Suffolk University, Madrid Campus

Before Spain, I did not know a work of spanish. Of couse I have heard it before, but could not understand or speak a word of it. It was struggle the first couple of months getting adjusted to the language and going out in the city or asking people for directions. But the more I went to spanish class, and listened to the language everyday, I picked up some key phrases. Now back in the States, when I hear people speaking spanish, I can almost fully understand them. Also, I watch a lot of Spanish TV at home and it helps a lot as well.

The accomidation was pretty good. The only thing that could change are the ridiculous rules they make you sign before you move into your place. Less rules would lesson the complaints.

As much as I could find falt with some of the people and courses at this campus I did overall enjoy my experience. You will find that the boston people (from Suffolk in boston) tend to draw to each other which made me feel a bit left out a first. I soon found people, not only from the US, but from other countries to hang out with and everything worked out. Suffolk is still perfecting its experience. Sometimes they make small administrative errors which can translate to somewhat large student inconvieniance. Their travel program though is unparalled and the trips they planned were fantastic at showing you the "real" aspect of your destinations. They encourage independant travel which I highly recommend, Not only outside of madrid & Spain but do some daytrips to the outside region (El Escorial & Aranjuez). Best advice in a nutshell: Go expecting to define your own experience. Don't go clubbing every night because everyone else is doing it. Try an early morning at some of the Madrid markets (especially Sunday's El Rastro). With suffolk, you can get caught up in the internal semantics of the school but you do best to try to discover yourself while in Study Abroad.

I only took one semester of Spanish before going to the Madrid campus. The first few weeks were very difficult, but as I got out and about I had no choice but to learn the language. Also as I took classes I became more comfortable and learned a great deal about the language. If I had taken more classes prior to my stay in Madrid, I probably would have excellent reviews about my comminication experience.

See as much of the country early on in the semester. As it gets later, you'll want to travel to other countries and time flies! Take advantage of it when you can!