Ana Arasanz, a Madrid-based travel writer and editor for the web version of the leading Spanish newspaper El Pais, has posted a lively article based on her experiences during her two-week English immersion course at Acadia Center this summer.  Titled (translated into English) From Maine’s Lobster Festival: A Tour of the Rugged Coast of Maine from Camden and Rockland to Acadia National Park, Ana’s travel article features her own photos taken during her excursions in Camden and Midcoast Maine and on Monhegan and Mt. Desert Island.

Ana’s favorite places in Camden include Laite Beach, a small stretch of sand near the downtown with a spectacular view of Camden harbor and the Camden hills beyond, and Mt. Battie, from where you can see many islands in Penobscot Bay.

Sailing and kayaking were among her favorite activities here, and the article provides many links to more information about things to do in Camden, such as sailing on the schooner Olad with captain Aaron Lincoln, whom Ana describes as an entertaining guy (un tipo divertido) and born storyteller.  

Impressed by what she describes as the varied and cosmopolitan cultural offerings in Camden, Ana recommends the concerts, theater performances, readings, and other events at the Camden Public Library, the Camden Opera House, and the Owl and Turtle Bookshop.

Her lodging recommendations include the Captain Swift Inn, the Camden Harbour Inn, and the Inns at Blackberry Common, and her dining recommendations include Port Clyde Seafood Co., Paolina’s Way, and the Waterfront.  

Summer is in full swing in Maine, and it’s a great time to take your English to a higher level while enjoying a great learning vacation. New English immersion courses start every Monday, so sign up today for a time that is convenient for you!

Québec and Maine – home of the Acadia Center for English Immersion – are next-door neighbors, with the drive from Québec City or Montréal to Camden taking only 5-6 hours. Visitors from Québec to our part of the Maine coast fall in love with the natural beauty of the area, the mountains and the ocean, and the small towns and harbors that retain such a strong sense of their maritime heritage.

The business news website Maine Business has just published an article about Canadian visitors to Maine, featuring comments by Acadia Center director Brian Boyd about the appeal of the Camden area to visitors from Québec.

It’s officially springtime in Camden, and during Acadia Center excursions students have been enjoying flower sightings all over town.

Raising sail on the schooner Olad, playing tennis, snowshoeing in the Maine woods, skiing at the Camden Snow Bowl, performing our own special version of Men in Black, reciting a poem by the famous Camden poet Edna St. Vincent Millay – you can see clips of Acadia Center students up to all these tricks and more on Acadia Center’s new YouTube channel. Check it out, leave your comments, and subscribe so you don’t miss the next installments! 

Artist Albie Davis has recently exhibited several portraits of Acadia Center students she and her partner John Chandler have hosted in their Thomaston, Maine, home.

Albie writes that in her art she tries many different forms and materials, but she is “always coming back to portraits, whether of humans, other animals, houses, cars, you name it. Making art is an excuse to explore the universe, to make sense of it all, and, if inclined, to reveal its nonsense! When I first read T. S. Eliot’s observation, ‘We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time,’ I thought of how each cycle of observation reveals something new about the familiar.”

Albie’s painting of Fernando, an executive from Spain living in Brazil, was her first portrait of an Acadia Center student. Fernando has attended English immersion courses at Acadia Center three times over the last six years and has stayed with Albie and John each time.

The subjects of the next Acadia Center portraits were Daeene, an IT professional from Brazil who posed while reading a book, and Martine, a banking executive from Québec who shares the canvas with Albie and John’s dog Gromit. 

Acadia Center students love staying with Albie and John and many have kept in touch with them over the years. Martine recently drove from Québec to see the premiere of Lighthouse, a muscial set in 1930’s Maine for which John wrote the libretto.

Albie shows her paintings regularly in midcoast Maine. We’ll keep you informed of her exhibits!

Take advantage of Acadia Center’s winter course discount and the lower off-season airfares to immerse yourself in English — effectively and affordably – in a beautiful New England town!

Enjoy a personalized learning program, lively lessons focused on your needs, delicious and healthy meals, comfortable accomodations, and total English immersion from morning to night.

You might even like to take advantage of the season by skiing or snowboarding at the Camden Snow Bowl, just a 10-minute drive from Acadia Center. The Snow Bowl offers downhill skiing (with ocean views from the top of the mountain), snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and tubing — and your lift ticket and equipment rental (and lessons too if you are a beginner) are free during Acadia Center excursions.

If winter sports aren’t your thing, don’t worry — you can stay warm in the cozy shops, cafes, and museums in the area, as well as the nearby fitness center, with its Olympic-sized swimming pool, indoor track, gym, and excercise room — all free for Acadia Center students.

Take 5% off the course fee (not including accommodations) for winter courses. To receive the discount, register and pay the course fee deposit before January 1, 2010, for a course beginning before April 1, 2010. For new registrations only and not for customized courses. Write discount code W5 in the questions/comments line when registering.

The Acadia Center for English Immersion is very pleased to be a co-sponsor of the Maine Literary Festival 2009, taking place at the Camden Opera House at 6:30 pm on Saturday, November 7.

This year’s theme is Literature of New Voices in America: Reflecting Cross-Cultural Experience. An extraordinary line-up of novelists, poets, and non-fiction writers from diverse cultures and ethnic experiences will participate in a three-hour program including presentations, readings, panel discussions, and a reception for the authors and participants at the Opera House.