IES Abroad Madrid

IES Abroad's Madrid Language and Area Studies' program provided me with a full and cohesive abroad experience. I was able to do everything I wanted to; live with a host family, interact and make friends with Spaniards and with people from all over the United States, take classes through the local university and really experience city life in Madrid.

IES's Madrid program is very integrated with the Universidad Complutense and makes it very easy to take classes through the different schools at the university. Unfortunately, the IES schedule and the university schedule don't sync up exactly for the fall, but I was still able to take the class I wanted to (Screenwriting) at the Universidad Complutense and move my final exam earlier.

IES Madrid also offers many great classes of their own, including an art history class taught at the Museo del Prado which in itself made the program worthwhile to me. It was an unbelievable class which exposed me to art in a way I had never experienced before. I know because of that class, I will have an appreciation for classic paintings for the rest of my life.

IES Madrid has a great team. The staff are wonderful; they make themselves very available during the school day to answer questions about activities or help fix problems. They also do a fairly good job of encouraging speaking Spanish as much as possible, although there is still a fair amount of English spoken as well. IES was not as strict about total language immersion as I was expecting going in, but I still found my Spanish make huge strides. I now feel confidently fluent, and can hold an intelligent conversation behind "I thought that was good." However, I would have appreciated more of an effort on the part of the teachers and the students to put more emphasis speaking only Spanish at the center.

One of the most wonderful things about IES Madrid is the opportunity to live in such an amazing city. The program does a good job offering outside classes and tours to expose you to the city, especially right off the bat, helping you get out and about while you develop confidence navigating Madrid. It's a gorgeous city to live in and explore. There is always something going on if you look for it and it is impossible to be bored.

Studying abroad is an invaluable experience. I learned so much about myself during my four months in Madrid with IES and I know when the time came for me to leave, I wasn't ready to go.