IES Abroad Madrid

I always knew I wanted to study abroad in Madrid, and I have to say it was one of the greatest decisions I have ever made. IES Abroad truly made my time in Spain such an enjoyable one, that I would tell everyone to go abroad through this program. The day I arrived, the IES faculty warmly greeted me, and to my surprise they all knew my name and some background information from where I came from. The faculty truly made an effort to help all students through the tough transition of arriving in a foreign country. IES provided historic tours, intercambios (student exchanges), cooking classes, and great excursions to help assimilate into Spanish culture. With the help of IES Abroad, I felt comfortable enough to explore the city of Madrid on the metro/other forms of public transportation; I embraced the famous siesta, tried some great tapas and even attended a few Real Madrid games! Additionally, IES Abroad Madrid made sure every student felt comfortable and safe and always made their offices open to answer any questions or concerns. It was apparent that a lot of work went into making this the best study abroad experience for all students. If I could do it all over again, I would definitely do it again with IES Abroad!

Writing about my experience makes me want to return to Madrid. Everyday in Madrid is different than the next, and I loved the city. I had a blast playing the “let’s get off at a random metro stop and walk around” game, and discovered a city completely ALIVE both day and night. Everyone I met was super helpful with improving my Spanish, and there are quite a number of fun museums and attractions to visit. It’s also easy to get from Madrid to anywhere else in Spain and, quite frankly, the rest of Europe if that’s your thing.

I must commend IES on their excursions. During my time we visited Bilbao, San Sebastián, Asturias, Toledo, Segovia, and a few local places around Madrid. I thought the trips were well organized and gave us the perfect amount of free time to ourselves.

IES staff are sincere people. I think they do a great job of ensuring your living situation is comfortable, and I always felt I could approach them. They personalized my experience and provided me with a homestay right in the center of Madrid, which I absolutely adored. My host mother was the best!

I had fantastic professors in IES, including a A+ grammar teacher and an employee of the Prado Museum of Art. Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, I would check-in at the Prado and we would walk around the museum analyzing paintings and artist styles while the paintings were right in front of us! What a unique experience.

I loved my time in Madrid, and am grateful to IES for their support and excitement about my growth.

People will tell you that when you go abroad something changes in you. I never really felt this until I went on to Spain. Coming from a small southern town to a bustling city environment was a huge change for me. Especially when my host mother spoke not one word of English. To be honest, the first night I was not so sure that I would do well. But as the days passed, I soon met new people through my program, started to learn more spanish, and began seeing this big city as my second home. It was a big change from the southern hospitality I was used to but I also discovered that most people in Madrid are just as friendly as my neighbors at home. This study abroad experience pushed me academically, as I learned more Spanish in one summer than in the 19 years prior. I made friends I will not forgot. But most importantly, I learned more in one summer about growing up than I have in my whole life. I would highly recommend IES because the staff was excellent, my host mom was so sweet, and the people that were accepted in this program were awesome. IES did an amazing job of helping us get our bearings and giving us opportunities to go on trips and see Spain, but also the freedom to ultimately decide what we wanted to do. I hope that you will find your other home in Spain like I did!

When I found IES Abroad Madrid-Language Area Studies; this program fit every tiny criterion I had. So without further thought I started the application process. From being accepted to applying for a student visa, my IES Abroad counselor, John Colhouer was extremely helpful in answering my most confusing to most simple questions I had. From the start I felt the IES Abroad staff was fully supportive and invested in me. As a jetted off to Madrid in the start of January, I was welcomed by Spanish students and assisted to the hotel where orientation began. The IES Madrid Abroad staff was very helpful from the beginning. They had a true interest in each student and wanted to make sure each student succeeded. While abroad I lived with a host mother; she has three sons who had already left the house but we saw them frequently. I made sure to go on all the trips IES offered because on the trips I met more study abroad students in the program I hadn’t spoken to before and on each trip we had very good tour guides who knew the histories and past times of the regions. I also got involved in a one-on-one program set up by IES Abroad Madrid. I would meet up with a Spanish student once a week and we would speak 30min. in Spanish and 30min. in English. Throughout the semester Tamara and I became good friends and would hang out more frequently. IES Abroad Madrid-Language Area Studies is a focus on the culture and language of the region. Therefore, all of my classes were taught in Spanish by Spanish professors. At first it was challenging but as my language improved throughout the semester I noticed a change in the way I could take notes and complete assignments. I started only thinking about class in Spanish instead of trying to translate constantly. IES Abroad Madrid was the perfect program for me. I loved how many different activities were held for us and the opportunities were amazing. I recommend IES Abroad Madrid-Language Area Studies as a perfect abroad experience!

