Siena, Italy Past Review
By Carmen S (Math, SUNY - College at Geneseo) for
International Center for Intercultural Exchange: Siena Italian Studies
I feel like I really got to see how the Sienese live. My Italian did improve but I wish I spoke it more and not only hung around the other American students who all spoke English.
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. |
There wasn't a lot of work but at the end of it there was an 8 page paper (written in Italian) due in each class, luckily I only had to write one but the others had two. The grading system was fair, but since it was only for a several weeks there were many times when class schedules were changed to fit around trips or other things such as the Palio. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration was great, the only problems were the frequent rescheduling or cancellation of some events. However that could have also been due to the people in the country who caused for the changes. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The host family was kind and welcoming. I did not need to buy anything else to settle-in. Most of the host families in the program including mine lived outside the city walls so we had to take the public buses to get there. They were very easy and only took about 15 minutes. The program provided us with bus passes so we didn't have to pay for it. |
| * Food: |
The program is usually able to match students with dietary restrictions up with families who would be able to take care of that. I never ate out expect for one time when we were on a trip. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The Palio was awesome |
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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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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
I got most of my practice from speaking with my host families. They only knew Italian so we had no choice but to speak to them in Italian. The teachers only taught in Italian which also helped but they also understood English. Besides that we were always with the other students who all spoke English and most of the time spoke English together. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Someone who has already started learning some Italian and wants to continue with it, and of course someone who likes to try new things and is good at adapting. |
