Program Reviews

If you are wondering whether to do the CIEE program or non-CIEE auxiliar program, hopefully this will provide some insight. Benefits of CIEE are the 24 hour support (although rarely used) and health insurance (also rarely used). Another benefit (the biggest one) is the in-person orientation that provides an opportunity to make friends easier. Other than that, the two programs are very similar. CIEE provides little support with housing and visa and iNEXT insurance is a scam. CIEE does makes things slightly easier/nicer with guaranteed placement in Madrid and they have loads of information about the TIE residency card process, but is it worth the $2000 price 🤷‍♀️ . From non-CIEE auxiliares I’ve met, it seems like they just had to go search for the information, making things a bit more difficult and maybe more stressful. It just depends whether you want to spend over $2000 to have the information already collected and get guaranteed placement in Madrid. Otherwise, the housing, the visa, and the insurance is pretty much the same. You cannot go wrong with either 😊

I have had three great experiences with CIEE. My family hosted two exchange students, one from Spain and one from Germany, when I was in high school. Both are now a part of my family. Now I am participating in the Teach in Spain program. I have received a lot of support both before and after I arrived in Spain, especially with completing important documents. Plus, the week of orientation when I arrived helped me start to get acquainted. I would recommend studying abroad or working abroad through CIEE!

CIEE is an incredible program that provided great resources and guidance. I would recommend this program to anyone. Not only did they provide resources for the whole pre departure process, but they also have an in-country orientation which allows you to meet people and start getting to know the area you will be living. Prior to my decision to do the CIEE program I did a lot of research about study abroad programs and I could not find a bunch of information. So now I am providing that information that I could not find. I 100% recommend CIEE to anyone.

I am going to teach in Spain for a second time and I have also been in their volunteer program. CIEE's support is outstanding. From the beginning of filling out your application, to orientation, and until the last day in Spain, their support has been great. I have been told that there are other companies that provide assistance to teach abroad but they have a very poor support systems. CIEE is worth every penny. Spain itself is amazing, the people are wonderful and very welcoming. The teachers are great, so willing to help you on every level and the children are well behaved (mostly of course), very curious to learn more about you. Be open to a new culture and you will be rewarded more than you can imagine.

CIEE is a relatively expensive program and I wish I realized earlier that the 3-day hotel stay was an option, as it is roughly $1000 cheaper than the 7-day hotel stay that I did. Nonetheless, orientation was well-executed and prepared me to teach at a secondary school in Madrid. Working hours are great, roughly 16 hours a week with added hours for course planning, but never more than 20 hours a week including this. Everyone works 4 days a week, so you will either get Friday or Monday off. I have Mondays off and I love it!

I have had the best experience so far!! CIEE was so helpful in helping with my visa & application process, and the in-country orientation was so helpful, and a great way to meet people! Living in Madrid has been incredible from the food, to the people, to how convenient it is to travel all over Europe! I love my students, and my coworkers have been so supportive and are so fun to work with!! I have loved this opportunity to work, travel, and love in a brand new country for the first time. Cannot recommend enough :)

The program helps prepare you for becoming an ESL teacher abroad and provides a variety of tools and opportunities to expand learning. You are assigned to an 11-week class with a teaching practicum on the side, and you are expected to complete everything in a timely manner. If you do fall behind, it can be hard to catch up, but you get a lot of great information from the lectures, plenty of practice in the assignments, and a lot of support from your tutor. I wish the content was more consistent.

I took this course while juggling multiple jobs and a big move. My instructor and the CIEE staff were always understanding and supported me so I could finish the course. The content is presented in a straightforward, organized manner. All content is immediately relevant, not only to teaching, but to living abroad and intercultural interactions. You can do the coursework, discussion, and assignments and end there, or you can delve deeper with the extra materials provided at the end of each module. There are also downloadable notes for each section so you can follow along or use them to complete assigments/exams later.

Overall I had an excellent experience with CIEE, and would recommend this program to anyone. They did a fantastic job helping support us through the logistical pieces of the visa process, as well as giving great information about what to expect in the role of language assistant and how to excel in this role through the very useful online pre-departure course. Even when there were challenging elements of the paperwork to get to Spain, CIEE was always there to support and did what they could to facilitate the process. The in country training was excellent as well and really helped me feel very well prepared for the first day in the classroom!

Teaching in Chile was a life changing experience. Having the ability to work in another country, gain professional experience, while being exposed to new people and cultures is invaluable to young, up and coming professionals. Chilean people are amazingly friendly and curious, they are always open to a conversation and learning about new people they meet. The independence gained from this experience is also important; it’s a step out into the real world, paying rent, having a work schedule and responsibilities, being 100% dependent on your own decisions and all the life lessons that come with it, and to top it off, learning to do all of these things in language other than English!