Study Abroad in Barcelona, Spain

Chelsea attended the program in the Fall of 2005, but was willing to share some of her thoughts about the program.

I arrived in Barcelona by train accompanied by two French girls I met on the way after having studied in France for 3 months during the summer. The other two girls did not speak any Spanish so when we stepped off the train in what we discovered was the wrong station it was my job to find out where we were and how to get to the right station. Although I was definitely not fluent in Spanish, I knew I was at least semi-comfortable communicating in the language which I had begun to learn years before I started French. I walked up to a man standing nearby and opened my mouth to ask for information when I froze. I couldn’t speak Spanish. I had forgotten how to ask a simple question. I could only think in English or French and it was as though the Spanish part of my brain was locked away. I stuttered a few words in an incoherent manner and then turned bewildered to the two French girls and told them that I didn’t know what had happened. After three months communicating in French, my mind was in some sort of shock and Spanish just was not working for me. In spite of this communication barrier we found the right station and each caught a taxi to go our separate ways. As the taxi driver headed towards the hotel for orientation, he chatted away and although I understand most of what he was saying I was having quite a hard time responding and I caught myself several times saying “oui.”

In just a few days my mind adjusted as I was swept up into my new life in the exciting and vibrant city of Barcelona and thanks to my new Spanish family and the CIEE staff, my Spanish came back to me very quickly. I looked back at my arrival and the language shock that I had experienced and I laughed, grateful that it had been only temporary. Over the next four and a half months I continued to build on the language skills I had acquired over the years as more and more came back to me. I quickly surpassed the level I arrived with (post-shock stage) and I am quite confident that I won’t ever forget how to ask for directions in Spanish! But this process was not always an easy one and I had a lot of help both in the classroom and in everyday life, many of which were made available through the program. The three week intensive Spanish class was a definite asset and I know that it made the transition into the regular semester courses much smoother and the coursework much easier. Also, throughout the excellent orientation which helped immensely in our introduction and adjustment to the city and the culture we were encouraged to speak in Spanish at all times which contributed to our progress with the language. And I would always encourage a student to choose to live in a homestay as I can honestly say that it is the best way to live the culture and really learn the way of life in addition to acquiring the language. Although I had my days where I wished I had a little more privacy or freedom like my friends that lived in the dorms I know that my experience was a million times better having lived with a family. While many of the material discussed in the classroom related to the Spanish and Catalan culture highlighted and explained many aspects of the society in which I was living, my daily life in the homestay is what allowed me to truly understand and fully experience the culture. Also, I would definitely recommend taking the CIEE core course Cultural Encounters: Catalunya as a Case Study as it really enhanced my understanding of the duality of the culture and society that exists in Barcelona.


When deciding on a study abroad program I was initially concerned with the structure of the CIEE Barcelona program since the number of semesters of Spanish I had taken would put me over the limit for the Business and Society program. Although I was a business student, I was advised to simply apply for the Liberal Arts program and I would still be able to take a few business classes in Spanish at the university’s international business school. This ended up working out well and although I only took one business class at ESCI (Escola Superior de Comerç Internacional), this one class changed my mind about pursuing a business-related career, but in a positive way. I had begun to think that I was not compatible with the money hungry, power driven business world I had thus far been exposed to and that perhaps I would simply go on to a different career after finishing my undergraduate studies. I enrolled in a class in Barcelona called Deontología Empresarial and I had no idea what the title meant and really wasn´t too sure of the content either since the syllabus was quite vague and general and included unfamiliar acronyms and terms. It turned out to be an excellent class discussing ethical issues in the international business world and the concept of corporate social responsibility. The class was taught by a great professor who truly believed in what he was teaching in addition to being very encouraging, concerned for his students and open about his own profession. He even invited the entire class to come visit his office in the corporate social responsibility department of the headquarters of the Barcelona based Mango clothing company. Taking this class opened my eyes to the opportunities that exist in this more ethical realm of business and was a truly invaluable part of my study abroad experience in Barcelona.