Summer Spanish Program in Spain Past Review
By Marisol (Psychology and Spanish, New Mexico State University) for
Spain Study Abroad Reflections: Comprehensive Reviews of Past Programs
I definitely think it was worthwhile; I was able to learn and travel at the same time. It is an experience that I will remember forever.
Personal Information
| The term and year this program took place: | Summer 2009 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I really like the teachers that i was assigned to, they were very nice and they had a lot of knowledge. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
All the people in the program were very nice and very supportive. they were alway willing to help in whatever problem we had. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
The food that i ate at my house was good, but in restaurants it was difficult to order because i was unable to understand what the menu said, and since i was not familiar with the food, it was hard to make a good choice. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The only complain I have is that a lot of the Spaniards were not friendly |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I felt very safe during the day, but less safe when walking on the streets during the night, and it was worst if I was by myself, especially in the bigger cities. |
| 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? | if you are running low on money, instead of going to eat at restaurants you can go to the super market and get food there. after a few days you can really see the difference. |
Language
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Since i already knew the language, i don't think my skills improved a lot. but this is not to say that i did not learn, i did learn a lot of new words that are not common in the Mexican spanish that i speak. |
A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | It is a great program, the town is small but it is sorrounded by beautiful cities that you can visit on the weekends. But Ronda it self is beautiful too, and you can get to know people and they get to know you. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Conversacion |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Carmen |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | This class was fun too, mainly because the subjects that the instructor would take to class were familiar to at least one student in the class. For example, one day we talk about Chinese culture because on of the students was Chinise and she was able to tell us a lot about her culture. Since a lot of the students in that class were familiar with the mexican culture, another day we talked about Mexican food and music. This instructor was very knowledgeable and it was very interesting to find out facts about cultures and other things. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Gramatica |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Teresa |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | The course was fun and educative, the instructor made it very fun. I did not think the course was challenging but i think it was because i know the language. The course helped me because i learned the different words that they use in spain (compared to the spansh we use in New Mexico or Mexico) |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
