Past Review
By Cristina J (History, Simmons College) for
CIEE: Lima - Liberal Arts
I absolutely loved my experience abroad. My main goal in life is to be fluent in Spanish and while I still have a ways to go my Spanish has improved immensely. The people were great, the school was beautiful and the city of Lima was amazing. I feel that I have become much more outgoing and much more independent. Before I came to Lima I was kind of shy about approaching strangers for questions or talking in class, etc. but now that I was forced to do that in Lima, and on top of that in a completely different language, I feel like it will be ten times easier now that I am back home. It also made me want to research Social Work more and is something that I am going to consider for graduate school. Most of all, I think that my study abroad experience has really helped me become a more outgoing and brave person than I was before I left and I am so happy that it did.
Personal Information
| If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here: | La Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru |
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
| The term and year this program took place: | Spring 2010 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I had a hard time acclimating to the teaching system in Peru which was two hours of straight lecture. Other than that the direct enrollment course at PUCP were interesting and challenging. The CIEE courses I was pretty disappointed in, at least the language courses, I felt that they were slightly unorganized and could be improved. I would have liked to spend more time conversing and practicing my Spanish but in stead I felt that we did many useless activities and focused on grammar way too much. My Peruvian Social Reality course was interesting as well however once again the teaching system was hard to get used to. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
My program was well organized and was helpful if you had any questions or concerns, the two administrators were always there for you. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My family was extremely nice and I really loved them. They were very comforting and sweet and helped me if I needed help and were patient when we had trouble communicating. I would have to say that living with my host family was what helped my Spanish improve the most. The only thing is that my house was an hour away from my University which was difficult but seemed to be very common with many of the students. |
| * Food: |
The food was very good but I would have to say that food was one of if not the biggest thing to acclimate to. Not only did it take a while for my stomach to get used to the different foods but it was hard because with my program my food was provided for me, so I felt a loss of control over what I ate and when I ate it. Although delicious it was also pretty unhealthy which was really hard for me to get used to. There was once a week where I got a variation of rice and beans everyday which was really hard to get used to. But it's just a part of the experience that you have to accept and live around. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The city of Lima is amazing as well as all of the other places that I traveled to. I was able to explore the city with the people in my program which was a lot of fun and helped my Spanish and helped me grow in general. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Whenever I had health issues the administrators were always very helpful and caring, they typically did everything they could to make sure that we were alright. When it came to my safety I generally felt safe all the time. There were only a few instances that I may have felt unsafe while walking alone at night but that could happen anywhere. There were also several security guards around my neighborhood so I always felt safe walking on my streets. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I wish I had known about the extreme fee charges from ATM's. At the university, they have ATM's that would charge a fee from the company, as well as an EXTRA fee from the university! I had no idea that I was being charged so much until my mother told me. It is a really good idea to take out at least 200 soles a week and just use that money for the week so that you are only charged once. It is also very important to monitor how much money you are spending by checking your bank account often-maybe save all of your receipts as well. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
Take advantage that you are living with a family doesn't speak your native language. As intimidating as it sounds, it is the only way to really improve your language skills and you will become much better once you just practice. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Don't be too worried about the language barrier, your Spanish will improve so quickly that it won't be a problem. Also, be sure to really monitor your money. And lastly, because your classes will most likely all be in Spanish, it's important to devote more time for homework and reading assignments. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Intensive Intermediate Spanish, II |
| Course Department: | SPAN 2102 LMLA |
| Instructor: | Bettina Gongora and Juana Palacios de Abt |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | I was incredibly disappointed with this class. I felt like it was pretty useless because I felt as though the material didn't really benefit me or my classmates. I would have liked to review grammar in this class and review my Spanish to prepare me for the next four months. In stead we did a lot of exercises learning about culture which while it is beneficial, I felt that we could have easily been in the next level up. I also felt that the teachers were not at the level they needed to be. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Semester Advanced Spanish, I |
| Course Department: | SPAN 3001 LMLA |
| Instructor: | Penny |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | I liked this course more than the intensive one but I feel as though I could have been in this course as my intensive course. We spent a lot of time working on grammar in this course which was nice but I wish that at this point in our study abroad experience we could have spent more time actually practicing what we had learned by then. I felt that we spent too much time on worksheets when we could have been talking in Spanish more to each other. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
