Reviews of Spanish Study Abroad Programs from Past Participants

* I studied through a program at my U.S. university that took us to Salamanca, Spain, which is about 1 hour west of Barcelona. While Salamanca was a painfully small town, it was close enough to Barcelona that we were able to go their several times a week. We also took trips to Madrid and Portugal during the weekends. I don't necessarily recommend studying in Salamanca unless you know that you're going through a university that arranges for you to take trips on the weekends. We also stayed in apartments, which was really cool. I have friends that have stayed in families while studying in Spain and they didn't like it because they felt restricted. They learned better Spanish that I did though!

* I love the outdoors and I want to be a Spanish translator that takes immigrants on outdoors trips to help them get comfortable with themselves in their new country. I was an immigrant from Germany, so I can understand the feeling of not knowing anyone and feeling so foreign. So, I did a Spanish study abroad program in Costa Rica. While I was there, I went white water rafting and had many opportunities to head down to the river to kayak. I stayed with a family, which was cool because they really spent a lot of time helping me understand the culture and we went on trips all the time. I think that Costa Rica offers the best Spanish study abroad program opportunities of anywhere in the world. And it's a lot cheaper than going to Spain!

* During high school, I did a short study abroad through a program that took us to Argentina. When I got to college, I decided to major in Spanish and that I would spend a year studying abroad so I went back to Argentina. It was peaceful to live, but there was a lot of political unrest. My friends and I enjoyed visiting the Patagonia's and learned to kayak (everyone kayaks down there.) We also visited Chile and Brazil. Argentina was pretty cold for most of the time I was there -which I didn't really mind because it was so beautiful. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a Spanish language study abroad program. It was great for me!

* I studied Spanish for a semester in Madrid in college and really enjoyed it. Madrid is a huge city - but I really had the best study abroad experience there. I think the key to enjoying your study abroad experience - no matter where you go - is actually getting away from the group and into the city on your own. I loved just hanging out at the bars and wandering the streets by myself. Madrid and Barcelona are my two favorite cities in the world now because I spent so much time there on my study abroad.

* I did a backpacking trip around Europe and learned Spanish because two of the instructors were Spanish and taught courses in Spanish. Our group of 15 was exhausted by the end of the trip, but I think that backpacking around Europe really does allow for the most intense study abroad experience- as you get to see so much!