Homestay and Spanish Immersion in Spain Past Review

By krnelson (Government, New Mexico State University) for

CLIC / Centro de Lenguas e Intercambio Cultural: Sevilla - Direct Enrollment in Spanish Language Courses

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

My experience was definitely worthwhile! I'm so glad I studied abroad, and possibly even will study abroad again! My spanish improved so much, and this experience was more effective for developing my spanish conversation skills and vocabulary knowledge than 2 years of studying spanish in university. I also gained a greater appreciation for the US, learned about many different cultures around the world (not just about Spain's culture), and I developed a bit more of my own independence. I'm afraid of losing all that I'd learned studying abroad that I want to find a way to use my spanish in my everyday life. I'd recommend studying abroad to everyone!

Personal Information

If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here:	New Mexico State University
The term and year this program took place:	Summer 2009

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	The majority of the professors were wonderful. However, I needed more time and more practice with some of the grammar that we covered.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	The people in the office at the school could have been more friendly - but they were very helpful and gave advice when asked.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	The school arranged a host family for me. The neighborhood was safe, the family was wonderful, and my home was only a 15 minute walk away from school and the center of the city.
* Food:	My host family was always willing to give me more food at lunch if I wanted it. For dinner I went with friends to bars for cheap tapas.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	Overall the program had a wide variety of activities and excursions: cultural activities, monuments, visiting other cities, beach trips. At times it would have been cheaper to see the museums and monuments without going with the school, but the school also gave you the information and history.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	I got more information from my University than from my program about health and safety. I didn't have any health issues in Sevilla besides allergies. The important thing to do is to stay hydrated and get enough sleep. I didn't experience any incidences regarding safety.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	No

Finances

* 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)
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	Most places did not take credit cards. Withdrawing money out of ATMs was the easiest thing to do while in the other country. Remember that Europe is more expensive than the US!

Language

Language acquisition improvement?	The time each person spent talking in class was not enough for one individual person to be corrected a lot by the professors. However, since the professors spoke in spanish the whole time, and with the grammar learned in class, the program did help some in the improvement of my language skills. Of a big help was that the activities and tours were given entirely in spanish.

Direct Enrollment/Exchange

* Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university?	Direct Enrollment

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	It was a good program, but it had its inconveniences and there might be others that would be better. I suggest that you balance the costs of different programs before considering this program. Most of the students at the school spoke english (and wanted to practice it), so it was very easy to speak english instead of spanish (perhaps taking classes at the university in Sevilla would have been better for making spanish friends and speaking more spanish).

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Grammar
Course Department:
Instructor:
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	The course was great, but I felt like we moved through the grammar too quickly for me to completely understand and remember the complexities of certain verb tenses, etc. It also greatly depended on the instructor teaching the course.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Conversation
Course Department:
Instructor:
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	Depending on the instructor, each day we would discuss a different topic to learn new vocabulary and practice the grammar we learned in grammar class earlier. However, I felt like we did not get to speak very much.
Credit Transfer Issues: