Spanish Language and Culture-a Summer to Remember Past Review

By Victoria W (Spanish Language and Literature., SUNY - Binghamton) for

Spain Study Abroad Reflections: Comprehensive Reviews of Past Programs

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?

yes it was a lot of fun, another aspect of it that i didn't think of beforehand is the pro's for choosing a suny-run program. i met great people with whom i can keep in contact because they live and/or go to school very close to me!

Personal Information

How much international exposure did you have prior to this program?	2 weeks - 1 month

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.
* Host Country Program Administration On-site administration of your program	program advisors were very approachable, everything was organized. some advisors/professors were very knowledgeable about spain itself while others were good at organizing or patient teachers. the size of classes was appropriate to the class and i thought overall the program worked out well academically and logistically speaking.
* Housing: How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?	everything was livable, in an appropriate location, no need to buy anything besides maybe a fan. classes were in the same building as our dorms/in the hotel where we stayed
* Food:	i understand that for example, fish is a big part of spanish diet. however when the only thing available (when there are 2 or 3 dinner options) is 3 different fish dishes, it just doesn't need to be that way in my opinion.
* Social & Cultural Integration: How integrated did you feel with the local culture?	there were always activities planned for us in malaga, when we were in madrid we were a little more on our own, but we definitely figured it out quickly. we saw some really amazing things thanks to forspro, and most of the program made use of these activities.
* Health Care: How well were health issues addressed during the program?
* Safety:	pretty safe
If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program?	Yes

Finances

* 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)
Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week?	had to buy one meal a day usually...allot a few dollars a day to food.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants?	take money out of an atm in bulk because of the fees

Language

* Did your program have a foreign language component?	Yes
Language acquisition improvement?	Many people spoke English, and i personally found that a lot of Spanish people who spoke English were impatient and would rather speak their broken English than try to understand a student's work-in-progress Spanish. So you could get by speaking very minimal Spanish.

Other Program Information

* Where did you live? Select all that apply	Hotel Dorm
* Who did you live with? Select all that apply	Americans
* Who did you take classes with? Select all that apply	Americans

A Look Back

* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program?	have fun!!!!!

Individual Course Reviews

Course Name/Rating:	Business Spanish
Course Department:
Instructor:	Sobejano
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	No. It wasn't challenging. I felt very underestimated when in a 400+ level class one vocabulary word on my test was "to cook"
Credit Transfer Issues:

Course Name/Rating:	Poetry of Garcia Lorca
Course Department:
Instructor:	Vanessa Janete Curado
Instruction Language:	Spanish
Comments:	As I had expected. Fairly challenging. Devoted a good amount of time to it. A lot of practice speaking Spanish; Vanessa would not speak in English in class nor would she allow us to--which is the experience for which I had hoped.
Credit Transfer Issues: