Adelante Abroad

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This program was a great experience for me. I enjoyed the independence that was allotted to me, while I also felt that I had all the resources I needed to be comfortable and safe. Ecuador is a great place to meet many people from all over the world and travel on a budget. I lived with a warm and welcoming family that took great care of me. I would highly recommend this program to anyone who is looking to have real work experience abroad, with the comforts and resources of a traditional study abroad program.

I chose to enroll in this program because I knew the value of having international experience in a field (law) I that I plan to enter all while improving my Spanish skills. Personally speaking, Madrid was the ideal place to pursue an internship because I had already traveled there before with my family and I was confident enough in my Spanish speaking abilities to work in a zero English environment. I hit the jackpot with my job placement and boss as he was one of the most friendly and hospitable people I've ever met. We never seemed to have issues communicating with one another and I can say that I learned a good deal from my internship that will certainly help me down the road.

What would you improve about this program?

What would have been an otherwise perfect 10/10 experience was unfortunately marred by one seemingly avoidable problem within the apartment. Before I explain, let me say that the apartment definitely had its pros, i.e. close proximity to the language school, centrally located near the Puerta del Sol, good size, clean bathroom and kitchen, etc. Now with all of that being said, a lack of one simple thing was never disclosed before agreeing to do this program: air conditioning.

Before you rush to judgement and think why I could not just simply accept things for what they were and deal with the heat, let me tell you that for my entire life I have lived in South Louisiana, a place where 100% humidity exists year round along with temperatures that typically stay in the 90's practically every season except winter. The stereotypes you hear are true: the vast majority is an uninhabitable swamp.

Let me be honest, Madrid in the summer is undeniably hot, and I was well aware of this coming in. In addition, A/C is not super common in Spain unlike the US. After a few nights trying to get a good night's sleep in what quite literally felt like someone's attic, I quickly realized that the one basic fan provided to me in my room simply was not going to cut it for my two month stay. I then began to start asking around on how to turn on the A/C units found in every room plugged into an outlet. First, I asked my apartment supervisor about it only to be told that they don't work and he revealed to me that Madrid is very hot in the summer. Okay, got it. My plan B was to email the Adelante supervisors, who I must say are extremely friendly and helpful people and do everything they can from a desk in California and for that, I do not mean this as a knock against them. It was then that they regretfully informed me that the A/C in the apartment never works but that was a good tradeoff for living in the middle of town. Had I known that this would be the case going in, I would have elected to live on the outskirts of town and with reliable A/C rather than where I was, without question.

One other tiny thing that was neglected was a sort of transportation back to the airport on the day that I left Madrid. I found this surprising due to that fact that Adelante does provide a pickup from the airport upon arrival, which was super convenient, yet I was told that I needed to figure out how to commute to the airport for myself on short notice.

Like I said, my experience with this program was overall a very positive one. I consider myself lucky to have had both a great boss and internship itself. I'm extremely grateful for those things and achieved my ultimate goal in the process of improving my Spanish. I realize that what this company does is not exactly easy and hiccups are bound to happen from time to time. I just wish the company would have been a little more up front about things like these before I pulled the trigger on this because quite honestly, a good night's sleep became a coveted luxury during my time there.

Response from Adelante Abroad

Davis, thanks for the great review. Your supervisor at the Law firm where you did your internship in Madrid wrote a very solid and glowing evaluation of your time with him also, so good job! About the heat: this summer was the hottest on record in Madrid since they have been recording weather. It was crazy. We do advise in the Pre-Departure Orientation materials that A/C is pretty rare in downtown Madrid, where our housing is. We also advise that airport pickup is included, and airport drop off at the end of the program is not. I know it is a lot of reading but this information is definitely included in there.
We offered to change housing for you and two others who really struggled, like locals and visitors alike did, with the heat. We found another apartment, a bit farther out, but with A/C. No one moved! I think a combo of the temperatures lowering and the location made people stay put? Not sure, but when we heard from a few of you that it was unbearable we did secure another apartment. In hopes you use your Spanish every day now and thank you again for the 10/10 note in there (minus the heat!) Team Adelante

