Hard Work, Fast Paced, Worthwhile Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Certainly an intensive language program, as promised. In general, I felt the pace was too fast to actually absorb the majority of what we were learning. I would recommend this summer intensive program only as a last resort for studying Arabic abroad in the middle east - if there is any way you can go abroad for a full semester, by all means I suggest you do. For me, going abroad in the summer was my only option, and so in that respect I am glad I at least got the chance to go, though I would certainly have preferred a full semester.

On-site administration of your program

Staff were personally nice and took time to get to know students on an individual level. One problem I noticed, however, was a certain level of resistance to making changes that students suggested - for instance, the study abroad lounge included a small fridge slightly bigger than one you might find in a college dorm, and this was supposed to serve as storage for around 50 student's lunches. When students brought this concern up to program staff, little was done in the way of recognizing this or attempting to resolve the issue. In general, there seemed to be a disconnect between AMIDEAST staff and the actual teaching staff from the Qasid institute who were actually our instructors in the classroom.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Terrific host family - great placement, couldn't be happier with the housing. My roommate and I had our own room and attached bathroom in the house, and were invited to participate in family functions as though we were members of the family.

The program fee is supposed to include three days a meal for the duration, but in reality there is no time to get back to the host family for lunch and so we had to pack lunches to eat in between classes. In general, these lunches were little more than a couple pieces of pita and some cheese or cucumber. Program expectations should be clear about this - you will not have time to eat lunch at home, so just know that going in and plan your grocery runs/requests to the host family accordingly.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Well integrated, especially since we took cabs to and from class each day. While all of our classes were taken with other American students, I still felt as though the host family placement made me a part of the community.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had no health issues during the program, but the anecdotes I heard from other students who did seem to have been generally positive.

Overall, I felt very safe in the city from crime and violence. However, one major concern I had was the utter lack of seat belts in taxis and other forms of public transportation. It is important not to draw excess attention to yourself as a foreigner, which means dressing conservatively and not being obnoxious in public situations.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

AMIDEAST set an unrealistically low budget for taxis - in general, I spent about $5-10 a day just on transportation. I also had to buy a gym membership, which was rather expensive compared to gyms in the US. Otherwise, the program expenses covered breakfast and dinner at the house, so that was covered already and food was relatively economical.

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

All arabic in the classroom, which was excellent. The host family would speak to us primarily in english just to make us feel comfortable, but would push us to speak arabic with them as well.

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• Host Family

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• Americans
• Host Family

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• Americans

• Host Family
• Professors
• Excursions

• Program Responsiveness to Student Concerns, Both Academic and Quality of Life
• More Accurate 'Projected Expenses' Pre-Departure
• Scheduling Classes During the Day to be More Efficient - i.e. less sitting around in the class building in between classes

The Academic or Linguist