Its always the best choice to expose yourself to a Spanish-speaking community while learning the Spanish language. You only not gain friends but are also forced to speak the Spanish language at all times. Compared to staying in an English community, you may speak and practice the Spanish language for a short period of time and completely use the English language throughout the day. This makes adjusting to use the Spanish language more difficult to achieve.
But immersion isnt the only way to learn Spanish.
Remember the four basic skills of learning. Regardless if its Spanish or not, you always need to look in to four areas of learning concerns such as speaking, listening, writing and reading. These are the main factors which can help you distinguish whether you are making progress or any progress at all. Dont worry if youre not getting all four areas perfect in learning Spanish though; you will surely be able to cover all of them in the long run.
Start practicing the Spanish language (even if you only know the most basic greetings) to your day to day activities. A classic example is when you meet a friend on the street; greet the sales man or lady upon...