>>>One other thing I noticed in Israel after going through basic Pimsleur Hebrew caurse. Very often I was able to understand many things people were saying, just by understanding several words in a sentense. It didn't allow me to have a conversation in their language but it was rewarding. And this is what I hope to accomplish when I go to France; to say things that I know how to say in correct French and hopefully understand when they tell me to go pound sand <g>.
>>
>>Exactly the experience I had when I was learning Hungarian on the job. While there were a couple of guys who knew Serbian, they weren't there all the time - so I had to make do with what I knew, and to learn fast. After a few weeks I could understand what was the sentence about - though not what it means. I'd know it's about a car and a wheel, but couldn't know whether it was "I bought new tires" or "I hit a curb and bent the wheel" until a few more weeks. By about sixth week I said "I'll start speaking now". That's when the fun began :).
>
>The good thing, for you, that you were learning on the job, immersed in the language and culture. This is what I would love to do to improve my Spanish. My dream is to go to live in a Spanish-speaking country for a week or two with a family and so on. Maybe after I retire <g>

There is no reason to wait:

http://www.spanishabroad.com/chile/santiago/linguatec/l_prices.htm
http://www.spanishabroad.com/chile/santiago/linguatec/l_accom.htm

I really recommend Chile. If you ever go, don't miss the towns around Lake Llanquihue (settled by Germans and it is quite a contrast). During my language training, I had teachers from many countries, and the one from Chile was the most difficult to understand. One of the neat things is that due to the many nationalities and ethnicities that immigrated to Chile, you will hear different accents across the country. I figure if you can understand a Chilean (chileno), you can understand anyone! :o) Now, Argentina is another story altogether. Go 5 miles and it sounds like a completely different language the accent is so different! :o)

Here is a joke: Very very funny - the point is, it is the same accent really...

http://spanish-podcast.com/2008/07/14/21-accents-in-spanish/

Have fun here (check out the different samples):

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/dialects//main.html