Hello all! I am going to be studying abroad in Madrid in Spring 2004 ...I am either going to go with CEA and study language at the Universidad de Complutense Madrid, or go with Suffolk University in Madrid. I was wondering if anyone had heard anything about either of these programs...bad or good. Thanks a lot.

I studied with cea in Sevilla, and it was a good program. A friend of mine who was with me in Sevilla in the spring was in madrid for the fall, and she really loved it. This was with cea. They're a very organized program, and i think the pricing is very competitive. I'm not sure, but I think suffolk would charge you a lot more for a program that may not even be as good. In general, the organization of all the cea programs is the same. In terms of taking classes at the university, you will be with other non-natives, unless you get above a certain score on a language test they give you. I don't think that test is that difficult, but it has a lot of colloquial spanish on it from what I remember. If you need more information feel free to ask.

Thanks amapola for the info...I was leaning towards CEA anyways

Amapola-I was wondering if you and your friend stayed in apartments or homestays during your study abroad, and did you like which one you chose? Also, I was wondering too if the attendance policies for going to class were very strict for CEA in Madrid (or Sevilla)...it says online that their classes in Madrid are from M-F 3pm-6pm...and I was hoping to have Fridays off or skip Fridays so I could travel...thanks for the help!

I studied in Madrid last summer for a month. It was through FORSPRO though. I stayed in the dorm. The attendane rules were pretty flexible. I recall missing one class per week minimum. I still got a B in the class. If you want info on what to do over there: Clubs etc. Let me know. I'll be in Madrid again July 2004.

Brandy,

I have read through CEAs' policies and they are STRICT. If attendance is TOO low for a class, you will NOT be able to take the final exam.

I read through their entire catalog because I was trying to get a study abroad program through them with the community college where I worked.

You may have some Fridays off, but PLEASE make sure that you read the policies and understand them fully before embarking on ANY study abroad program.

I have also researched Suffolk University and in their price, trips are included. You may want to give them a second look and REALLY compare the two before making a decision. Granted, with their program, the majority of people are non-native speakers, but no one says that you have to be around them all day.

Here is what is included for Suffolk University for the FALL 2003 semester:

quote:

� Airport pick up at Madrid Barajas
� Intensive two week Spanish Course in Malaga, on the coast of Andaluc�a(includes travel, 4 hours of daily lecture, and housing) more info
� Madrid Orientation (Cultural-Recreational)
� Registration and Academic Orientation
� Tuition (12 -15 credits)
� Textbooks
� Room and Board (more info)
� Excursions (more info)

a. Paris
b. Barcelona
c. C�rdoba & Sevilla
d. Santiago de Compostela
e. Toledo
f. El Escorial

� Many Cultural and Recreational activities
. Semester begins August 18, 2003 and ends December 16th, 2003

TOTAL COST: ………………….. $9,800 USD*

* note: the above costs do not include airfare to and from Madrid, medical insurance, books, transportation within Madrid, and personal expenses. Price may vary due to fluctuations in exchange rate (Euro/Dollar)

The only way to truly learn the language is to get away from non-native speakers and put yourself in environments where you have to speak all SPANISH.

I did my MA through Middlebury College in Spain and I studied with non-native speakers, but I made sure that I made Spanish friends and spoke Spanish all of the time.

Basically, the program that you choose will be a sidebar in how much Spanish you will learn. Even if the program that you choose isn't what you thought it would be, finding Spanish friends that will help you improve your Spanish and you making the effort to speak it everyday will increase your Spanish-speaking abilities and help you to acheive greater fluency.

Good luck in your decision.

Shawn

Brandy,

I think all of the cea programs work the same way. In Sevilla there were no classes on Fridays. When you read through the cea guidelines they say that a lot of tihngs are strict, but they really aren't. They said attendance counts, but I don't know one professor who actually kept to that rule. All of the professors were Spanish, and they often commented that in Spain attendance didn't matter, so they weren't going to be paying much attention to it, even though the program says that its mandatory. Even so, I don't advocate skipping too much class. If you go to the cea website, they give you the opportunity to contact alumni who have already been to the city you want to go to. I suggest you go there and contact someone who went to madrid for more info. I only know how the program in Sevilla was. Although, like I said, I think most of the programs work the same way.

thansk everyone, you've been very helpful

Amapola,

I see your point of view, but remember that programs are only as strict as their directors allow them to be. So, what happened in Sevilla, probably won't happen in Madrid.

Brandy, I suggest not skipping classes at all and if you are serious about learning the language, go to class and learn as much as you can. You will have some time to travel. Remember that you can't see evrything in ONE SEMESTER. Plan on coming back and seeing things then.

Good luck in whatever you do.

Shawn

I definitely understand the dilemma between wanting to travel and also attend classes. And I admit that I chose the former over the latter on occasion.

I think, however, that attending class was the thing that most improved my Spanish. It was very difficult at first for me to listen in class and take notes all at the same time because my brain couldn't handle both things at once. By the time the semester was over, it was not an issue any more. That was a skill I don't think I could have obtained otherwise in the short period of time I had.

So I guess the moral of the story is do as I say, not as I do (or did). Besides, there are lots of long weekends (puentes) when you can travel while you are there. In Le�n, we had days off left and right it seemed. Definitely take advantage of those.

Anne

Shawn, you're right, but in this instance, it wasn't the fault of the directors, but rather the teachers in the university. They weren't used to taking attendance with their spanish students, and just never bothered with us either. It definitely does depend on where you are though. We had so much vacation time during the spring in Sevilla. We had a week for semana santa, a week for the feria, 2 puentes I believe, and every friday off. It was out of control, but so much fun!!!!

hey everyone...yeah i'm not planning on skipping a lot of class or anything, improving my Spanish is one of the main reasons I want to go to Spain...however, I would like to take trips on the weekend to maybe Portugal or other cities in Spain, but without a Friday off I don't know how much I'll get to see...if anyone knows of any other programs that have reasonably priced study abroad programs going to Madrid (other than Suffolk and CEA)then by all means, tell me about them...I found a really cheap program by someone out of Seattle called CSA...don't know if anyone has ever heard of them. Right now I'm still leaning toward CEA, and I'll just have to hope that they won't be too strict about me skipping a Friday here and there

Brandy,

Go to http://action2.edudirectories.com/sab_tango/sab2.taf?country=Spain&break=Central

This is a link to the website for studyabroad.com and it lists programs within Madrid with links to web pages.

Shawn

I studied with a program (Cal State) in 1987-88 that was part of the the "Universidades Reunidas" in the Facultad de Filosof�a y Letras at the Complutense. Up front we paid in-state tuition fees, our flight over, one month in Colegio Mayor Chaminade, and some other activities, totaling about $2600. After that, our budget depended on what we could survive on for the year: rent, food, school books, "la marcha", traveling, flight home etc. (At the time, most US ATM cards, including mine, would not work in Spain. Therefore, I had to go to American Express by Las Cortes to get cash....while the distance to Amex was a hassle, it served as a barrier to some potentially account-draining impulse purchases.)

I fully understand the "classes vs. travel" dilemma. Our director was pretty lax about us missing classes, as long as we kept up with our assignments and didn't miss tests. Maybe we were lucky to have a really good group, but very few students abused this.

I spent Easter Week plus a few days in Morocco, as well as some time in Vejer de la Frontera, Sevilla, and Cordoba when I returned. I cleared this with him beforehand and had no problems. Therefore it can really depend on your luck with the director.