As an engineering student, I loaded up on credits early on to make the opportunity of life abroad a reality. Like most engineers the options were limited, and as soon as Madrid was on the table I snatched it up and have yet to look back. Before the program, I had traveled to one other country and had a college career filled with engineering classes and void of all those fun jogging/wine making/art classes that my friends in other majors had sprinkled into their schedules over the years. IES stripped the engineering majors from the classic science/math only stereotype and allowed all of us to immerse in a vivacious, colorful culture. My schedule throughout my time abroad in Madrid afforded me the opportunity to experience Art History in the Prado and Spanish Culture and Language from the tongue of a native speaker. IES further arranged weekend trips throughout the Spanish countryside to places ranging from Segovia to Plasencia to Toledo. Whether planning a full list of activities or coaching us through scheduling and tutorials, IES was the premium trip provider in every respect. I left Spain after traveling to 12 countries, eating way to much paella, and basking in the sun endlessly in Parque Retiro, and yet still I have a deep hunger to go back--I simply cannot get enough. Just as IES made the transition to Spain seamless, the team's professionalism, positivity, and support remained seamless throughout my entire four and a half month stay.

Madrid is a city that never sleeps. The bars and clubs don't get busy until after midnight, and the cool people show up at 2 am. I absolutely loved studying electrical engineering alongside Spanish students during the day and partying with those same students all night.

I would highly recommend this program to someone interested in studying abroad with the goal of immersing yourself in Spanish language and culture. The classes (which includes any homework and projects, exams, etc.) are all in Spanish, and you have a couple of choices for living options which is sometimes hard to find in other programs. I chose to live in the dorm with other local Spanish students, rather than a homestay or an apartment with other American students, and it was the best decision for me. I learned things from my Spanish and international peers that only a local would know about Madrid, and I got to practice my Spanish.

My highlights for this term abroad were:
-Participating in the cultural activities that the program offered once a month. This included everything from a cooking class, to Flamenco lessons, all at no extra cost.
-Being forced to really use my Spanish by the local staff and professors. It's very easy to avoid speaking Spanish and I can sometimes get away with speaking English during some classes at my home university, however, here you are required to speak Spanish and it was a challenge that improved my language ability.
- Madrid is just a great place to be. Nothing compares to the nightlife in the Spain's capital. The food, the culture, the "cafe con leche", is all just a wonderful thing to experience in this great metropolitan city.
- Another item that drew me to studying with IES was the opportunity to take classes at the local university. This was an eye-opening and unforgettable experience because it was both exciting and intimidating to learn that not all classrooms and universities function as those do in the States.

Studying abroad is a difficult experience to transmit through a review. I don't feel I could ever give a complete picture of my time in Madrid through words but I can at least give advice about the IES program.

Definitely a program I would recommend to others. The IES directors/advisors are extremely helpful, accessible, and concerned with the well being of students. There were many included trips that students could go on to other cities in Spain...and they were amazing! There were a lot of mixed reviews on academics. Personally, I am a science major and was only taking general education requirements abroad. All of my classes were arts, history, and language and this made it difficult to always feel a real purpose/investment in class because they were all studies outside of my future career interest. However I did feel the material of almost all of them was always interesting and I was just happy to be practicing Spanish! (all classes are in Spanish. Some felt the classes were too easy but I was happy with the amount of work - enough to feel productive, but not so much that it inhibited experiencing Madrid and Europe.

Because all of the classes are in Spanish and I did a home stay my Spanish improved immensely. IES gives you many opportunities to become better at Spanish you just have to take them! I recommend home stay because I had such a positive experience. I know not everyone loved their family, but I loved my host mom and it allowed me to gain a better understanding of Spanish culture than any class ever could. I would recommend a home stay to everyone. Get out of your comfort zone and experience something completely different.

General Advice:
-Don't feel really pressured to travel. Some people went to a different country every weekend, others spent the majority of their time in Madrid. Do what you want! /Can afford! Either way you made it to Europe.
-You would rather under-pack than over-pack.
-If you do a home stay bring slippers. They are worn inside the house.
-Don't bring your phone to the club. They were often stolen out of zippered pockets in zippered bags.
-You'll improve your Spanish as much as you want to. If you really want to improve you can (home stay, intercambios, trying to not speak English), and if you don't care as much that's cool too!
-go to the Cercedilla mountains outside of Madrid - most memorable experience of my entire study abroad
-go to Porto, Portugal! And Tubingen, Germany. And Granada and Toledo.