I did study abroad when I was 17-18 in Mexico. Great experience, I became fluent by taking 4 hours of classes a day + living with a host family.
I got lucky to be placed with a family doing it because they liked having American boys, not for the money. Papa was a developer, mama a retired dentist, big beautiful house he built himself. They spoke very little English but enjoyed Ray Charles records. He sings slowly and pretty clearly, so that helps. Some of the other kids in my program weren’t as happy with their placements.
