An experience I will talk about for many many years to come. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I loved my educational experience at Centro de Lenguas Modernas which was a part of the University of Granada, Spain. It was so refreshing to see how the professors viewed their jobs with the upmost importance. Through my small classroom experience here I felt as though I always left the day ready to utilize what I learned in the real world. My professors were caring, knowledgeable, challenging, and overall supportive in meeting each student at their level and helping them progress by the end of the month.

On-site administration of your program

They were awesome! Whether it was a question on what to do over the weekend to just a typical week day night or help with academics, SOL Spain staff never failed to meet my expectations! Highly recommend them for future students!

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

It was very normal. I rate it this way because my mom was very kind, motherly, and cooked the best food! However, when comparing to other student's homestay mine seemed like she did the minimum in a sense, never really took us around the city or went to free events with us around Granada. I loved her and had a great experience, I just feel like it could've been better if we got to share more of our city experiences with her as well.

The food is not what I expected...a LOT of olive oil of course, bread, and lentils. I figured out my favorites really fast: Tortilla España, croquettas, paella (of course), and natilla for dessert. (There was a lot of American food served here as well)I loved trying these new foods and looking forward to cooking them for my family here in the US!

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

I definitely felt integrated in their daily lifestyle such as their different schedule, the delicious food, the social night aspect, etc. However, I did feel like it was difficult to meet locals my age (probably the only way I did this was through the intercambios in Granada). I really tried to take advantage of the free events going on throughout the city and that is where I have some of my favorite moments such as fashion shows in the plaza, the festival of music and dance, free movies in the park and the guitar concert. Therefore, Granada made it easier to learn and feel a part of their culture through these free nightly events!

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I actually had an episode of hives during one of my final weeks and just went to a pharmacy on the way back from school (probably passed 5 every day). It wasn't the same as a Walgreens, but the pharmacist helped me get the Spanish brand of Benadryl and all was well. The pharmacy has EVERYTHING

Felt VERY safe here. I have grown up in a city, so Granada was very small compared to my home city. It was nice though because people would be walking around until the wee hours of the night, so you never felt like you were alone when walking back home or you could always call a taxi if needed. Never once felt like my safety was threatened.

Of course. When I learned I could not do a semester abroad, I told my advisor I wanted to study abroad in the longest amount of time for the cheapest way possible. SOL Education abroad was the perfect answer to that! Throughout my 8 week program I was challenged to meet all new people, adapt to a completely new culture, gain a better understanding and confidence with the Spanish language, try new foods (pig's blood), go on excursions unique to Spain, and SOL provided all that for me. I am definitely forever grateful for this program and I can't wait to share it with future prospective students looking into this program.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Before going over you have already spent a good amount of money on the program cost in general and that cost covers housing, food (3 meals a day), cultural activities, etc. Therefore, you spend what you want to and can spend. I probably spent more than I liked to because I wanted to travel on weekends and went to get tapas with friends a lot. However, I do think it was easy for me not to spend money when I didn't need to, Granada offers so many free events that we really tried to take advantage of (our expenses came from traveling mainly outside of Granada for weekends). Definitely do not regret spending any of the money I did, everything was worth it in my mind!

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

All of our program directors and guides were fluent in both Spanish and English, therefore, it was always encouraged to try our best to communicate in Spanish because that is the main reason we were abroad in the first place.

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• Other
• Host Family

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• Americans
• Host Family

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• Americans
• International Students

• The people hands-down! (the program directors, other students, host family, etc.)
• the city of the mountains and the beaches, Granada was a perfect location for me!
• becoming more confident in my Spanish language skills

• communication can always be improved becuase there are always new things/place/events to be shared
• maybe keeping the 2 month students involved more in SOL activities (becuase usually in July they are kind of given the time to do their own thing)

The Academic or Linguist