When I first decided that I wanted to do an internship abroad, I was skeptical about the programs. I was very hesitant to join Adelante, but it ended up being such an amazing experience! I interned in Madrid for three months in the summer doing Digital Marketing. The Spanish classes at the beginning of the course were so helpful, and the internship itself was great experience. I met so many amazing people during my time in Madrid, and many of us were able to use our weekends to travel around together. I highly recommend this program. If you are having doubts, I completely understand, but I have 0 regrets about doing my internship with Adelante. My boss was great, and the program coordinators were always helpful. My housing was also in an amazing location - I could not have asked for better! Madrid is absolutely beautiful, and it is definitely a place I will want to return to in the future. This internship was truly one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had - for both interning and traveling!
What would you improve about this program?
The housing was really great, and I could not have asked for a better location. The apartment could have used some more maintenance, but overall my housing experience was still great!
Response from Adelante Abroad
Jonathan, thanks for taking the time to write out your thoughts however you are forgetting so many things! The most important one is of course, that you cheated on the language level test to get accepted into the program in the first place. Our Intern Abroad program requirements are pretty clear, published in many places for a reason, and a low intermediate level of Spanish is one of them. When a person applies, a free online language test is part of the initial application process. Accepted candidates do not have to be anywhere near fluent or advanced, but must have enough Spanish – a low intermediate level - to be able to understand a directive in the workplace and reply back in short sentences. The test results you sent us showed a solid B1, low intermediate, Spanish language level, therefore you were accepted into the program. Upon arrival in Madrid, however, you were unable to qualify for the BEGINNER level of the two weeks of Spanish classes included in all programs!
Then, on your first day at your contracted internship, in Spain, you were unable to understand a simple question and worse, replied back to your Spanish supervisor in English. Of course, they terminated your internship at that point, however they did offer to re-assess after a few more weeks of Spanish classes. This was a huge favor. They had your placement ready and waiting for you, projects lined up, a Supervisor scheduled to be in charge of you. And all that had to be cancelled. This is a successful, national corporation working in the Psychology arena, specifically with Alzheimer’s and other memory related illnesses. They were ready and waiting for you. It is logical that they terminated: you are in Spain, interning in a Spanish owned or run corporation and, again, while you do not need to be fluent, you do need, of course, to be able to understand and to be understood. Hence our stated language level requirement.
Our refund policy is also very clear and published in many places. We have reminded you, upon your request for a refund, that we provided all services paid for, and as contracted and in a timely manner. It certainly isn’t Adelante Abroad’s fault that you presented in all required documentation that you were an intermediate speaker, when you were actually pre-beginner upon arrival.
We stand by our very successful Intern Abroad programs, in operation since 1999, with literally hundreds of public reviews, the overwhelming majority of which are from candidates outlining strong and positive experiences overseas.