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Study Abroad Program Review of Centro Panamericano de Idiomas (CPI): Heredia - CPI Language Center

Submitted by JBJ (Biology,female,New Mexico State University) on July 24th, 2010

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Academics
Language
Housing & Food
Culture & Health
Final Opinion

Personal Information

Start Date:

May 17, 2010

End Date:

Jun 11, 2010

International exposure prior to program?

6 months+

Academics Overall

**Overall educational experience:

**Comment:

This was a great program that had a great cirriculum to learn Spanish. Everyone was so friendly and helpful and being fully emerged in the language helped me pick the language up even quicker. I really loved the small classrooms. I felt like the individual attention is what I needed to accel in the Spanish language.

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Course Title:

Intermediate Spanish 1

Course Department and Number:

SPAN 211

Instructor:

Longwell

Language of Instruction:

Spanish

Please comment on the course:

This class was at the level I needed. It was challenging, the professor was very helpful and I feel like it helped me a lot to improve my speaking skills.

Please rate the course overall:

Did you have any credit transfer issues upon return to your home institution? If so, what would you suggest to other students?

Not that I know of

Course

**Course Title:

Intermediate Spanish 2

**Course Department and Number:

SPAN 212

**Instructor:

Longwell

**Language of Instruction:

Spanish

**Please comment on the course:

This was a nice continuation of the first intermediate spanish. The diaries and the quizzes wer challenging and helped me really learn.

**Please rate the course overall:

**Did you have any credit transfer issues upon return to your home institution? If so, what would you suggest to other students?

Not that I know of.

Language Overall

Foreign language component?

Yes

**Language acquisition improvement?

**Comment:

I practiced Spanish with my host families, the teachers at school, as well as my fellow classmates. I definitely needed to use it everyday because none of my host families spoke English and my teachers spoke limited English. Also, for transportation purposes I needed to speak Spanish. Most of the people did not speak English but English was spoken in the tourist areas.

Host Country Program Administration Overall

**On-site administration of your program:

**Please explain the program's strengths and weaknesses:

Everyone was really friendly and nice to talk to. They had so many activities offered and would really take time to help you learn and understand the language and cultural differences. The classroom size was great and all my expectations were met ans surpassed.

Housing Overall

Living arrangements? (all that apply):

Host Family

Hostel

Who did you live with?

Host Family

If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?

**Housing satisfaction:

**Comment:

The families that I stayed with were great. I felt very safe and was in beautiful areas of the towns. In Heredia it was a little far for me but there were plenty of things to do in the evenings. I bought only a few snaks but nothing to really settle in. I was treated like family from all of my host families. It was great.

Food Overall

**Food satisfaction:

**Comment:

Everything was great, rice and beans just got old but I understand that is cultural preferences. They would give me anything that I wanted and were respectful of my no seafood diet.

Safety and Health Overall

**How well were health issues addressed through your program?

**Safety:

**Comment:

The people of Costa Rica are extremely friendly but there is a lot of theft. Just make sure you keep all of your valubles locked in your host family's house or keep them in front of you at all times. I didn't have any health issues so have no experience with the health care.

Money Overall

**How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?

General Assessment Overall

**Words of wisdom:

To get as much as possible out of this experience, you must be willing to try new things, eager to learn, and not shy about meeting new people. You can't expect life to be like it is in the US but be willing to fully experience the culture

**If you could do it all over again, would you choose the same program?

Yes

**Overall satisfaction with your study abroad experience:

**Was your study abroad experience worthwhile?

This experience was totally worthwhile. I learned so much about the country, have gained a new appreciation of those from different countries, have been humbled by all that we have here in the US, and gave me an eagerness to continue practicing the Spanish language. This has confirmed even more that I would like to work overseas some day.

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Study Abroad Program Review of Centro Panamericano de Idiomas (CPI): Heredia - CPI Language Center

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