Learn Spanish in Barcelona with EF

My daughter was a student at EF Malaga. She was to stay in Spain with a host for 6 weeks and study the language. We, her parents, paid the tuition and housing, $4000, and she paid for her airfare and spending money, $3200.
She arrived on a Sunday morning and was picked up at the airport by EF transport. She was then taken to her host stay where she was dropped off at a 7th floor apartment, spoke briefly to her host, who then left, leaving my daughter alone. She had no food, water, and no idea of where to go or what to do next. She called us and thus began the first of daily phone calls to EF to discuss our student’s situation. Had we been told she would be dropped off, no host there, and no supplies, we could have prepared her for the situation. But we were never told she would be dropped off at a 7th floor apartment with no assistance, food, or water. She called me in tears and I called the EF emergency number. I had no help from the emergency number other than “this is homesickness and will pass.” I relayed to the EF Malaga team member she had no water or provision of any kind.

My daughter was placed in a host facility with 3 other minors - 16 or younger. NO EF team member offered any help or resolution to the lack of provisions and host presence. The apartment was not air conditioned and so my daughter asked for a fan. After 3 days of fan use, the host texted her to say the fan was running too much and would burn out the motor and was too expensive to run while sleeping. The new rule would be 2 hours on and 2 hours off. I called EF again to complain about the host situation and was told residence and dorms were full and there was not another host available. In addition, there was a dog in the home which was repeatedly left alone for the entire day. One text from the host was to tell them the dog was at home, locked in the tv room, throwing up, and the host would be gone for the day!

I called EF to request a change in host situation on Monday. The host home was not hospitable. Rules were posted in every room and the sleeping room for my daughter and a roommate was the size of a closet. She had no dresser, wardrobe, or other place to unpack and would live out of her suitcase for the next 6 weeks. There was a 10 minute bathroom limit which was enforced for the students but not the host. They were told you break it, you pay for it daily. There were texts from the host complaining about the bathroom conditions, and other details which were against the “rules” but these expectations were not verbalized or posted anywhere. The food was mediocre on a good day and most days it was served cold. On the second Friday, the host texted my daughter and her roommates and said she would not be cooking that day as food was being left on the plates and this was wasteful and costing too much money and she would not cook. I called EF again to let them know of the situation and was told this was acceptable and the Malaga campus would reach out to the host and the students. The host also refused to cook vegetarian meals for the vegan roommates. Additionally, we were told, and per our documents, the host would provide 2 meals a day. NEVER during her stay was she ever offered anything but dinner- she was never offered nor served 2 meals a day- ever. No resolution or follow up was made by the EF staff.

Every time I called EF, which was almost daily for 2 weeks, I was told my daughter needed to speak to the Malaga team on campus. She did speak with them and was repeatedly told, “you are homesick, yes. This will get better.” Which was dismissive and rude. Yes, homesickness will ease but the horrible host situation would not and never did improve.

I called EF almost daily and in most instances was told EF staff would follow up with an email or phone call. I was never once given any follow up for any call or inquiry I made. No attempt was ever made to change hosts for my daughter nor was anyone willing to follow up with me. Some days I had to call 2 or more times to try and get a resolution for issues.

Our concerns were dismissed and no EF staff member attempted to contact or help my student. I would never recommend the program to anyone - no matter the age. I feel like the host situation was deceiving. It was more of a youth hostel than a home and my student was continually harassed for being there and carrying on with her daily activities. My student, a 16 year old, was dropped off at a 7th floor apartment with no guidance, provision, or welcome. Her host left the evening my daughter arrived and did not return until after 10 with a man.

My daughter left the program early, the host conditions, rudeness, and dismissive behavior were intolerable. When I notified EF International of the early leave they expressed concern and wished they had known sooner so they might have reached out to help. They did know of the situation, had received daily calls from me, and my daughter had approached the EF Malaga team numerous times. They knew and chose not to intervene and help. In attempting to schedule a new transport time for departure we were told it might be an extra transport fee. I let EF know this was ridiculous as we were leaving with 3 weeks, and thousands of dollars, remaining and EF now is going to charge me for the INCLUDED transport fee. We were told she would know at least 3 days in advance of transport arrangements - once again, lies. We were told with less than 24hours before departure of the pick up details on leave day. EF International told me over the phone that someone would reach out to my student and let her know - all false. I had to call 2x and my daughter had to visit the EF Malaga office 3x before we were told her transport times. I did receive a follow up email letting me know my daughter’s departure was scheduled. THis is the only follow up I received from EF. IN addition, my daughter has now been home for 3+ weeks and no EF team member has ever followed up with questions, concerns, or comments. I would NOT recommend EF study abroad to any individual.

