The best semester of my college career! Past Review
By A student (History/ Pre-Med, Villanova University) - abroad from 09/04/2012 to 12/20/2012 with
IES Abroad: Granada - Liberal Arts & Language
Its so difficult to organize what I learned from my experience abroad but it was most definitely worth while. I learned so much more about the language and culture of Spain than I could have imagined. Speaking the language and being surrounded by others speaking it made me happy. I learned so much about the cultural differences and the people. I learned how to be independent in a foreign country and communicate with locals. I also learned that everything I had planned in the US doesn't necessarily have to be the way my life goes. The world is much bigger and more fascinating than my little corner in the US.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I took all of my classes in Spanish while I was in Granada. This made my classes more challenging but it truly helped my Spanish comprehension greatly. I had a good amount of work but so did everyone. We were able to enjoy our time but learn a lot as well. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The on-site staff in Granada was absolutely amazing. This IES staff went above and beyond and made my experience in Granada one of the best ever. They were so welcoming and friendly and made my transition easy. They also had college students there to help us with our Spanish and simply be our friends. I loved everyone! |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I was so fortunate with my Senora. She was such a sweet and caring woman who looked after us as if we were her own children. She always loved to hear about our trips and see pictures and she was the best cook! She listened to what we liked and was considerate enough to gear our meals towards our preferences. And the house in general was so nice! There were two of us and we each had our own rooms which were nice and spacious. |
| * Food: |
My senora's food was amazing! There was rarely something I didn't like. She generously took care of our breakfast (it was a big breakfast by Spanish standards) and lunch. Dinner was our responsibility but she cleared room in the refrigerator for our groceries. And if you wanted to eat our there were always so many delicious options in Granada. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
In Granada you are forced to use Spanish everyday so that alone makes you feel more integrated with the culture and the people. It is also a very manageable city so within a couple months you know your way around many parts of the city as if its your own home. Meeting Spaniards also isn't that difficult. Our program introduced us to Spanish college students in the program and also gave us one on one intercambios. Depending on the relationship you formed there you could have a really great Spanish friend. My intercambio and I still keep in touch! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Health care is different in Spain than it is in the US so that takes some getting used to. I had a couple health issues while abroad (nothing major) and the main difficulty came from the language barrier. It was difficult to explain to the doctors my exact symptoms sometimes so there was an instance where I had to make multiple trips to the doctors for the same problem. But if you need help, IES also has the college students and a health administrator to help you with these problems or potentially go to the doctors with you. I got the flu shot before I went abroad but there were no vaccines necessary for traveling in Spain. |
| * Safety: |
I personally felt very safe in the city and never had any bad experiences. I knew of a girl in my program who was assaulted by a guy but that was the only incident during the semester. While Granada is an extremely safe city, it is still a city and you need to be smart. I generally never walked alone at night and while I never needed to do this, you can take a cab if you feel unsafe. They run at all hours of the night so they are easy to find on the main roads. Other than that my neighborhood felt very safe. As a girl, you may hear cat-calls from guys occasionally but it is more of a joke for them than anything. I never experienced anyone acting upon it. They just did it for amusement more than anything. |
| 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) |
Studying in another country when you are living so differently does cost a good amount of money. I was very fortunate to have funds accessible but you are using more funds than at home because you are eating out more, going on trips, and experiencing new things. Luckily, Granada is one of the cheapest cities I could have chosen and I loved that! Most of our meals were taken care of but if you did go out for dinner, you could order 2 drinks and get 2 different small meals with it. All of that you could get for about 4 euros which is so cheap compared to big touristy cities like Madrid or Barcelona. The one thing that was more expensive in Granada was traveling. The airport in the city was very small so for any significant trips you had to go to other cities or take multiple flights. That usually ended up being more expensive and time consuming so I just didn't travel as much outside of my program. But there still were a lot of other students that did. I just couldn't afford a lot of trips so I saved my big ones for longer weekends. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | If I bought groceries and maybe went out a couple nights etc, I probably spent about 50 euros a week. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Budget your money before you go and budget generously depending on where you are going. That way if you end up saving money per week that will be good but if you do spend your budgeted amount you'll still be okay. |
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 |
For me, the Spanish language was always encouraged. Our teachers (in our Spanish speaking courses) almost always spoke complete Spanish and our program director and orientation friends usually spoke Spanish with us as well. There were always opportunities for speaking and it was up to us to take advantage of them. But you could not get through a day without speaking some Spanish so we were constantly learning something. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Conversation and Composition I |
| 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? | I met a friend who spoke pretty rudimentary English and I always felt most comfortable speaking Spanish with him. He usually spoke English to me and I answered him in Spanish. It worked so well because we were both bad so no one felt like the idiot. I learned a lot speaking with him and it was really helpful. I think the best way to improve is by speaking and meeting Spaniards is a fun way to do it! |
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? |
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? | I wish I really knew how fast 4 months can go. Taking advantage of the time is something I guess you only learn when you begin to run out of time. While I learned this rather quickly, I wish I knew that fluency is something that is pretty difficult to obtain when you come in at a lower level of Spanish. Just accepting that and learning what you can is important. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Outright UrbaniteA social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country. |
