Past Review
By Alison E (Spanish Language Teacher Education., Valparaiso University) for
Central College Abroad: Granada - University of Granada
I loved my experience so much.
Personal Information
| The term and year this program took place: | Fall 2009 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
I never needed to use Veronica so that was a plus. However, she seemed like she would have been able to take care of the problem. But, she was not in her office a lot of the times I needed to go to take care of simple things. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I loved in an apartment with an older woman and a roommate from my program. I got my own bedroom and shared a bath with my housemate. I lived on Camino de Ronda #93. <br /><br /> I had the best Senora who was very accommodating and nice. She made the program a great experience for me. |
| * Food: |
The Spanish food is just not for me. I am a very picky eater and don't like many things. Also, my Senora made a lot of food in the microwave which was not always the best quality. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We had three program sponsored trips: Madrid, Morocco, and Cordoba. Morocco was so great and I had a wonderful and eye opening time. The other trips were ok, not great. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I felt really safe in my house and the streets seemed reasonably safe. |
| 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? | I only spent money going out for drinks and tapas on the weekends. My host family provided everything else. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I used a lot more money to travel than I thought I would. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
I spent more of my time making friends and traveling than learning the language. That was a conscious choice and not the fault of the program. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | This was the most amazing experience of my life. I don't think I could have had more fun, made greater friends, or learned more in three months than I did in Granada. I think almost anyone would love this program. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Negocios en Espana |
| Course Department: | business |
| Instructor: | Emilio Irate |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | I thought this class would be a great class, but it ended up being really useless. Emilio did not really teach anything and he only made us do exercises from the book. He had no enthusiasm for the class and let the students dictate how much they wanted to work. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I have not done this yet. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
POE |
| Course Department: | POE 5A |
| Instructor: | Lola Fernandez |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | Lola was not a very good professor or a nice person. She said that she would review our compositions, but she ended up never looking at one of them. This did not help me improve or know what she was looking for in my work. She did not want to explain things we did not know and she did not have a lot of patience. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I have not dealt with this yet |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Grammar |
| Course Department: | Grammar 5A |
| Instructor: | Susana Diaz |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | This was a great class and I learned so much. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I have not dealt with this yet. |
| Course Name/Rating: |
El sistema de gobierno en Espana y EU |
| Course Department: | lengua y cultura |
| Instructor: | Rafa Vasquez |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | I thought this class was about the governments of Spain and the EU, but it ended up being about the history of Spain. I did not learn much from this class and never got my homework back so that I could improve. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I have not dealt with this yet |
