Learning Vacations: The Basics

From Away.com

Learning Vacations: The Basics

By Mary Beth Lapin

Whether it's a course in French cuisine in Lyon or sailing lessons in the South Pacific, a learning vacation offers the very best souvenir: a skill that enriches your life long after your trip is over.

As more and more travelers look for a deeper vacation experience, the variety of learning adventures is growing all the time. Educational tours run the gamut from overseas language and cooking programs for career professionals to driving schools that promise a once-in-a-lifetime stock car racing experience.

Learning vacations are also a wonderful way to experience a country's culture in-depth. If you travel to Tokyo to learn Japanese, you may spend your mornings with your instructors in intensive study, your afternoons shopping in the Ginza district practicing your new skills and your evenings relaxing with a local family. Though the method of instruction varies considerably throughout the day, you are always learning through your cultural immersion--and discovering a country that the average tourist never sees.

When a sport or hobby is the focus of your trip, lessons enhance your experience and give you more for your money. Take a few skiing lessons and a new network of trails opens up to you. Try your hand at Tuscan cuisine and you'll approach your next meal with a whole new perspective and sense of adventure.

A successful educational tour depends on matching your unique interests with the right school, instructors and destination. The following questions and answers can help you get started.

Where is the school located?
Let's face it, if this was only about acquiring a new skill, you could take an adult ed Spanish class or a climbing course at the local rock gym. But this is your vacation, and the setting is everything.

Where do you want to be? Would you rather learn Spanish in Barcelona or in the Amazon jungle? Do you want to learn to ski or snowboard in the rugged Rockies or spend some time in a quaint New England village?

Find out whether the school and your lodging are housed in the same facility. If not, how will you be transported to school each day and how long will it take to get there? And, is the school convenient to the region's interesting sites?

Don't forget that the setting has an impact on how well you learn. No matter how good its ski school is, a resort known for attracting hot shots may prove intimidating to a beginning skier. Likewise, a language school that offers an opportunity to live with a local family may not be ideal for the traveler who cherishes his or her privacy. When considering a learning vacation, ask yourself if the atmosphere is one you can live and learn in.

Who are the instructors?
Ken Fink, a veteran sea kayaker from Maine, recommends students ask this of a prospective paddling instructor: How did you spend your last vacation?

If she kayaked, Fink says, chalk one up in her favor.

In other words, you want a teacher who practices what he or she preaches. The kayaking instructor who paddles in her spare time, or the Spanish teacher who immerses herself in the culture even when she's "off duty," has a genuine enthusiasm for the subject that no degree or certificate can replace.

Not that degrees and certificates don't matter. Be sure to ask about them and about the instructor's teaching experience and professional affiliations.

Finally, find out what all those credentials mean and how they impact your course of study. Is it significant that a cooking instructor is a Certified Culinary Professional? Do you understand the difference between American Canoe Association and British Canoe Association certifications?

How long is the program?
Naturally, the longer the course, the more you'll learn, but that doesn't mean educational travel of a week or less is a waste of time. It all depends on the subject, your goals and the skills and enthusiasm you bring to the course.

Beginning language students who wish to develop moderate fluency should plan on an intensive course of study spanning two to four months, according to AmeriSpan, which offers Spanish language schools in Central and South America, Spain and the Caribbean.

By contrast, becoming a fluent skier appears to be considerably less demanding; many resorts say their instructors can turn first-timers into confident skiers in a matter of days.

Ask your tour provider what level of proficiency you can expect to acquire from a given tour of study.

Do I need to be experienced?
Beginners have the advantage when it comes to the learning vacation. Most vacation schools gear the bulk of their courses toward first-timers. Intermediate and advanced offerings, while hardly scarce, are less abundant.

Ask for specifics when inquiring about the skills required for any course because individual schools generally create their own rating systems. What's considered novice ability by one provider may be rated intermediate elsewhere. Some schools may ask you to take a placement test to ensure that you are enrolled in the right course.

Can I get academic credit for the program?
You may be able to get college credit for your learning vacation. Check with your college to make sure it will accept credit transferred from the vacation program you have chosen. Be prepared to provide specifics, including the total number of hours and weeks of study. Once you have your college's approval, be sure to inform the vacation program that you will be seeking academic credit.

Most recreation-oriented vacations won't satisfy college requirements, but it never hurts to ask. Steve and Doris Colgate's Offshore Sailing School, for example, is one that has courses approved for college credit.

Which is better: group or private instruction?
In general, you will learn most quickly through an individualized course. If you must acquire a particular skill to succeed in your business or school, private instruction is the way to go.

A group course, on the other hand, will save you money and offer the camaraderie of fellow students. Small-group instruction can often be as intensive and productive as a personalized course. Ask about the student-to-teacher ratio, and avoid large groups.

Recreation programs may offer special courses, such as women-only and couples-only ski lessons, which address some of the concerns that arise in the group setting.

Some learning vacations combine the two methods. The student spends part of the day learning with others and part of the day receiving individual instruction. This is ideal for some subjects, such as foreign language instruction, because the student has an opportunity to practice with others of similar ability, and yet individual needs are also met.

What is the method of instruction?
The learning vacation that relies strictly on classroom-based instruction is rare--and no vacation at all! Most vacation schools aim to make learning fun through hands-on instruction, which may then be supplemented with lectures, video analysis, drills and other traditional teaching methods.

Don't mistake "long days" for "intensive study." Most people learn better in short, in-depth sessions than in all-day classes. Classes of four to six hours a day are ideal.

Look for variety. A good culinary vacation, for example, will complement cooking classes with shopping trips to local markets, winery and vineyard tours, and, of course, fabulous meals prepared by the region's best chefs.

What other activities are offered?
On some journeys, the educational component is prime, and extracurricular activities are related, directly or indirectly, to your course of study. Many gourmet and cooking trips, for example, supplement cooking demonstrations with trips to local food markets, kitchen tours and meals featuring the topic of the day.

Other trips offer instruction as part of a bigger package. You may spend your mornings in cooking class and your afternoons touring cultural attractions.

In some cases, the extracurricular activities are entirely up to you. You would not expect to spend an entire week at a ski resort taking lessons on the slopes. You want to sample everything else the resort has to offer, from the swimming pool to the nightlife.

Before booking your trip, ask what you can expect from scheduled extracurricular activities and excursions, as well as how much free time you'll have to explore on your own.

How physically demanding is the course?
Obviously, a skiing or sailing vacation requires a physical effort that a language or cooking course will not. But some trips that don't appear to be strenuous may surprise you. If you go to Quito, Ecuador, to learn Spanish, for example, you must allow yourself a few days to get used to the high altitude—and if you have a heart condition, you should get your doctor's approval first.

Likewise, the best attractions in some regions may be accessible only to the physically fit. Avoid disappointment by doing a little research on the area you'll be visiting and read the itinerary carefully before booking the trip. If you still have questions about a trip's physical challenges, ask your trip provider very specifically.

What are the accommodations like?
The type of accommodations depends largely on the destination. Guests at U.S. ski resorts usually enjoy top-notch, even luxurious, accommodations, while travelers to some South American countries encounter basic lodging that lacks the comforts they expect at home.

Some foreign language programs offer a furnished room in the home of a local family, allowing for a first-hand look at a different culture. However, the accommodations may be very different from what you experience at home.

Be open to new experiences and new environments as you learn new skills.

Mary Beth Lapin is a site editor for Away.com. She lives in Maine.