Sueños de Salamanca Past Review
By A student (Pomona College) - abroad from 09/02/2016 to 12/21/2016 with
IES Abroad: Salamanca - Advanced Spanish Immersion
In taking classes at the University of Salamanca, I met a lot of Spanish friends, and got to know them and Spanish people my age better, but I wish I had spent more time with them. One of the best ways for me to improve my Spanish is to spend it surrounded by native speakers, and my friends were always enthusiastic to spend time with a foreigner. However, all of it was definitely worthwhile. I definitely learned a lot more about a really interesting culture.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I really enjoyed my experiences at la Universidad de Salamanca, the local university where I took two classes, but I wish I had taken more classes there. I was also required to take classes at the IES center, which I enjoyed-I was spending more time with my fellow compatriots on the program, but the classes were not as academically rigorous, and I wasn't as immersed in Spanish culture as I wanted. Of course, less academically rigorous could be a good thing depending on how much you want to travel/experience Spain on your own. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration was good and usually attentive-registration was very stressful, but it always is. Besides that, the administration provided ample cultural opportunities that were always very interesting and exciting. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The homestay was fantastic, one of my favorite parts of living abroad. I lived with an older, widowed women, along with another participant from the program. She was exceedingly nice and fed us, talked to us, and helped explain the culture and attitudes. (IES abroad offers you the opportunity to pay your host family to do your laundry-don't, it's a lot lot cheaper to do it yourself) |
| * Food: |
The food was also fantastic, until I got slightly tired of eating meat day in and day out. It was a very good experience, seeing and tasting an entirely new culture, but my food preferences were slow to change, and coming as someone who mostly didn't eat meat, it was a big adjustment. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I felt like I had a lot of opportunities to integrate with local culture, but that I always had to go and seek them out. I did take classes with local students, and I wish I had spent more time hanging out with them and getting to know them and their culture better. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Health care was generally accessible, but I don't have any personal experience with the services. |
| * Safety: |
I always felt completely safe in Salamanca, no matter what time of the night it was, or whether I was walking around alone or with other people. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
Salamanca is a wonderful city, with a wonderful program, but next time I would choose somewhere like Madrid, so I get more culture and a bigger, more immersive city. |
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) |
In a homestay we don't have to pay for food-it's part of the homestay. Laundry is really cheap too. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $30 probably, if I went out a three or four nights |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Most things are actually really cheap. It's important (mandatory) to get a working phone, but it's useful to just get a prepaid card and use that. Don't have your host family do your laundry-that costs a lot more than just doing it yourself. Going out and partying is also surprisingly cheap. |
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 |
It was easy to fall into the trap of using english with people from the program, so don't! |
| 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? | Spanish Literature |
| 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? | Hang out with Spanish friends as much as possible, instead of people on the program. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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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? | Well, I wish I had known that my school was going to require me to take an additional class more than everybody else in the program-I would have searched harder for more university classes that I thought were interesting. I also should have been more motivated to hang out with my Spanish friends instead of my American ones. |
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 Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
