IES Abroad Salamanca

My semester abroad was four of the most rewarding months of my life- I made new friends, improved my Spanish and became a more cultured and open-minded person. While abroad, I took classes both through my program and at a local university (Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca). As part of a full immersion program, I can attest to the fact that there is no better way to learn a language than to be put into situations where you have to use it. The amount of confidence that I have when speaking has increased so much from my time in Spain. Our program offered a great support system and any questions or concerns we had were dealt with immediately. I'm so glad I decided to go outside my comfort zone and study abroad- I wouldn't trade my experience for anything!

The old town of Salamanca looks like something out a fairy tale, which makes for an amazing backdrop for immersing yourself in the Spanish language and culture (because you will be forced to speak Spanish and take siesta).

While my time here wasn't perfect (and if anyone tells you that their study abroad experience is perfect they are lying) I would not trade it for anything, I loved the people I met, my host parents who made me feel at home, and all of the opportunities I was able to take advantage of (from travelling in and outside of Spain, to exploring Salamanca).

If you really want to improve your Spanish, come to Salamanca. I came to this city not having taken a Spanish class in the year before I arrived and was extremely nervous about my four months abroad! The wonderful thing about Salamanca is that the locals here WILL speak Spanish to you- we tried using English our first week and quickly discovered that we would be culturally immersed, whether we liked it or not! Fortunately, my entire experience in Salamanca was absolutely incredible and unlike any other. I lived in a homestay and got along really well with my host parents (not to mention that my host mom was an amazing cook!). The classes offered by IES were surprisingly rigorous, but really forced you to learn and think in Spanish. The lengua class in particular deviated from a "standard" grammar class, and it was really cool seeing both my level and my classmates' levels of Spanish grow throughout the semester. I took 2 classes through the university as well and got to experience an entirely different academic culture with Spaniards and other international students.

Aside from academics, Salamanca is a fun, fun place to be in. There's always something going on, and Thursday and Saturday nights are full of students going out. There are lots of opportunities to meet other students from all parts of the world. USAL has student groups and clubs for all sorts of activities- I played volleyball while I was abroad and had the greatest time ever!

The IES Salamanca program provided me with experiences of a lifetime. The staff is supportive and understanding, and added so much to my semester abroad.

In terms of classes, the required language intensive courses are well-planned and helped me both improve my grammar and increase my confidence with the language. Upon arrival, you are required to take a language placement test, and will be put into one of three levels. Each of the classes is catered towards the level you are placed in, and the small class size is ideal for touching up on grammar concepts.

Although a homestay is not required, I highly recommend it if given the opportunity. It is a chance to fully integrate with locals, eat traditional foods, and come back everyday to a loving family. My homestay experience surpassed by expectations.

Overall, I highly recommend spending the semester in Salamanca. The college town atmosphere is extremely welcoming, the architecture is beautiful, and the city is full of history. You won’t regret it!

The IES Salamanca program is an impressively organized and supportive institution that is truly dedicated to giving students a well-rounded and unforgettable abroad experience. I had heard outstanding reviews about the program before I even went, and now, after my own experience, I can confidently say that the Salamanca program is really that of high quality. This program really excels at giving students a dynamic experience that encourages academic excellence as well as cultural immersion.

The IES professors are fantastic! The classes are both engaging and challenging. In particular, the language classes are truly outstanding. From my language classes, I gained a whole new level of confidence in my ability to speak and understand the language. In addition to traditional grammar lessons, we learned colloquial terms & phrases, cultural etiquette, and gestures. The language classes are very well-rounded courses that are designed to help students academically and culturally understand the language.

I had a very good homestay experience. It was great to live with a host mother and to experience the rich culture through that perspective. Upon arriving in Salamanca, I was under the impression that my host mother would treat me just like part of the family and that she would have as much interest in my culture as I had in hers. Unfortunately, this was not the case as my host mother has hosted 5 students a year for the past 10 years and is very accustomed to having American students stay with her. Although my host mother was truly a fantastic woman, I very much felt like I was just renting a room from her. This was not a bad experience at all, it was just different from what I was anticipating.

Overall, I was very impressed with the Salamanca program. Such a strong program in a beautiful and historic city! I wouldn’t have wanted to study anywhere else.

I studied in Salamanca, Spain through IES during their Summer Session I. This program is a month long and perfectly timed for busy students who have a rigorous class schedule during fall/spring semester and/or have other summer commitments. As a pre-med biology major, I was unable to study abroad for an entire semester. However, this summer program allowed me to greatly enrich my Spanish language skills over a shorter period of time through language immersion.
During my trip, I not only learned a ton but also had an adventure of a lifetime. From the beautiful beaches of Portugal to the majestic Alhambra in Granada to the historical streets of Salamanca (where I spent most of my time), I had an amazing time traveling and discovering the beauty and culture of Spain.
I highly recommend studying abroad through IES. They are helpful in making trips affordable through financial aid opportunities, they provide students with a safe environment to learn and amazing host families to live with, and they give students the independence to make their experience what they want it to be.

My time in Salamanca, Spain wouldn't have been the same without my host family. IES placed me with an amazing host family that really made me feel at home. They took me out around town, brought me out to tapas bars that the locals love, brought me to family events to truly be emerged in the culture, and always were there to help me in any way I needed. They made Salamanca a second home for me.

As a Spanish major and language enthusiast, it only made sense that I would study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country, and after the recommendation from a professor and a little more research, I settled on Salamanca because of its history (it has the oldest university in Spain, dating back to the early 13th Century), its size (not a big city), and its connection to the Spanish language (it advertises itself as “La Ciudad de Español”). This was a fantastic decision.

I lived in homestay with a host mother and host brother. My host mother teaches Spanish to foreigners for a living. This wasn’t the case with everyone’s host families, but I couldn’t be more grateful that it was the case with mine. If I ever didn’t understand something, she was eager to help me understand the concept and would explain and explain in an effort to eliminate the need for a dictionary.

The classes were definitely challenging. Of all of them, the required language class is the most invaluable. The professors are some of the best I’ve had, and their approach to teaching is totally different from any traditional “grammar class” I’ve had in the U.S. Two great opportunities were the internship, which let me work in English classes at a local school, and the university classes, which not only taught me the material in the class, but also gave me the chance to say, “I did well in classes designed for native speakers,” which is a huge confidence booster.

Our program went on a number of trips, and I got to travel on my own. I chose to stay in Spain, so I had the chance to experience a number of cities and the process of planning transportation, lodging, and activities while managing to not go home broke. The abundance of cultural activities and ways to experience the culture in Salamanca ensured that there was always something to do.

The only thing I wish I had known prior to choosing Salamanca is that it’s an immersion program. That means the staff speaks predominantly in Spanish (though some of them do speak English) and all the courses offered are conducted in Spanish. This would’ve been a selling point for me had I known it, but it’s still good to know.

And to top off the experience, its Plaza Mayor is one of the most beautiful in Spain (Google it if you don’t believe me—it’s practically a fact).

As Cervantes said, "Salamanca, que enhechiza la voluntad de volver a ella a todos los que de la apacibilidad de su vivienda han gustado." Salamanca became like another home to me, and I’ve already started looking at ways to get back there.