A Semester in Barcelona, a Crazy and Life Changing Experience! Past Review

By Allison P (Communication Sciences And Disorders, The University of Texas at Austin) for

IES Abroad: Barcelona - Study Abroad with IES Abroad

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

Studying abroad has made me want to travel the world. I realize now that there are so many place I want to go still, and I hope to one day have the opportunity to do so. It also has made me interested in teaching English abroad in another country if grad school doesn't work out for me next year.

Personal Information

If you took classes at multiple universities, list those universities here:	Universidad Pompeu Fabra
How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	1 month - 6 months

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.	Having Friday classes really effected my spare time to travel. The workload wasn't too bad but it seemed like a lot of busy work sometimes. Especially in the Spanish classes.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	They were very helpful when I needed help with something specific. The program I was in was very large, about 500 people, but they accomadated well for having that many people and had many staff members to help.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	My host mom definitely made my experience what it was. She was so sweet and amazing, and never really got mad at us. She never had a problem with us going out or going on trips, in fact she encouraged it! I lived in Sarria which was a little far from my classes and from most of the nightlife scenes, but I made it work.
* Food:	Spain wasn't my favorite food, but I loved the tapas and paella! Anywhere on the beach is good, and there are famous tapas bars like Cal Pep. It's also okay to crave American food sometimes-I would sometimes go to Subway for lunch, or there was this awesome sandwich place we liked to go to called Sandwich and Friends.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	A lot of the fieldtrips in my Barcelona: The City and its History class were very memorable to me because it let me label all the things I was learning about and put a face to it.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	Barcelona is a very safe city, minus the pickpocketing. So many people got pickpocketed, but there isn't much you can do, except not bring valuables/a lot of money with you and be careful.
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes

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?	Living with a host family definitely lowered my spending costs, as I didn't have to pay for laundry or most of my food. If you book your flights earlier in advance, that will also save you money.

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
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?	Spanish 312L
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?
Language acquisition improvement?	I mostly only practiced Spanish while at home with my host mom, or around the city. My spanish class was mostly busy work and my teacher picked favorites. Most people spoke English in the class room unless it was towards the teacher.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Host Family
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Host Family Americans
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	Stay with a host family!! Almost all of my friends loved their host families! It was the best practice for me to improve my Spanish, and so much cheaper than living in a dorm or apartment!

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Advanced Spanish Grammar in Usage I
Course Department:	SP301
Instructor:	Nieves
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	I felt as if the class was a lot of busy work, and went over everything I had already learned at my school, in a more confusing manner. I left being more confused about the grammar. Most of my practice came from my host mom and being around the city.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	European Television in Comparative Perspective
Course Department:	CM330
Instructor:	Helena Medina
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	It wasn't too challenging, but it was very interesting. She kept us engaged by using actual TV episodes to teach us about European TV.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Media and Politics in Europe
Course Department:	CM-PO335
Instructor:	Carles Roca
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	It was probably one of the most difficult classes for me, because I do not have any background in politics or media. In my opinion, the class required previous knowledge of this to be able to do well in the class. I did not feel as if my performance was graded as it should have been. But the class was interesting, and I liked learning about the differences between European and American Politics.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Barcelona/Madrid: La Literatura y el Cine frente a la Ciudad Contemporana
Course Department:	ESTUDIOS HISPÁNICOS
Instructor:	Jordi Carrion
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	Was very difficult for me because my Spanish was not at the same level as most people in the class. From what I got out of the class I enjoyed. It also pushed me to practice my spanish a lot more.
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Barcelona: The City and It's History
Course Department:	HS51077
Instructor:	Stephen Jacobson
Instruction Language:	English
Comments:	It was very interesting and taught me a lot about Barcelona. We went on several field trips which made everything we were learning come to life.
Credit Transfer Issues: