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Linguists contend the best way to learn a language is to combine education with immersion into a foreign culture.

Well, unless you're on a sabbatical or a student on summer break or work for a dedicated company (or government), that's not going to happen. Fortunately, the Web is brimming with ideas to teach language, including one approach that is the next-best thing to being there.

A Chicago company, InterLangua, offers one-on-one, online Spanish courses with professional tutors in Guatemala. The only requirement for a student, besides a thirst to learn, is a Windows-based computer with a broadband connection, a video camera and a headset.

The setup is basically a live, online videoconference for you and your tutor.

"We do some drills, but it's the conversation that's important," said Amarildo Bal, a 31-year-old tutor from Guatemala who doubles as InterLangua's director of quality. "We talk about people, sometimes our different cultures, whatever the student wants to talk about."

That might sound too informal, but InterLangua's growing client base likes the approach. It includes corporations, universities and individuals, as well as a few U.S.-based Spanish teachers who want a professional tutor to help hone their skills.

One U.S. teacher just wants to converse in Spanish about Central American writers, including the works of Guatemalan Miguel Angel Asturias, who won the 1967 Nobel Prize for literature.

Another specialty is teaching "medical" Spanish, and InterLangua works with medical schools, including Duke University's medical school.

Duke doesn't require the students to learn Spanish, but, "It is very popular," said Emily Davies, a fourth-year med student. "There has been a huge demand for medical-Spanish-education opportunities among my classmates."

About 70 Duke med students take Spanish courses. Beginners start with standard classroom work, but the more advanced students opt for the InterLangua lessons.

One reason for Duke's Spanish education is to prepare students for an annual training program in Honduras, an elective course for credit. Working knowledge of Spanish is invaluable for the care the students provide in local clinics.

"Spanish is the native language," said Dr. Dennis Clements, chief medical officer for Duke's Children's Hospital and the professor who organizes the Honduran program. "It is imperative to be able to speak to them. We often still need a translator, but the bonding effect is incalculable."

Both the student and professor agree: InterLangua's one-on-one approach is ideal.

"My Spanish has improved tremendously," Davies said.

Her professor relishes working with his tutor.

"You develop a relationship with the tutor as if you were living in Guatemala," Clements said. "There are many side discussions about politics and general lifestyle that are very illuminating."

Costs vary for organizations, but individuals can take a 10-week course of one-hour lessons for $220. (Go to InterLangua.com for details.)