I signed up for 3 weeks in Malaga, and I liked it so much I extended my stay to 4 weeks! The social scene is great, you meet plenty of fun people and learn so much about other cultures. But you're meeting them all in english. Most people leave the spanish at school and don't want to go through the effort of socializing in spanish. So, try as you might, you won't really get a ton of speaking practice outside of school. As long as you apply yourself during the classes though, you'll still learn a lot. Not as fast as you do in some more focused programs, but that's the price you pay for the great social/party scene. Speaking of the party scene, if you are under 18 you simply aren't going to have as fun a time unless you have a group of other under 18-year olds who don't like partying, which I didn't see once during my summer. If you are under 18 and do like clubs and partying, I will say that the law is more of a suggestion there.
Also: the host families are awful. You are guaranteed to have a max of 5 kids in your host family... Except that rule is often broken. I was fortunate enough to switch from an awful family with 8 kids to the literal "#1 Host Family Malaga," so I ended up being ok. But my advice: don't spend the extra money to stay with a host family. You won't end up interacting with them and actually practicing spanish a ton, and you almost certainly will get something uncomfortable and dirty. But I won't end on that bad note; overall I had an amazing time and would definitely recommend it!

I went to Barcelona for 2 weeks through EF, and I wish I could have stayed for two years. It was the most freeing and amazing experience where I learned so much. My classes and teachers made learning Spanish feel so in reach, and I thrived being immersed. My Spanish skills got so strong, and on top of that I made so many friends and learned so much about myself and who I am outside of the bubble of the US. The activities were memorable, and even just within the city there was so much to do. I am so grateful I had the opportunity this summer and look forward to many more.

I'm writing this review as a parent of a 16 yr old daughter who just finished her summer language immersion course in Barcelona. EF Barcelona was an amazing experience for her, from the quality of the instructors, language classes, EF activities, new friendships to her homestay experience. I'd give it an A+ on all accounts as EF Barcelona went above and beyond our expectations. The daily immersion courses gave her the confidence to succeed, the instructors were caring and encouraging and the courses were challenging. The EF activities were super fun and affordable - from Spanish culture, sightseeing, cooking and sports activities. Her host family was the icing on the cake and gave her an incredible welcoming sweet and loving experience she could have wished for. She improved her language skills so much with the encouragement of her family and learned so much about the food, culture and daily family life. As a parent, it can be a little unnerving to send your teenager to another country especially during covid, but we are thrilled that we did.

EF Barcelona is truly the best language school if you want to learn Spanish. The teachers, Alba, Miguel, Natalia, are all so caring and truly want you to succeed. They want you to learn what you want to learn and are constantly adapting the class to fit your needs. Outside of class, the activities are always great and you get to truly explore Barcelona. The best way to learn is talking to the teachers who know so much about the city and showed me so many hidden gems across the city. I highly recommend!

My time in EF was very unique, as I stayed there in the middle of a worldwide pandemic that hit Spain pretty hard at the beginning. My first month and a half was the normal EF experience, and it was wonderful. The classes were of great quality, and EF was always very helpful with anything I needed. Then the pandemic arrived and most of the students left, however I stayed and was able to still have a good experience first in the Residence, and then later in a host family. We had online classes the rest of my time, and they worked very well. I ended up graduating from EF with a C1 in Spanish!

I went to Malaga for a month through EF, and it was an incredible time! The teachers were all amazing, and very kind! EF definitely is a lot about making money, but that didn’t effect my trip as much as others. Overall it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life. I had a host family, and they were incredibly sweet and accommodating. I am very happy I chose the host family because it definitely helped me learn much faster since I was much more immersed in the culture and language.

Definitely, when booking the trip I was scared and anxious, but this trip taught me how to be independent and overall expose myself to new things. I'd definitely say this was one of the most memorable things in my life I've ever done. I'd say that the best thing about this program was the immersion within the culture and so much more room individuals of any Spanish level can still grow at EF Barcelona. One thing I wish could be changed would be adding more trips to parts around Barcelona, but still was very pleasing and I would really recommend! you will make friends from all over that will become some of your closest friends. I'd definetly say don't hesitate to take the trip and become a local for your stay it really creates an unforgettable experience.