I was lucky enough to participate in a Spanish immersion program throughout my elementary and secondary public education. One classroom per grade in my elementary school was designated as a Spanish immersion classroom. The Spanish immersion program provided 100% of Spanish instruction in core academic classes, beginning in kindergarten through 2nd grade. English was slowly incorporated in later elementary grades in order to prepare immersion students for state standardized tests. In middle school, students involved in the immersion program took a designated Spanish class as an elective. This designated Spanish immersion elective continued throughout high school, and during junior year, every Spanish immersion student took AP Spanish – allowing immersion students to graduate with a Seal of Biliteracy to cap off the program.

Looking back on my experience, I am very grateful my parents enrolled me in the immersion program and I got the opportunity to learn Spanish beginning at such a young age. Research has shown that the older you get, the harder it becomes to learn a new language. One of the largest linguistics studies conducted and reported by Scientific American concluded that in order to be able to achieve the grammatical fluency of a native speaker, it is essential to begin learning the language by the age of ten. Therefore, I think one of the biggest perks of the Spanish immersion program was being immersed in the language at such a young age. 

Another perk to the immersion program was being able to participate in an exchange trip my senior year of high school. For two weeks, high school students from San Sebastian, Spain came to Massachusetts and stayed with families of students in my immersion class and shadowed us during school days and throughout our everyday lives. My peers and I then switched roles when we traveled to Spain to live and shadow our exchange students in their daily lives. This was one of the best experiences for me, allowing me to meet and create friendships with the exchange students while also getting to learn and embrace the Spanish culture and language. 

While there were significant benefits to being a part of the Spanish immersion program, I feel that the experience also had some flaws. After traveling to Spain my senior year, it became clear to me that I hadn’t learned very much about the culture of Spanish-speaking countries. While there were lessons in our immersion classes about culture, it was minimal since most of the instruction was focused on grammar and literacy of the language, especially during the later grades when our Spanish class time was limited. It was eye-opening being able to experience San Sebastian’s culture first-hand instead of reading about it in a text book or researching online.

Most of the students in our immersion program, including me, came from homes where no Spanish was spoken. We did not have the opportunity to practice and use our Spanish in non-academic settings.  Therefore, it was more difficult for us to develop our conversational language skills. In hindsight, I wish I had been able to use my language in a more diverse setting, allowing me to learn from native speakers, both inside and outside of the classroom.

Even as a former immersion student, I still have so much more to learn about the Spanish language and culture, and UMass is a great place to continue my learning. Now, I am a sophomore and I feel as though all the Spanish professors I have had make it a priority to talk and teach about the culture and history of Spanish-speaking countries. In addition, one of my favorite things about the Spanish classes I have taken at UMass is the fact that all my peers have different paths and goals with Spanish. While some of us have learned Spanish through immersion programs, others are native speakers or have parents who are native speakers, and some other students are just beginning their journey to learn Spanish at UMass. The professors in the Spanish department have a lot of experience and knowledge to share with us, however there is even so much to learn from peers in these classes. 

I am grateful for having had the opportunity to grow up in a Spanish immersion program and grateful for the opportunity to learn a second language. I think being a part of the program shaped the kind of student I am today and will always have an impact on my life.