Spanish Language and Culture Program? I would have stayed in America for my experience Past Review
By Lauren B (English and Spanish, SUNY - Binghamton) for
Spain Study Abroad Reflections: Comprehensive Reviews of Past Programs
This program did not really improve my spanish or change my cultural awareness.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I have been to Spain before, and have enjoyed everything about it. I was looking forward to this program, but it turned out to be nothing that I had expected. The directors supported americans meeting other americans and not going out and interacting with the people of Spain. I expected a good amount of work since the class time was condensed, however while in Madrid there was not that much work and the professor finished both classes much earlier than expected. He wanted to respect the required in-class time, so we proceeded to sit in a classroom for six hours allowed to do whatever we wanted as long as we stayed in class. This was extremely frustrating knowing I was paying to be in SPAIN but was sitting in a classroom with Americans on facebook, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Directors promoted Americans hanging out with each other, and were unprofessional considering they were writing online blogs about students in a negative way. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
far out in Madrid |
| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
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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? |
No
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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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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Make sure you always have extra money in a safe place in case an emergency arises. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Malaga, or should I rather put Torremolinos is a tourist town and also highly populated with British. I signed up for a language and culture program and did not experience Spanish culture there. Also almost everyone spoke english and many people living there did not know Spanish, so therefore it was almost impossible to practice spanish unless it was with students, but I need to practice in a native setting. In Madrid, it was almost impossible to get free time during the day because of class, so the only practice that you would get was at night time in a going out scene which with music, is difficult to have much conversation. My recommendation to anyone interested in improving their spanish would be to make a few friends and separate from the group because the directors promoted Americans hanging out with Americans, and once in a large group setting it was difficult to practice spanish, or even meet locals without creating a lot of attention about the fact that we were american and spoke English. |
| 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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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | a student who has never been outside of the US, and has absolutely no knowledge of Spanish, and even than I don't want to recommend this program to that student because they would be missing out on what Spanish life is really like. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
History of Spain, Hispanic Short Story |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | same professor for both courses, do not know name |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | I expected a good amount of work since the class time was condensed, however while in Madrid there was not that much work and the professor finished both classes much earlier than expected. He wanted to respect the required in-class time, so we proceeded to sit in a classroom for six hours allowed to do whatever we wanted as long as we stayed in class. This was extremely frustrating knowing I was paying to be in SPAIN but was sitting in a classroom with Americans on facebook, etc. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
