ISA in Salamanca, Spain
Study abroad with ISA in Salamanca, Spain at the University of Salamanca. This is the first program ISA ever offered, back in 1987, and it has retained a great reception through today. Salamanca is a great place to study in Europe, with a relatively close proximity to a major city (Madrid) and a retained cultural atmosphere relatively untouched by outside western influence.
Known to offer some of the best and purest Spanish language and culture courses in the world, the University of Salamanca is a great place to reach the next level in your Spanish proficiency. Sign up with ISA today to travel to this beautiful city, and have the trip of a lifetime!
Reviews
100%Overall
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80%Overall
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The staff at ISA Salamanca are incredibly helpful and always devoted to their students. Every question that they answer is with a smile, and it's positive that they enjoy their jobs very well. Salamanca is a stellar city to study abroad since it's basically a college town (where you will meet people from all over the world), and it's big enough to not get bored easily. You will find a lot of things to do and the historical charm of the city (like having classes next to the cathedral or seeing a 14th century monastery on your way to class every day) will surely add to that experience.
I think that this program is definitely worth it for those who are beginning to learn Spanish and those that are taking college courses with Spaniards in various fields.
90%Overall
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The ISA Salamanca program was great! The program staff were always willing to help and were available for assistance anytime we needed. The side trips that they took us on were amazing, well thought out and extremely fun! I loved my host family and ISA was great with setting them up. The University had amazing professors and great academics. My only complaint was that if you are not a big party person, look into another city Salamanca is a college town so there was a lot of partying and not as many other options for your free time.
90%Overall
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The program was incredible!
It started with a about a week of sightseeing in Madrid and Toledo before coming into Salamanca where we took our classes.
The ISA staff were great about helping us with our class schedule and offered tutoring help in the office. Nearly every weekend there was an included trip to another Spanish city. They even did some great tours and educational things in Salamanca.
The home stays were amazing and students were generally crying when they left. I was in an apartment where I met people from all over the world. Food was amazing.
ISA was there for us when we needed help, but didn't come down on us all of the time or stand over ours shoulders.
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Alumni Interviews
Interview with Will Haynes, ISA Salamanca alum
GO: Why did you decide to study abroad with ISA in Salamanca, Spain?
Will: I was at a friend's house talking about our upcoming college classes and our mutual distaste in be required to take a foreign language. I was looking through the course catalog online when I stumbled onto a link to study abroad. Ohio State has a program where you can go to Mexico for a quarter and count it as 3/4s of the language requirement...you only had to take the first class. I suggested this to my friend as a quick way to get out of the class as well as get to travel. She liked the idea, but suggested that we go to Spain instead...if you're going to travel, why not travel somewhere far away, right?
So, I started looking at options for studying abroad in Spain. During that time, I also took two Spanish classes and was surprised to find that I really enjoyed learning another language. My friend and I had a good year to plan, so we looked at different options. After the end of the first quarter, she decided that she didn't want to study abroad...but I was set on the idea. Ohio State didn't have any programs that went to Spain, but it looked like there was a loose partnership with ISA...so I signed up.
(Unrelated, I later found out that I would not be getting credits for the classes I was taking and ended up having to take the remaining Spanish classes when I returned, thus delaying my graduation. This was an issue with Ohio State, not with ISA).
GO: What made studying abroad a unique and special experience?
Will: My family is not known as being adventurous. My father's first plane ride and first glimpse of the ocean didn't happen until after he was 50; everyone tends to be happier close to home. I've always been different in that I like seeing the world. In fact, trying explain why I wanted to go to Spain was nearly impossible - my parents just didn't get it.
For me, this trip was big. I had never been anywhere by myself for that length of time before. After my friend backed out, I was going to Salamanca without knowing anyone. I later found out that there were people from my college on this trip, but not people I had ever met before. Not only would I be studying Spanish at one of the oldest universities in Europe, I would be living in a completely different culture. It was both exciting and scary.
The program was special because it forced me out of my comfort zone and made me grow. I ended up testing into a higher level that I would have though....and thus had to work hard to keep up. I remember being extremely frustrated because of the initial demands of class, but rising to the challenge made me not only a stronger Spanish speaker, but a stronger person in general.
Doing this program gave me a strong confidence and also served as a home base for other travels through the summer. While ISA had several weekend excursions for us, there was also time to do some exploring on my own. I was able to do a trip to Morocco, Portugal, and even ran with the bulls in Pamplona. After the program ended, I took advantage of my location to backpack Europe...something I doubt I would have ever been able to do on my own.
I made friends in Salamanca from all over the world. I mostly ran around with a girl from Greece and one from France, and I made rather good friends with a guy from Korea. With that, I made friends with people over the U.S....some of who I still talk to once in a while today.
GO: How has this experience impacted your future?
Will: Currently, I work for a company called Rustic Pathways. We do community service, language, and adventure programs for high school students (similar to study abroad in some aspects) - I work in Costa Rica for about half of the year organizing and running these programs. Had it not been for my travel experiences in Europe and my familiarity with Spanish (even thought Costa Rica pretty much speaks a different kind of Spanish), I would have never gotten this position. Now, I get to not only encourage students to see the world, but I get to continue seeing the world myself.
Further Info
About ISA
ISA distinguishes itself as a study abroad provider by its commitment to each individual student. ISA services are available to students, parents, faculty and advisers throughout the study abroad process. In addition to the ISA team in the U.S., ISA offers study abroad students constant support through resident directors available in study abroad locations globally.
Everyone at ISA is proud to be a part of offering a high quality study abroad experience to American and Canadian college students at an affordable price. We recognize that we play an important role in the worldwide effort of international educators to increase awareness of cultures and societies outside of each student's national boundaries. Our programs are designed to maximize our participants' learning abroad, and we understand that most college students need support and expert guidance before, during and after their time abroad.
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