I enjoyed my stay in Valencia with Pilar. Pilar was a great host. The food was delicious, and the excursions were informative and fun.

Pilar taught the lessons in a way that suited me, and I learned a lot in one week. I learned many verbs and many phrases, and vocabulary. I did my homework every day, and the lessons were very helpful for everyday life. It made me keen to learn more. I will try and speak Spanish every day on my travels in Spain over the next few weeks. Then, when I return home to Australia.

It also made me enthusiastic to visit another Homestay in South America next year.

Thank you so much. Wendy Lowe

During the program, I not only received top quality organised lessons, helping me directly with my A level course, but also 3 weeks of full Spanish immersion. This immersion helped me improve the quality of my Spanish a lot, and helped my confidence speaking it by leaps and bounds. Other than learning the language, this course gave me the opportunity to make some new friends from all over the world, including France and the US. I was also able to participate in sport almost every day thanks to Pilar's daughter Esmeralda, who took me to a local cross fit gym. During the time I spent exercising there, I was again able to practise the language with many native speakers, helping me improve my listening skills and vocab, especially with more colloquial language. Pilar also kept us well fed with delicious home-cooked meals every day. A particular high light was the steaks she prepared perfectly for us. I am very grateful for being able to stay with Pilar and my new friends in Gilet, and I believe the time I spent there is going to help me greatly with my exams this year, and my future life communicating with Spanish speakers. ¡Muchas Gracias Pilar! Ojalá que pueda volver a tu casa muy pronto para aprender más.

My wife Joan and I enjoyed and benefitted greatly from a weeklong language immersion with Pilar Martinez of Spanish Express at her lovely home outside of Valencia. We are both retirees interested in recovering and building upon school Spanish to chat with friends from Latin America in their mother tongue and to enhance travel experiences in Spanish-speaking countries. We were looking for an in-country program that would get us off to a strong start but that would also provide more of a vacation than a school-like experience. Happily, we stumbled upon Spanish Express’s home immersion program whose combination of small group learning, daily excursions to cultural and historic sites, and continual interaction with an instructor outside of formal teaching offered just what we wanted.

Pilar did everything possible to make our experience a positive one. Before we arrived, she provided online lessons that helped us to relearn long-forgotten basic vocabulary and grammar. During the immersion, she connected formal language instruction to our personal interests, giving us added motivation to move forward. Our informal conversations with her (a mixture of English and Spanish at our level) over the delicious meals she prepared for us, as well on the daily excursions, provided further opportunities for learning. She was a warm and gracious host who made us feel at home.

There’s only so much one can accomplish in a week, but, at the very least, we emerged with confidence that we could eventually reach our goals for Spanish. To this end, we are continuing to study with Pilar through weekly online lessons.

I had a great two weeks in Spain with the Spanish Express homestay immersion program (SHIP)! After a week in Dosrius (near Barcelona) and a week in Gilet (near Valencia) I have a stronger foundation in Spanish and am encouraged to continue learning.

The homes of both Mónica and Pilar were lovely and inviting. Both hosts opened their homes and shared their lives and knowledge with such generosity. I had an amazing time learning from their instruction and also from the cultural experiences and activities we participated in several times each week. I appreciated how learning was woven through everyday experiences in addition to more formal class time. Whether we were preparing meals, visiting with their family and friends, or exploring the beautiful cities of Barcelona and Valencia, I was constantly engaged in opportunities to practice Spanish. It was a wonderful experience!

¡Mi estancia con Pilar fue increíble! Conocí a fondo la hermosa ciudad de Valencia y su increíble diversidad, desde el casco antiguo hasta la Ciudad de las Ciencias y las Artes.

Una de mis partes favoritas fue beber horchata en la playa y hacer un picnic en el muro, ¡sin embargo es difícil elegir ya que la variedad de excursiones que hicimos fue genial!

También disfruté unirme a la familia, especialmente durante el almuerzo con los vecinos y comer comida española tradicional y deliciosa. El paseo en barco también fue increíble y me encantó aprender sobre los campos de arroz.

