In my city, as in nearly 100 others in the U.S., a non-profit organization called National Council for International Visitors (nciv.org) provides volunteer opportunities to meet people visiting the city for conferences. It can be as simple as picking them up at the airport or as involved as inviting them to your home for a meal.
If you have school children at home, you can host a child their age from a Spanish-speaking country for a period of about six weeks. Most people enjoy the experience very much. Our family hosted a boy from Latin America, who went to school every day with our children. He loved some family activities, such as ice skating, but he wasn’t so sure about others. One Saturday morning when his chore was to vacuum downstairs, he said, bitterly, to me (in Spanish), “In America there are no servants. The children are the servants.” But don’t let this story discourage you. Our experience was rare; your experience will be better. I guarantee it.
Meet Señora MasTarde.
Her calendar is full. Her To-Do list never ends. She always means to get back to her Spanish, but not now. Later. It wouldn’t take much of her time to host a student for a few weeks or a visiting professional for dinner, and she’d have some fun with her Spanish.
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