped me develop my overall skills within Spanish. My speaking capabilities developed immensely in the span of 5 weeks, as well as my understanding of different cultures. Although this program is incredibly strict with solely speaking Spanish, I have never experienced so much fun learning and educating myself. LITA is unique in that you are put in rural communities with little to no english, a wonderful three week homestay with kind loving families who truly care about your experience and wellbeing, and the opportunity to complete an independent research project or internship. After my five week experience with LITA, I consider this program and the people within this program a home away from home due to the constant encouragement and love given from not only the leaders, but my fellow friends within this program.

I am really happy to have participated in LITA's program last summer- it was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience! I learned so much about the native culture, improved my fluency, and really had a blast. The leaders were super responsible and fun and the activities scheduled for us seemed very personalized and not very tourist-y (which was good- I felt like I got a better understanding of the place and people). My host family was extremely nice and still keep in touch with them after the program's end. The group size didn't feel too small or large and I feel like I made friends for life during the 6-week trip; the program also did a very good job at selecting students from a wide variety of places. I would definitely recommend this program to anyone who has an interest in the Spanish language.