Best 10 months of my entire life! Past Review
By A student (Roger Williams University) - abroad from 09/04/2012 to 05/27/2012 with
CIEE: Shanghai - Business, Language, and Culture
I gained a lot of new friends, Chinese, American, and friends from all over the world. I gained a lot more confidence in myself. Every experience I had, the good times and bad were all worth it. Every experience is a good experience!
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
even though classes were 4days a week. The Chinese classes were very challenging but all the teachers were a lot of help if you had any questions for any reason always willing and enthusiastic to help. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
very helpful 24/7 anytime for any any reason if you needed any of the staff. Also updated everyone on what was going on in china. places we should not go to if some type of event happened that we should be aware of. Also places of interest to go see in the host country. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| 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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| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | No |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | around 100usd on avg. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | depending on your bank I would take out money that can last you a couple of weeks because my bank charged me every time I used the atm. Also just pay attention to how much you are spending per week. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
They have language commitment and staff and teachers will automatically speak Chinese to you right away. And you have to request to speak English in Chinese. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 0 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | As all the teachers and staff in the program I was in use what you know as often as you can. Talk to anyone. As the year went on I used Chinese more and more. The more I used it the faster I became confident in using it and stronger in Chinese. |
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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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? | 10+ |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Not bringing as much things with me. Pack less. I feel as though I packed a lot. Or I should have shipped some of my things back home. |
