IES Abroad Reviews

IES Abroad in Santiago was the best semester so far of my college career. I was challenged and stretched on a daily basis, but it was worth every tear of frustration, every awkward moment, and every twinge of homesickness I ever felt. I made a spur of the moment decision to study in Chile and had no prior knowledge of the country nor any expectations. However, I encountered one of the most naturally beautiful, culturally interesting, and historically and politically stimulating countries. Being there to celebrate their national holiday, the dieciocho (September 18) was a highlight, and I felt a part of another culture. I learned about their history and political situation and how the United States has influenced that, and not always for the better. My host family, however, was what became the best part of my experience. That's a realization that hit me after being back in the States because in these last four months since being home, not a day has gone by when I don't think of them at some moment. And so now I'm still getting homesick, but this time it's for Chile.

Nantes is one of the most amazing cities I have ever been to. It's beautiful and full of so much culture. IES does a great job of helping students get to know the region through field trips and subsidizing events in the city. There is a lot of support from the staff and French teaching assistants and there are opportunities to get involved in the life of the French university through coursework and extracurricular activities.

Studying abroad in Buenos Aires with IES was one of the most enjoyable and lasting experiences I've had in college. Paradoxically, although the demand of the classes in terms of grade rewards are moderately low, I felt that my semester accounted for some of the most important and accelerated learning processes I've had in college; helping me to drastically improve my spanish, my knowledge about Argentina, and widen my perspective on both my and my country's placement in world relations and history. My classes are each amazing, the staff at the program couldn't be more lovable and available, and I have fallen in love with life in Buenos Aires and other parts of South America. I'm just itching to get back and live there again. It's rare that someone studying abroad hits the maximum level of immersion that they'd like, and it's difficult when you get to the end and have to go home without as many friends or as much fluency as you like. But it's a normal frustration and it gets better and can improve with extra effort. I'm very excited to go back and continue to build on the integration progress I made.

Don't worry overly much if your French is not perfect or that you won't understand what people are saying, you will be fine. Relax and enjoy the experience. However, make sure you attend classes regularly as too many absences will affect your overall grade in every course. Be sure to attend the class given by the staff on how to travel cheaply and safely. Great information!

The program allows participants to be immersed in life in London, from both an academic and social perspective. Classes, covering a wide variety of topics from theatre to media and politics, are often conducted outside of the classroom and take advantage of resources such as the Museum of London, West End theatres, and more. Housing is conveniently located at about a 15 minute walk from the IES center, and is located near King's Cross station, making all of London extremely accessible. The coursework at IES is challenging, but still allows for travelling on the weekends and enjoying all the London has to offer at night.

My experience in Barcelona was one of the most memorable things I've ever done in my life and I wouldn't change or trade it for anything! The IES Staff really made my experience a lot better by making me feel safer and more comfortable in a foreign environment. The culture of the area was unrivaled and it was very common to see cultural dancer and singer walking up and down the street performing. The traveling I did abroad really helped solidify my experience by giving me a broader viewpoint of the world and letting me experience a slice of life though the eyes of another culture. Overall this trip helped shape and develop myself by opening my eyes to the way other cultures and people live and interact. It really helped shape the person I am today.

To summarize this program in one word, IES-Beijing Language Intensive was fantastic. From the immersion to the language studies and the travel, there is no better study abroad program if you looking at Beijing.

There was a lot of studying involved, but it was never unmanageable--probably at most 3 hours per night. But the amount of Chinese I learned mad the studying enjoyable, since you knew you would be using the very same vocab and grammar the next day in class, or on the street talking with a friend or stranger. Plus, the largest language class I was in only had 6 students, so there was a ton of individual attention.

Outside of the language classes, I chose to take two area studies courses, both in the Political Science area. One class was Politics and Government of China, taught by a visiting professor from Australia, and the other was Social Movements and Labor Change in China, taught by a Chinese professor who works daily in that field. I have to say both classes were fascinating, the work load was never more than a few hours per week, and both professors kept small classes. The larger of the two only had 12 students. Plus the best part about classes--and this includes the Chinese language ones as well--is that they only met 4 times per week, since we had no class on Wednesdays.

In terms of housing, I lived in a dormitory owned by IES on the campus of Beijing Foreign Studies University. The dorms were nice, although the room are a lot smaller than most American college students will be used to. I also lived with a Chinese roommate, who was a student at the university. The best part about the dorm was that our classrooms were located right down the hall from our dorm rooms, since we didn't take classes directly with the university. But the halls and bathrooms were cleaned every day, the building was air conditioned for the warm months, and it became a very cozy and comfortable place to relax and unwind.

The one thing I will say about Beijing, and maybe China in general, is that if you are not the type of person that can laugh at yourself, you won't last long in Beijing. I once spent 20 minutes explaining with hand gestures that I wanted a napkin, but because I didn't know the word for it, I pretty much looked like a monkey in a zoo. The waitresses just laughed in my face, but I was fine with it since I knew I looked like a buffoon. If you don't have patience for these kinds of things, you'll find Beijing is a very tough place.

I had an incredible experience in Buenos Aires. I got really close with the family that I lived with, who I loved, and also had so much space to adventure and explore the city. Buenos Aires is such an eclectic, fantastic, fun city and IES really helped me have such a great experience there- through them, I met so many great people, enjoyed a lot of planned excursions, learned about the history and context in my classes, and improved my Spanish by a ton!

Following a semester in Beijing, the IES Kunming program provided a lot of perspective on China as a whole. I grew very close with my home stay family and hung out with a very diverse group of friends (We communicated in English and Chinese interchangeably).

I loved hiking in the New Zealand countryside. A friend and I did the Abel Tasman Great Walk, a five day hike on the northern tip of the South Island. Essentially, we were hiking for five days in one of the most beautiful environments I have ever seen. The people in New Zealand were very friendly and I never felt unsafe. It was the best semester of my college career.