Granada Review

Granada: Small, but urban walking city. Beautiful Sierra Nevadas visible from the city. Beautiful views from walking up into neighborhoods near the amazing Alhambra. Fun tapas and big night life. Lots of pollution and poor air quality. Lack of good public transport, but walkable. Constantly changing climate, but when nice it is an incredibly lovely city.

Academics: The classes I take at the CLM have been very disappointing. I know they are aimed at students who are still learning the language, but they lack intellectual stimulation. For example, I am in one class during which the professor plays videos and we try to listen for the answers to basic questions. The course material is very basic, simple facts about many different places and cultures. It is less profound than any class I have taken since elementary school. It seems the professor has not put much effort into the course curriculum as she continues to show us video clips of poor quality and in some cases give misinformation. I have discussed these qualities of the course with other students who feel the same way. While some other courses are better, in general, the classes at the CLM lack depth. I also think the exam that places students at different levels doesn't provide accurate results, because it is simply a tedious multiple choice exam with a few essay questions, but no oral component. My grammar and written/oral practice classes are both very good. The seminars about specific themes are generally the ones lacking substance.
There is a lot of class time and very little homework which would be great if the classes were more engaging.

Program staff: Veronica is a great director with a great team. They organize great cultural events for us including the trip to Morocco, flamenco show, trip to Madrid, etc. Each are very approachable and Veronica is very reliable and easy to contact. She looks out for us and wants us to make the most of our experience here.

Exchange: It is great that the program sets us up with a local Spaniard to meet periodically and practice. However, the ratio of Americans to Spanish is poor and when there are about 5 of us and 1 of them, there isn't much opportunity to speak and the meetings are infrequent. It would be nice to organize smaller groups or even a 1 on 1 situation with more frequent meetings to really facilitate Spanish practice.

Though the program staff is great, the academics at the CLM are not theirs to design and have been a huge let down. Going to class is a frustrating experience.