Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with immersion

What to blend with new immersion blender?

anthropomorphic — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:10:34 -0800

I just got a brand new immersion blender. What should I blend? I've only ever made butternut squash soup and have never made smoothies. Any tips on the use of this thing and/or recipes? Aside from soup and smoothies, am I missing anything? Could I use it to cut up the butter for, say, a pie crust? Any tips on use?

Low-Cost or Paid Spanish Immersion Programs?

AV — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:48:07 -0800

Asking for a friend: Does anyone know of any low-cost or paid Spanish immersion programs? A very good friend of mine is in the process of learning Spanish with the aim of eventually being able to teach it. She has studied Spanish at the university level and is currently living in Peru teaching English. She speaks and understands enough Spanish to get by quite well in Peru, but she isn’t picking up the advanced grammar or reading comprehension she needs in order to be comfortably fluent. She would like to find an immersion program that would address this.

The complicating factor is that she doesn’t have much money to spend on this, so she needs a program that is relatively inexpensive, allows one to work in lieu of tuition, or (if such a beast exists) is paid.

If there are other ways she might be able to attain fluency she would be open to them at well. Her main goal is to nail down the grammar and reading comprehension so that she can get to a level where she is able to communicate respectably in a Spanish-speaking academic environment.

If it helps at all, friend is a female in her late twenties, from the US, fairly worldly, open to travel (prefers it, in fact) and pretty open-minded.

Any input or ideas of where to look would be much appreciated.

I have seen these previous questions and will send her those as well, but am hoping for some cost-specific suggestions

Is there a site that reviews immersion language schools for adults?

rr — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:39:29 -0800

Is there a review site for foreign language immersion classes (Spanish, German or Japanese in particular)? I have the opportunity to take some time off and would like to use it to either brush up a language I already learned academically or learn a new language. My wife and I would be going as a couple. We are both adults long out of university.

There are lots of resources from immersion schools on the web, but I have found it impossible to get the real deal on any of them. What I am looking for is (preferably though impossible) unbiased reviews of schools for the above languages, or first hand accounts.

Whoops! I used the wrong silicone sealant.

tomble — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:00:19 -0800

I used silicone sealant in a situation where it will be immersed in water. On later inspection of the tube, it says, 'not suitable for permanent immersion'. What will happen to it? I used it when attaching the outlet to a domestic water tank, and some of the silicone is inside the tank, around the internal seal part.

The seal is good without the silicone, I used silicone to make sure it would be super extra watertight.

This water is not being consumed, it's for garden watering and toilet flushing.

The silicone in question is a 'roof and gutter sealant'. Why is one silicone suitable for immersion, and not another?

Using Online Radio for Foreign Language Immersion

RavinDave — Fri, 29 May 2009 07:27:31 -0800

Looking for favorites among the MeFi regulars in the category of: Foreign Language radio streams, suitable for language immersion and/or passive practice. Yeah, I can use Google with the best of'em. I'm well aware there are dozens of ginormous lists and dedicated websites categorizing an absurdly large number of radio stations from around the globe.

Problem is -- precious few of them seem to be of much value. I log onto some Dutch site advertised as "News" and "Talk" and it is invariably playing 90% American music (usually from the 80's). It's a bit discouraging.

And I'm also aware of mega-sites like BBC, VOA, RFI and Deutsche-Welle. These are wonderful resources for the language learner, but I keep thinking: I can do better. I can find something a bit less polished, more colloquial. Something with a more local flavor.

Thus, I turn to the MeFi hive mind to see if anyone has any specific bookmarks they might wanna share.

The ideal stations would not only have plenty of straight news broadcasts, but also interviews, discussions, maybe some caller interaction. The less music, the better (I can find that easily enough).

My particular interest at the moment are:

STRONG: Mandarin, Japanese, Russian, Spanish
MIDDLING: Italian, French, German

But, if you know of a "Portuguese" or "Cantonese" or "whatever" station, feel free to mention it. I have several friends who are always on the lookout for something and perhaps their particular interest will be addressed.

French-speaking university for a student from the U.S.?

non-kneebiter — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:36:49 -0800

What are some universities which teach in French that a student from the U.S. should consider? (Especially in Quebec.) I'm a high school student in the U.S. currently trying to figure out where I would like to go for college. I'm interested in going to a school in a French-speaking location and at a school where classes are taught in French. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions for places to consider, especially in Quebec (or New Brunswick?), from anyone who has attended one or knew someone who has.

Thanks!

J'en ai besoin d'améliorer mon français. Any suggestions?

Decimask — Sun, 10 May 2009 12:09:15 -0800

« J'en ai besoin d'améliorer mon français, » or: "I need to improve my French." I'm looking for advice from anyone who has worked on improving or regaining their n^th language. I'm closing out my graduate degree this summer, and it looks like my recent work placement may turn into a job (yay, work!). A degree of bilingualism is required (not sure of the levels, B/B/B definitely, possibly C/B/C).^[1] I went through French immersion from K-12, but I'm 28 and Grade 12 was a long time ago.

So I'd like some help from the hivemind. I'm going through some of the previous French AskMe questions right now, but they look to be "I'd like to learn" questions. Some of them do seem promising.

If you are/were in a similar situation, what worked for you?

Where I stand
I think can understand 90-95% of spoken French other than figures of speech--that was my experience living in Gatineau, mostly from carpooling with my boss's québecoise boss during the OC Transpo strike.^[2] Reading it is also not a problem. Writing it is a brutally slow process though, and I get the "brain freeze" initially when someone speaks French to me as I change gears. My vocabulary is full of holes I don't know about until I step in them.

I've got a Bescherelle and Schaum's French Grammar workbook, which has a 2-star review in rhyming couplets. There was a prof in my program who had a french discussion group going during the year, but he may not be teaching during the summer.

