Language immersion in Santiago Past Review
By Lydia Fanning (Colby College) - abroad from 02/27/2019 to 07/15/2019 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Santiago
Confidence in Spanish and independence living in a city alone.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I loved my independent study advisor and my internship. The university I attended in Chile was great as well. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Directors were available to help and we often saw Juan, which was great. I found that the program could sometimes ask too much of ya and many students seemed overwhelmed by the additional work that the program assigned in addition to classes, internship and independent study. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I got along with my host mom but was not often cooked for and was left alone often, and I did not have a family since her children lived elsewhere. I was allowed to switch after 3 months but that process was made difficult by the on-site administrators. |
| * Food: |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The language pledge, cultural outings, internship and mentors helped me feel very integrated. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Juan accompanied me to the hospital once and was very helpful. However, I would recommend that Middlebury update their list of therapists in Chile. I met with someone who was not fluent in English although she was promised to be, and was quite expensive and not quite effective. On my own, I then found another therapist, but it took a long time. |
| * Safety: |
Transportation safety could be difficult because taxis are quite dangerous but overall it was easy and safe. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I learned a lot of Spanish and loved my academics. |
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) |
Santiago was averagely expensive. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $100 |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | A conversation and composition course, 5th level at my college. |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
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? | To be patient and forgiving with yourself. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Culture class |
| Course Department: | Middlebury |
| Instructor: | Juan pastene |
| Instruction Language: | Spanish |
| Comments: | This course was interesting but could have been a lot more organized. We were often notified the day before and we all had different schedules so it was hard to figure out timing. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