By Allison Munder on August 15, 2017

My time in Sevilla was incredible, I know Adelante has the option for Barcelona, Madrid, and Sevilla, but Sevilla is by far the best. I visited Madrid and in 2 seconds was so grateful I picked Sevilla. My friend went to Barcelona and she said, though it was beautiful, the people were not as nice. Andalucia overall has a stronger since of culture and the locals are so friendly and proud the be from there. My internship was really great in the since that I had a lot of important work to do and I was able to network with a lot of successful people. The only negative was that I had to work in English because I was at an online newspaper and there couldn't be any mistakes. The language courses made a huge difference in my experience and were the best part of it all. After the classes I kept improving my Spanish, but it is all up to you. You have to be willing to stick you neck out and just talk to people. The Adelante staff were really helpful and checked in on me all the time, the only person that was a problem was my landlord. He was unresponsive or would say he would do something but never follow through. I still have things that need to get fixed since my first day and I am leaving day after tomorrow... At least when I complained to my Adelante contact about not having an iron she was able to get him to give me one after he said that he wouldn't. Overall though my trip was incredible and I would do it again in a heart beat. The social scene is really fun, it is a lot of outdoor seating areas in plazas. There are places to go dancing too, but it is a really relaxed vibe. I loved going out I always felt safe and the people were friendly. I definitely recommend coming here. Just a heads up it is insanely hot, but usually it is dry so its not unbearable.

What would you improve about this program?

Apartments with A/C
Making sure there is at least partial Spanish involvement with work.
Help educate participants about international meetup groups outside the program.

Response from Adelante Abroad

Ariana! Thanks for the glowing review and it seems you fell in love with Andalucia (the region of Spain where Sevilla is located.) We here at Adelante HQ love and visit regularly all of our program cities, but Sevilla definitely holds a special place always.
Thank you too for the heads up about the landlord at your housing, and his reluctance to repair things. We have spoken to him and have implemented a check list that we will go over with him just prior to each new candidates arrival. If something on the checklist is incomplete, he will rectify prior to us allowing our candidate to enter the housing. While we can't do much about the A/C we can certainly do this!
We hope you return to Sevilla, your second home now, many times in your life (one of our past candidates in the Sevilla program from 2010 returned and married a girl from Sevilla and now lives there permanently! It really is that kind of place) Team Adelante

By Allison Munder on August 15, 2017

Adelante is a great program for those interested in improving their Spanish language skills as well as achieving personal and professional growth. Kingsbrook Language School in Barcelona is an excellent institution that provides students with a good learning environment as well as the opportunity to meet other people at varying levels of language acquisition. Adelante supports their interns while also giving them the independence to make the most of their experience abroad. Great communication and support both at home during the application process and while abroad!

The program staff was extremely supportive and involved prior to departure and throughout the duration of the program. My host family was amazing, and my internship could not have been better. The one-on-one Spanish courses for two weeks prior to beginning my internship were extremely helpful as well. The program director/contact in Ecuador works with other organizations all over the world, so I was able to meet volunteers from this program as well as many others.

I decided to join Adelante's program back in March of 2017 for an internship starting in June of 2017. It was a little last minute, but Adelante worked with me to get everything I needed done in time! I stayed in Barcelona for 2 months (June to July) and had an amazing time! My favorite part of the summer were the 2 weeks of Spanish classes that you take in the beginning (my focus this summer was improving my Spanish and these classes are what helped me the most). My internship was actually at the language school that I took classes at. I'm a psychology major interested in human resources so I worked with the coordinators on conducting feedback from their English Professors. My internship could have been better in terms of having more work to do during the week, but I loved the staff and enjoyed the experience. Finally, as a city, you can't beat Barcelona! It has everything to offer, but the beach is the #1 perk. If you're debating between Madrid, Seville, and Barcelona, just choose Barcelona. You won't regret it.

What would you improve about this program?

My one concern after finishing this trip, is that I feel like I could have done what I did for less money had a found everything on my own. I understand that Adelante is a business that requires money to operate. I also understand that I am paying for the convenience of other people doing the hard work of finding accommodations and internship placements. However, knowing what I know now about the cost of living in Barcelona, I would be interested to know more specifically the breakdown of what my program fee went to because I understand now that a lot of it went towards Adelante rather than housing and tuition for classes like I originally thought. That being said, the program fee at Adelante really is lower than most other programs, and Adelante is professional, friendly, and supportive!