[1] The letters are written, spoken and comprehension--not sure of the order. Unilingual<A<B<C<Exempt.

[2] I've wondered a few times how often my brain is just recognizing that it's French & familiar, and not actually understanding the vocab.

What is the best way to actually learn spanish?

aussicht — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:12:07 -0800

What is the most effective way to spruce up my spanish in terms of private tutoring, immersion courses, extended night courses, etc? I took 3 years of spanish in high school. I grew up in California (so was conversational in my youth), then moved to Oregon where I lost all of it (no surprise there)!.

I started working in health care and so my spanish is coming back to me. Now I live in Miami and it continues to improve but I want to get conversational and eventually approach fluency. I've had a couple ideas, but am not sure which are most effective/a good or bad use of money:

1. An immersion program. All I have is a month give or take unfortunately.

2. Private tutor 4 or so hours a day for a month, + my everyday spanish (grocery store, restaurants, transit, friends, etc).

3. Immersion program part time in Miami (expensive).

People tell me to do 2, but I wonder if the total immersion abroad would speed things up, or if doing immersion locally would give me more time and structure vs individual attention. Any educators out there?

LEARN FRENCH!

Lemon of Byzantium — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:15:31 -0800

I have some money saved up, I am a Canadian citizen, and I have a strong desire to learn French properly. But how? I'm thinking I should do some sort of immersion program followed by living/working in Montreal. I could go to Quebec for an immersion program-- I could even go to France. What, in your opinion, is the best way to go about this? Any particular programs to recommend? Any tips?

Thanks, as always, in advance.

Ah the pressure ( or lack of it )

rus — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:52:25 -0800

[PlubmingFilter] Last night Mrs Rus notice a very slow leak from our immersion heater. So in a flash of "brilliance" I turn it off at the (power) mains and would worry about it in the morning. Its now the morning and things aren't quite right I turned it back on as its a slow leak I figured damage would be minimal but then realiased we have no hot or cold running water and nothing more than a trickle down stairs coming out of the taps. What happened? Do I just have to wait for pressure to build up or has something horrible happened overnight. (BTW no obvious large water leaks just a very slow drip so I can't see a large tank emptying itself, I guess its about 100L)

¿Dónde puedo aprender a hablar español?

inatizzy — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:16:26 -0800

Where can I find a good Spanish language immersion program? (Ideally in a Spanish-speaking country.) In the past I have debated moving to Spain with the goals of A) having an international living experience and B) improving my Spanish to the point of being conversational. However, I have learned it is difficult to get a work visa so I have begun exploring language immersion programs, instead. And I have a few questions.

1) Should I do this in Spain, or some other spanish-speaking country?

Some thoughts: I am very eager to have easy access to visit other European countries, in addition to just liking Spain itself, so Spain is my preference by far. But I am concerned that anywhere in Europe may be cost prohibitive. (Central or South America might be more cost-effective, no?)

2) City v. small town?

3) How do I find the *reputable* ones?

4) Are there programs that cater to specific age groups? (I'm in my mid-20s.)

5) Do they typically help with your social life, too?

And just in general, ignoring everything else I've asked, if you have any recommendations for programs that can offer a great experience, or if there are resources I should be tapping into, please tell me about it! I am new to this.

Muchas gracias! :)

Keep those pinchers to yourself, mister.

mykescipark — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:02:07 -0800

Where in L.A. can I get my body fat measured by water immersion?

C'est vrai, I want to speak French!

thebrokenmuse — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:26:19 -0800

Where can I go for 2 to 4 weeks this summer to learn French that includes housing? Immersion programs would be perfect. I am in the United States and am a begginer. Conversational French is what I would like to focus on, but I would not mind reading/writing as well. I would love an immersion program. I am 21 and a college student, my school doesn't offer any intensive language programs.

Study Spanish in Mexico

timeistight — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:49:50 -0800

Can you recommend a Spanish-language school in Mexico? I'm trying to learn to speak Spanish, but classes, books, CDs and periodic Mexican vacations don't seem to be enough, so I'd like to try a two-week immersion crash course somewhere I'll be forced to speak it.

Mexico is the reason I want to learn Spanish, so I'm not interested in schools elsewhere.

Looking for immersion journalism books

reenum — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:53:18 -0800

I'm looking for books where the author immerses himself in an experience and then writes about it I've been reading these books for years, but I recently found out that the term for them is immersion journalism. I'm talking about books where an author tries something or goes somewhere and becomes completely enmeshed with the subject.
Some of my favorites in this area are:

Stuart Stevens- Malaria Dreams
Danny Wallace- Yes Man, Join Me
Henry Alford- Big Kiss
Bill Buford- Heat
A.J. Jacobs- The Year of Living Bibilically
J. Maarten Troost- The Sex Lives of Cannibals

Any more suggestions? Bonus points if it's a funny book.

Spanish abroad

ORthey — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 12:33:04 -0800

I want to go to Latin America for a couple months (2-3), starting at the end of August/beginning of September, to learn Spanish, immersion-style. Ideally, I would stay with a host family and go to small-ish classes every day. I've done some internet research, but it's hard to tell what programs are better than others. I really have no preference as to location - it's wide open. My budget would hopefully be under $2000. Any advice/recommendations/tips? (PS - I speak a little Spanish; I'd say low-intermediate)

Studying Language Abroad

phyrewerx — Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:07:13 -0800

Language programs abroad. I'm a university student, I'm Canadian, and I'm wondering if anyone could recommend a good immersive program aboard for studying French or Chinese. I doubt I can be proficient in either in one summer, and I already have a very basic grasp of both. What I'm looking for instead is a chance to go aboard to develop my french or mandarin further. Any suggestions other than commercial programs geared for Business-persons?