Best Experience of my life Past Review
By Kristen B (Business, Cuesta College) for
ISA Study Abroad in Valencia, Spain
I would love to do something with languages for the rest of my life
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The workload was relatively minor in comparison to Universities in the United States. However, I didn't know any Spanish when I went to study abroad, and in the end I could communicate really well. I am actually living back in Spain I loved it so much. One thing that I believe is essential, is you need to WANT to learn the language. I lived with other Spaniards when I came over seas, and that helped me out immensely. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Accessibility to the ISA office was always really easy. I felt I could trust them all and they were all there to help. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I needed to buy everythign minus furniture in order to settle in. As far as how I got the place, I was lucky enough to have a distant family member help me out. I lived close to the University with girls from all over the world and another spaniard. our only common language was spanish. |
| * Food: |
food here kills my stomache. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
went to morocco and camped out in the sahara desert... changed my perspective on life |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
medical here is nothing like it is in the United States. Prepare to pay the same cost and receive less. |
| 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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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
we only communicated in Spanish, which was really hard for me the first month, but after constantly being around it I just started picking it up, and this is from NO previous background in languages. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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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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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | You're only going to benefit as far as learning the language goes, if you truly want to put in the work to learn the language. |