A sunset view of Barcelona from the top of Montjuic

Response from Adelante Abroad

Hola Cassidy. Thank you for the strong review and excellent details. I am writing about your comment about organizing your airport pickup, classes, housing and internship on your own. The goal is that, next time, you do! It really is near impossible to do so the first time abroad, which we know from first-hand experience: taxi drivers can triple charge a jet lagged, young student on arrival; landlords can ask for an exorbitant deposit and then never return it, or simply raise the rent and if you don't pay, remove you; companies say they want you as an intern, then either never sign a contract with you, and you are unprotected and at the whim of random staff members, or simply stop returning emails and phone calls. These are just a few examples of what we here at HQ have experienced and what we eliminate, for a fee, ever happening. Thank you for acknowledging that we are the most economical Intern Abroad and Study Abroad provider on the market. This is our goal, so more people can live, intern and learn abroad. Team Adelante

By Allison Munder on August 15, 2017

I was with Adelante for their two-month program in Barcelona under Business Marketing. I would say I had a really fun overall experience. I met so many people all over. Most of them are from the U.S. I'm from California and everyone else was from the east coast. Those friends that I've met were my family in Barcelona for all two-months I was here. We all went out together and traveled together.

The two-week language school, Kingsbrook, is intense, but I learned a great deal and I had to start my internship right when I got to Barcelona so my schedule was jammed pack. It was my decision, not Adelante. However, I don't know the difference between Adelante program and Kingsbrook. I had more connections through Kingsbrook than I did with Adelante. I'm not quite sure. Overall, I'm thankful for the program that took the effort to find my internship. Furthermore, I had an amazing time!

I initially got in contact with Adelante because of a lack of graduate student internships offered in my Master's program. When I heard that they had so many different types of internships, specifically a dedicated translation internship (I'm currently getting my M.S. in translation) I decided I had to take the leap and just go for it.

I had really wanted to live abroad again but wanted to experience Europe this time and on my own terms (I studied in Buenos Aires, Argentina during undergrad). Madrid is an absolutely amazing city, I would 100% come back here. Adelante took care of all the housing and internship placement which was SO nice. My apartment was much bigger than the apartment I have back home and it was in the perfect location.

Although I was initially hesitant about why I had to attend Spanish classes at the language school I was really glad the 2 weeks were required. The teachers were all really nice and just tried to get us talking while teaching us in a very practical manner.

I know from experience how hard it can be to find reputable international internships, I get it. Honestly, I got so lucky that I found Adelante. They did all the planning, apartment-hunting, interviewing and arrangements for me so that I could focus on just enjoying my experience. The internship was great, I learned so much and now I have something truly impressive to put on my resume when I get home. If you want a truly unique summer experience and a rigorous internship, Adelante is for you.

What would you improve about this program?

I think that the program could be improved with weekly or bi-weekly language classes included in the program fee. I would have loved to have kept going to some of the classes just to get some conversation hours in but unfortunately it was too expensive. Being able to opt-in to these classes would have been great.

I participated in the ecology and countryside management branches at the SRUC Oatridge campus. The lecturers that provided me with projects were so incredibly helpful. Anytime I needed help or had a question there was ALWAYS someone there who went above and beyond to make sure my question was answered. Throughout my time there, I learned a lot about the ecology of Scotland and how it differs from the environment that I am used to at home. I also made some lasting friendships with some of the locals that I met while staying in the dorms. Scotland is full of experiences for any type of person, and it was an experience that I would urge more people to take part in.

What would you improve about this program?

The best improvement that I could suggest for this program is more help or detailed information on public transportation, especially at the SRUC Oatridge campus. The campus is fairly rural and it was a little stressful trying to figure out how to get places.

I have an amazing time here in Scotland. I got a lot of hands-on experience in the field of psychology and it started my interest in the realm of research. I was able to conduct and create some of my own experiments. The professors were able to give me a new perspective to the way that psychology applies to everyday life. The location of the apartment was stellar and so close to the most lively parts of Edinburgh. This experience has been a super helpful and interesting. Loved it!

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