Living The Spanish Life Past Review
By Sarah P (Undeclared, University of California - Merced) for
University of California EAP (UCEAP): Madrid - Language & Culture, UC Center Madrid
My experience abroad has definitely made me aware of how foreign countries perceive Americans. I was asked multiple times if life in the states was really like the movie American Pie or MTV shows, which I found to be both embarrassing but humorous. Being in Spain and visiting a couple soccer stadiums has actually made me start watching soccer! :] The program definitely made me want to continue on learning Spanish, I am pretty motivated to become fluent because I want to go back and be able to communicate no problem. I am probably going to declare a Spanish minor when I get back to Merced.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The workload was manageable and the grading system was fair. Since the professors knew most of us had very little Spanish speaking and writing abilities, I feel that they gave us an appropriate workload where we won't feel overwhelmed. The education systems are pretty similar, its lecture and notes, but there wasn't as much use of PowerPoint like we have in the U.S. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I have nothing to complain about with the administration. They were always there to help people out when we needed them and we could talk to them about anything which was really nice. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I loved everything about my housing situation. From my host family, my roommate to the neighborhood; it was all perfect. |
| * Food: |
My mom knew I don't eat meat very much so she never pushed it on me and she was an amazing cook so everything was very satisfying. For future students I would say that spending a little more on a meal is a good idea because most of the cheap places we would go to the food wasn't good, but I rarely ate out so I don't really remember names of places. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I loved the excursions to Galicia and Segovia. I feel like if they wouldn't have taken to us to those places I probably would have never gone. Both places were beautiful and fun in different ways. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I felt that the city was safe where if I were to be walking around alone I wouldn't be paranoid. Safety advice for future students is: always be aware of your surrounding and watch your stuff. The pick-pocketers in Spain are very talented. Luckily while in Spain I didn't encounter any dangerous or health related issues. Also, there are no vaccines needed for the program. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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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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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Each week I probably spent about $30. Since I was only provided 2 meals I would buy lunch or snacks which are pretty cheap. A cheap place by the school is called VIPS. They are what I think of as the Spanish version of Dennys and you get good sized portions for cheap! |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | For the most part everyone had to pay for their own transportation to school which was buying a bus/metro pass which was about 47 Euro. It wasn't that big of a deal but it would have just been nice to know for budgeting purposes. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I think the highest college-level course taken in the language of my host country prior to departure was 2 semesters. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
I could practice my language with my roommate, host family, professor and the locals in Madrid. I did need to use the host country language everyday because my host mom does not speak English so in order to communicate with her I had to speak Spanish. The population that speaks English in Madrid is pretty big but the people were nice enough to let me practice my Spanish with them. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Intensive Introduction Spanish |
| Course Department: | SPAN32 |
| Instructor: | Raquel Ortega |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | The class was challenging but still enjoyable. The teacher was very prepared because since she was a local she obviously was fluent in the language but she also spoke decent English so it was helpful when we couldn't figure out how to communicate in Spanish. I think I participated more often than I do in the states. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No, I did not have any credit transfer issues upon returning to my home institution. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Spanish Civilization |
| Course Department: | Spanish45 |
| Instructor: | Martha |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | I really enjoyed the course, I learned a lot about Spain and it was cool to find out why things are the way they are there. I also liked going on the weekly field trips, it helped everyone get to know the city better. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I did not have any credit transfer issues. |
