Most people choose a language and cultural immersion program in which they study a part of the day, enjoy activities and excursions part of the day and on weekends, and usually live with a native family. No matter how good a program sounds, it is the ability of the school to deliver the promised program that makes it worthwhile. Go ahead and check at least three references provided by the school if you have any doubts. One teacher to one student instruction is not necesarily better or worse than small group instruction for language learning. That can be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on the personality of the student and the reliability of the program or teacher.
Some students prefer to learn with class support, and the fun that accompanies a small group class.
Many schools with classroom instruction will frequently have less than their stated maximum number of students in a given class. Schools that offer both group classes and complementary activities frequently have teachers accompany the students on the activities which are in addition to the instructional classroom hours. Schools that offer what seems like a lot of class hours per day for a great price often are counting any and all hours where there is a teacher present in an activity. On student safety in Latin America. Latin American countries are by and large as safe as any country in North American and Europe.