La Almudena, Madrid Spain. Photo by Isaac Garcia
Having participated in a study abroad program while in graduate school at Marshall University, I recommend everyone, if given the opportunity, try studying abroad. Not only is it an affordable way to see the world, it’s a very effective way to learn a foreign language.
My program was based in Madrid, Spain at the Universidad Antonio de Nebrija. I did take some high school and college Spanish courses. But, honestly, nothing prepares you to go to into a non-English speaking country and live…especially if you are an American. Not many Americans can speak other languages, myself included. One study found that only 26% of Americans can hold a conversation in a second language. But, if you’re passionate about learning a foreign language, nothing will make you learn quicker than being thrown into a foreign country where you have to learn. That’s why I did it, to learn a foreign language and to affordably explore the world, or in my case, to explore Spain.
So, how can these programs be affordable? It’s very simple. Study abroad programs are not just about sitting in a classroom. Most of the programs provide excursions, events, activities, transportation, a place to stay, all your food in addition to your tuition and supplies for school. All of these things are included in the cost of the program. If you were to book a similar trip with all of this included (minus the tuition), you would likely be spending quite a bit of money. We’ll use my program as an example. I was in Madrid for a little over a month and I paid only $2,000 (not including airfare) for everything…food, a place to stay, excursions, transportation, entrance fees, tuition…everything already mentioned (this figure is from 2004). The only money you would need to bring with you is to buy souvenirs if you wanted. I took only $400 pocket money for an entire month and it lasted me the entire month. It would be difficult finding a bargain like that on your own.
The schedule you keep while you are studying abroad is often full of free time to use however you want. I’ll use my program again as an example. I would go to classes from 9am-2pm Monday through Friday and have my afternoon, evenings and weekends all to myself. I had plenty of time to discover Madrid during the week and plenty of time on the weekends to take the university sponsored excursions to Toledo, Salamanca, and Segovia (which were already paid for). Many historical sites have no admission fees, so explore away.
Or, you could opt out of the university sponsored excursions and use your weekends to explore wherever you wanted. A few of my classmates took the train to Paris one weekend for example. I and a few other classmates decided to use one of our weekends and head to Pamplona for the annual Festival of San Fermin (a.k.a. the Running of the Bulls).
Of course, you can make your own weekend trips as expensive or inexpensive as you like, but I say sometimes its better to have no money than lots of it. Otherwise, you’ll miss the adventure. For example, my classmates and I made the trip to Pamplona as inexpensive as possible (not that we had a choice). Hopping on a bus for the five hour trek to Pamplona, our roundtrip ticket was 50 euros. We had no hotel waiting for us once we got there. This probably wouldn’t have been our first choice, but we really had no choice. In order to get a hotel room in Pamplona for the San Fermin Festival you have to reserve it at least a year in advance. So, arriving in Pamplona around midnight the morning before the bulls were set to run, we wondered the streets finding local coffee shops to hang out and locals to talk to. The Festival of San Fermin is a huge event, so people go all out. And, by all out, I mean…drunk, which was entertaining. So, we experienced a very very interesting night, but none of us would have had it any other way…it was a unique experience you only get to have once. And, if we would have made it an expensive weekend, we would have missed out on an adventure.
Study abroad programs are not for everyone. Here are a few words of wisdom for those considering a study abroad program. If these things aren’t for you, then I wouldn’t attempt a study abroad program:
- You do have to live with a native host family…sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you do not. I did not…I often had to listen to the lady of the house yell constantly at her 3 teenage daughters…sometimes in the middle of the night.
- You do have to eat the food your host family serves you…its rude not to. Sometimes it’s tasty and sometimes it’s not. I often wrapped mine up in a napkin and threw it out the next morning on my way to class. Most of my $400 was spent on food at local restaurants.
- You will have to learn the language of the country you are in…and yes…it can be very frustrating, but it can be done.
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