España: An Experience Like No Other Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The educational experience was great! Before I went to Spain, I had only taken classes through the equivalent to Spanish IV in high school but by the end of my one semester abroad, I was fluently conversing with my host parents, professors and other students. The work load was fairly normal to me from that of the U.S. and the teaching methods were basically the same as well. Both experiences were good. The grading system in Spain, from what I can remember is different than the U.S but the professors used the U.S grading scale for us. The professors were really nice and they understood that Spanish wasn't our native language. I was incredibly nervous about taking classes in Spanish but I was able to understand every one very well. They spoke clearly and slowly (or at least slower than what they are used to). If they got speaking too quickly or said a word we didn't understand, all we had to do was ask them and they would slow down or explain the word to us. I learned so much from going abroad. It truly is the best way to learn a second language.

On-site administration of your program

The program directors in Spain were great and very helpful with anything we needed. The directors in BG were very helpful and knowledgeable of all of my questions before I went over there. A special thanks is to Nora because I probably bombarded her with a million questions before I went over. She was incredibly helpful and made me feel really good and more relaxed about things when I started to get worried before I left.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

My mom and my aunt came to visit me for a week, so while they were there, I stayed with them in a hotel located right by my apartment. As for who I lived with, I lived with another BGSU student, a host mom and her daughter. Her daughter wasn't there very often because she was a flight attendant, but when she was there, she didn't make my roommate and I feel very welcomed. That was the only thing I disliked about my housing situation. It was never bad enough for us to talk to the program directors but we just felt uncomfortable when she was around us.

Our host mom had been hosting students for many years by the time I stayed with her. I think she had a good idea of what kind of foods Americans did and did not like, so she tried to make meals that we were used to/would like. However, I wish we would have been able to eat more traditional Spanish meals.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I remember all of the trips we took as a group and I loved going on all of them. We went to the north of Spain and to the south and I couldn't believe how different they were! I am so glad we were able to see all the landmark buildings as well. These trips were a lot of fun.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

All health issues were properly addressed. I did not have any experiences with healthcare, so that is not applicable to me. The local drug stores were a lot different than the ones at home because if you needed to buy some medicine, which I did at one time for a cold, I couldn't just go pick something out myself. I had to tell the pharmacist what my symptoms were, and then she gave me something. There was nothing in my host country that I needed special shots for, prior to arriving there. All safety issues were properly addressed as well. I don't think there were any problems with our students.

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

The program ALWAYS wanted us to speak in Spanish. It was required for us to speak Spanish in the classroom and we weren't supposed to be caught speaking English in the hallways of the University. At home, we were allowed to speak whatever we wanted to in our bedrooms but we always spoke Spanish at the table during meals so we could converse with out host mom.

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• Host Family
• Apartment
• Other

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• Americans
• Host Family
• Other

• The professors
• The learning experience
• The directors

• Nothing