Tamil and Telugu and English, little Hindi Past Review
By Rebecca W (South Asia Studies, Wellesley College) for
CIEE: Hyderabad - Arts and Sciences
YES! Learned so much about a new language, culture, religion. Lots of personal growth and confidence. Everyone should do it.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
| The term and year this program took place: | Full-Year 2009 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
classes were easier than my college in the US, but I still learned a lot |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
the people who run our program were great and always available for help and advice. no complaints! |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Lived on second floor with other borders and students. great fun! wonderful host family that strove to include us in activities. nice neighborhood maybe 2.5km from campus. <br /><br /> Family spoke Tamil and Telugu at home when not speaking English, so little Hindi. |
| * Food: |
delicious food. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
took us on one great trip a semester. would have loved to do more. also squired us around the city. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
only time I felt unsafe, I had decided to travel against the advice of my program director. luckily things were fine but it isn't a bad idea to listen to them. stopped taking malaria meds after a few months, as did many people in our program, no one got malaria. only hospital visits for our program was a handful of students in bicycle accidents on campus. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | As a homestay student I got a stipend of 6400 rupees a month. Since round trip to and from campus was 10rupees and a lunch cost you maybe 30 rupees, this was very generous. when traveling you spend much more, but still possible to go on 500-1000 rupees a day (about 10-20) inclusive of transportation, stay, food, etc. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | don't fly. plane tickets are almost as expensive there as here and, from a culture point of view, you miss a lot not traveling on trains or buses. if you must fly, try to fly only one way. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 2 years of Hindi |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
too many people spoke English or Telugu, if learning Hindi is that important to you I'd choose a program in North India |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Do it and request a homestay. the homestay kids had a much better experience than the kids living at a dorm |