Las clases fueron muy detalladas y estructuradas, y las tareas me ayudaron a no aburrirme nunca. Mi español ha mejorado mucho. ¡Me siento lista para cursar mis exámenes de nivel avanzado! La inmersión total fue sin duda lo más beneficioso y le estoy muy agradecido a mi profesora Pilar por ello.

Muchas gracias, me lo he pasado increíble!

English:
My stay with Pilar was incredible! I got to know the beautiful city of Valencia and its incredible diversity, from the Old Town to the City of Sciences and Arts.

One of my favorite parts was drinking horchata on the beach and having a picnic at the wall, but it's hard to choose since the variety of excursions we took was so great!

I also enjoyed bonding with the family, especially during lunch with the neighbors and eating traditional and delicious Spanish food. The boat ride was also incredible, and I loved learning about the rice fields.

The classes were very detailed and structured, and the homework helped me never get bored. My Spanish has improved a lot. I feel ready to take my advanced level exams! The total immersion was definitely the most beneficial, and I'm so grateful to my teacher Pilar for that.

Thank you so much, I had an amazing time!

I had a great time staying in Valencia with Pilar! My husband and I stayed for a week and it worked great for us especially since we are at different levels of learning Spanish (I am a very new spanish student and my husband has been studying for a few years). Pilar was a great teacher and I feel very lucky to have spent a week with her. Along with our daily lessons there was plenty to see and do in Valencia. My favorite was honestly sitting at meals and talking with Pilar, I really felt at home with her. I hope to do this program again ❤️.

I stayed two weeks in teacher Pilar’s house, which overall was very nice.

Pros: We had activities every day, as well as a class where the teacher explained various topics over the course of the 2 weeks.

Cons: The house is not in the center of Valencia, quite far from it, I might say(35 minutes by car). There is always food in the fridge; however, most foods served on the table are boxed, for example, the gazpacho soup is already bottled.

In conclusion, the overall experience was very good, however certain aspects were mired in negative than positive.

My full immersion Spanish program in Spain was one of the most fun and unforgettable experiences I’ve ever had—especially because I got to share it with my best friend, Flora. From the moment we arrived, everything felt exciting and a little surreal. We were both a bit nervous, but mostly just thrilled to be in a new country together, ready to take on something different.

The best part was how personal the experience was. It wasn’t a big class with lots of people. It was just me, Flora, and our professor. We actually stayed at her house, which made it feel really comfortable and relaxed. Our professor was super kind and easy to talk to. She spoke English, which definitely helped when we didn’t know how to say something in Spanish, but she encouraged us to speak Spanish as much as possible, and we got better each day.

We spent most of our time practicing in real-life situations—talking during meals, asking questions while out in town, and just having everyday conversations in Spanish. It felt natural and not forced at all, which made learning so much easier and way more fun. Flora and I made plenty of mistakes, but we laughed through them and learned quickly.

The house we stayed in was cozy and welcoming, and our professor made us feel like part of the family. Mealtimes were especially fun—we’d all sit down together and talk, mostly in Spanish, while enjoying homemade food. Flora and I still talk about how good everything was, especially the paella. It was a cool way to learn the language and culture at the same time.

Even though we didn’t do huge day trips, we still got to explore a little. One afternoon, we went to the beach for a few hours. The weather was perfect, and we had a great time just relaxing, walking along the shore, and talking. It wasn’t a big adventure, but it was one of those simple, perfect moments that we’ll always remember.

Spending this time with Flora made everything better. We’ve always been close, but this trip brought us even closer. We shared everything—the excitement, the awkward language moments, the laughs, and the memories. We supported each other and had so much fun just experiencing life in a different place together.

By the end of the program, I felt way more confident speaking Spanish. We both learned a lot—not just about the language, but also about the culture and ourselves. It was a really special experience that helped us grow in so many ways.

Looking back, I’m so grateful we did it. It was fun, meaningful, and totally unforgettable