Ideal Spanish Immersion Program Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Being able to enroll directly in the University of Cadiz was an incredible opportunity! It really helped my Spanish get to the next level, and I got to meet and interact with students from Spain and all over Europe.

On-site administration of your program

Vicky was amazing! We had great on-site support with anything that we needed (getting phones, bank accounts, booking trips, etc) and we also did a lot of group trips and outings together which were some of my favorite memories there.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

I would have preferred living in a student apartment for personal and social reasons, but the host family that we got were very nice and made a real effort to include us in the family and to make us comfortable in their home.

Spanish food is amazing, and my host mom was an incredible cook.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

This has to be one of the best programs for cultural integration. I took all of my classes in the university with Spanish students, met friends through language exchanges, lived in an apartment with a host family, volunteered with a local children's tutoring program, joined a gym, opened an account with a local bank, and traveled around Spain and Portugal during that semester. The program offered help with those things if and when it was needed, but I did almost all of it on my own and in Spanish, which was an incredible immersion experience and really helped develop my language and cultural skills.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

This is actually N/A for me because I didn't have any health issues during the program, but a few friends on the program did and were able to access the services they needed with help from their host families/program coordinator, or on their own if they preferred. There were no vaccines required and as far as I know there aren't any health risks specific to Spain.

Cadiz is extremely safe. I never had any problem walking by myself at any time.

I had an incredible time with this program. It was everything I could ask for in terms of language and cultural immersion, and I can't overstate how much it advanced my Spanish. I also had a great group and coordinator and really enjoyed all of the trips and group outings that we did together. I'm still in touch with my American friends from the program and some Spanish friends from the university, and it's been almost three years since I finished this program. In addition, Cadiz is an incredible city. It's beautiful, safe, and it has everything you need without being overwhelming. It is extremely popular with students from all over Europe because of the beaches, so you will meet people from all over Europe and the world as well as Spain. Cadiz is also an easy trip from Sevilla, and from Sevilla you can go wherever you want in Europe.

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

This program fee covers all meals, health insurance, housing and tuition. You don't need to spend much on supplies for classes (I didn't have to buy textbooks or even notebooks in some cases) or on transportation because you can walk easily to most of the places that you need to go to on a daily or even weekly basis. The biggest strain on your budget will probably be travel, because there are tons of easy trips to different parts of Spain and Europe that are really tempting, but there are also four or five trips already included in the program fee and obviously weekend trips are not a mandatory expense.

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

It's hard to avoid using Spanish in Cadiz. English isn't spoken widely or well there compared to other places in Spain, your host family probably won't speak it, and you will have some professors in the university who can't speak it. You'll also need to use Spanish if you want to go shopping, go to the bank, sign up at a gym, etc.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Local Students
• Americans
• International Students

• Academic Experience / Language Immersion
• Social Experience
• Travel in Spain and Europe

• Options for Living Arrangements

The Academic or Linguist