Spain: learning okay, experience horray! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I feel like I didn't learn as much as I could have. One of my classes was very boring in that we only read two chapters out of the textbook each class without any discussion. In a class that is 3 hours long, reading out of a textbook, in a foreign language, is tedious and difficult. I would have perferred reading the text for homework then doing activities during class time to reinforce the reading; this would allow the students to actually absorb the information. Mindless reading during class doesn't help the students understand the information presented. Today, I am only able to remember very general things that I learned instead of more detailed explainations that I feel I should've been able to recall. In my other class, a conversation class,we did just that, we basically had a 3 hour long conversation--only stopping randomly to go over vocabulary that came up. I'm not sure about the other students in the class, but I can't really remember vocabulary when it comes up out of nowhere. I prefer that if we are learning vocabulary to have a structured plan in which we learn the vocab of a specific topic at a time. This helps me associate a word with a topic we were learning and remember. I would have appreciated if my teacher incorporated multiple styles of teaching throughout the class: unstructured conversation with structured vocabulary learning. I feel that this would have allowed all students to learn as well as they could. I recieved an A in the course, but that was with me using my previous knowlege. I don't feel as if I learned a great deal of vocabulary which I consider a large part of conversation.

On-site administration of your program

The overall program ran very well. The administration were very knowledgable, were able to get things done, and were willing to answer all student's questions. The only negative I have is the time of the night class. I feel as though that the night class 6-9 shouldn't be offered at all. I took an afternoon class 3-6 and a night class 6-9. By the time I got out of class at night, all the stores were closing so I couldn't go out shopping or whatnot. I feel like I missed out on some experiences because I had that night class. Everyone was going to the park, or downtown or on the cable car tour at 6pm, but I couldn't join because of my class.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Collegio Mayor Mara--dorm. I have no complaints about my living arrangments. Of course it would be nice if there were air conditioning, but I understand that's not likely. <br /><br /> all the students I spoke to spoke english to each other. Spanish was only spoken to to natives in stores/restaurants from what I saw.

it was cafeteria food...you can't expect too much. Most things I tried, some were better than others. The bread and butter is delicious. I ate mostly in the cafeteria because I wanted to save money, but there are a few restaurants close to the dorm.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I enjoyed talking to the locals. I'm not sure if I learned alot but I definately became more comfortable talking in spanish and learned I was able to communicate and get my point across to a native speaker

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I never felt in danger. Very safe enviornment. I didn't experience anything with the healthcare but there was a virus that was making its way through the students.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I believe I learned the most when I was interacting with locals outside of class. However, my classes were from 3-9pm and therefore it didn't give me much time during school days to interact with native spanish people.

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• Dorm

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• Americans

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• Americans