Ana’s Spanish Homestay Immersion in Castelldefels, Barcelona: Learning to Speak Without Translating First

May 9, 2026Naila GulzarSpanish Homestay Immersion Program (SHIP), Spanish Immersion for Adults, Visit Barcelona

There is a quiet hurdle many learners reach. They know the words, they can conjugate the verbs, yet every sentence still passes through another language before it leaves their mouth.

I am Nanda, a host teacher with the Spanish Homestay Immersion Program (SHIP) here in Castelldefels, just south of Barcelona. I welcome learners into my home and build each week around the person in front of me, not a rigid plan.

This is the story of one student’s week with me, told from the host teacher’s side of the table, from her arrival at the airport to a goodbye at the bus stop.

Meet Ana: A Lifelong Learner With a Real-World Goal

Ana arrived for a one-week SHIP stay with a clear purpose. She wanted to speak Spanish naturally, without leaning on Italian as a bridge between her thoughts and her words.

An American who works at a school, she came with a solid A2 base and years of study behind her. Many parents at her school speak only Spanish, so this mattered far beyond the classroom.

Curious, active and endlessly motivated, she threw herself into the week from her very first evening with us.

Arrival and the Magic of Sant Jordi

I collected Ana from Barcelona airport and we drove straight into the heart of Castelldefels. Her timing was perfect, as the town was alive with the colour of the Diada de Sant Jordi.

We shared a small merienda and wandered the streets among the roses and books. By the time we reached home that evening, we were already chatting and planning the week ahead.

It was the ideal soft landing, real Spanish life unfolding around her before a single formal lesson began.

The Ermita de Brugués and a First Taste of Catalan Cooking

Our first full day became one long practical lesson. At a beachside chiringuito, a brand new word for her, we reviewed the past tenses together over coffee.

Then we visited the Ermita de Brugués, where the setting and its history led naturally into both language and culture. We stayed for lunch at the restaurant beside the hermitage.

Ana loved the traditional Catalan food and tried crema catalana for the first time. The place and its story stayed with her all week.

Castelldefels Castle and the Story of Mediterranean Pirates

After a calm breakfast at home, we settled into an intensive four-hour class on the three past tenses and the temporal markers that hold them together. We mixed written exercises with plenty of speaking.

At midday we climbed up to Castelldefels Castle, weaving history and culture into our conversation as we explored. Ana was fascinated, as she had never known about piracy along the Mediterranean coast.

The afternoon brought a beach walk, one of her favourite things, and a long, relaxed dinner at home where her confidence kept growing.

A Long Beach Walk and Cooking Together

We began with breakfast at home, then set off along the shore with my friend Nina. We walked for about an hour, around eight kilometres, enjoying the fine weather and easy conversation.

We paused for coffee at ParaVos, right by the sea, where the chat flowed and Ana practised Spanish in a real, relaxed setting. She connected beautifully with Nina.

Back home, Ana taught me her kale and parmesan salad while we worked on kitchen vocabulary, then we explored the green seaside houses of Garraf.

A Birthday in Sitges and a Paella From Scratch

The week’s brightest day fell on Ana’s birthday. We spent the morning in Sitges, strolling the old town and the streets lined with the grand houses of the indianos, a place she adored.

Back home we turned to the kitchen, reviewing the positive imperative as we cooked a paella together step by step. I also taught her Spanish food idioms along the way.

The afternoon ended with coffee and shopping at Anec Blau. In her own words, it was a perfect day.

Barcelona, the Seafront and a Farewell of Tapas

Ana spent one free morning touring Barcelona, then returned for a relaxed lesson and a practical class along the Castelldefels seafront promenade. We kept polishing the past tenses she had worked so hard on.

On her final evening we gathered for a goodbye dinner in Castelldefels, savouring the typical tapas of our local kitchen. It was the warm, social close the week deserved.

By then something had clicked, and Ana told me she had finally understood how to use the past tenses.

Ana’s Spanish Transformation

Across the week, Ana worked steadily on conversation, grammar, verb tenses, object pronouns and temporal markers. The structured classes mattered, but so did the Spanish that filled every meal, walk and visit.

Her real breakthrough was confidence. She began to speak more spontaneously and naturally, the exact fluency she had come to find.

Most of all, she felt at home. The blend of learning and culture left her more connected to Spain, its food and its traditions than she ever expected.

Past Visitors’ Stories

Ana’s week is just one of the many journeys our SHIP students experience across Spain. Our host teachers welcome learners of every age, profession and goal into their homes.

If you would like to read more real stories from students who have lived and studied Spanish with us, our diary blogs follow each journey from arrival to departure.

You could become the protagonist of our next story.

You can explore more real immersion experiences here:
👉 SHIP Stories of Our Previous Students

Get in Touch

To learn more about our Spanish Homestay Immersion Program (SHIP) and plan your own week in Spain, reach out to our founder, director and host teacher in Menorca, Mónica Romero.