Learn the language on vacation? Si!

A cooking class in Spanish at the Hacienda Encantada in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Animal tracking in Swahili at Beyond Kichwa Tembo Tent Camp in Kenya and cultural classes after a surfing lesson at Ka’anapali Beach Hotel in Maui, Hawaii.

All experiences resorts now offer to help guests pick up a few words of a new language on their travels.

Taj Bates of YOLO Guide to Travel learned a few Hawaiian words on her tropical vacation. It’s a growing trend: people looking to get a taste of languages in foreign lands, or even within our own borders, like Bates did. “I feel like it allows me to have a better experience with the locals,” Bates tells us.

“A lot of boutique and specialty hotels are starting to offer these services. They’re offering anything from cooking classes to bracelets that guests can wear so that staff members know that they need to only speak to those guests in that country’s language,” says Keryn Means of Twist Travel Magazine.

Means explains it’s not like the language class you struggled through in high school.

“You’re not just sitting in a classroom doing drills. You’re going off on adventures and really interacting in a more conversational way, which is a lot more natural to learn instead of grammar drills,” she tells us.

Classes and experiences can range from free all the way up to 300 dollars.

Means and Bates say the love of language comes as travelers seek adventures that focus on local culture.

Bates explains learning a few words will take your trips to a whole new level, telling us, “You’ll have a much better experience.”