High School Study Abroad in Cadiz, Spain

My son had a fabulous time on his recent MundoLengua school trip to Seville, Spain. The classes were not only educational, but fun and engaging. The activities planned were super fun and appropriate to his age and interests. Their guide, Elena, was very friendly and energetic. His host mom, Ana, could not have been kinder, so sweet and very attentive to his needs. She definitely went above and beyond which is a great feeling when your child is in the care of someone else in a different country. I wish I had some constructive criticism to give, but there is none, it was perfect!! In my son's words, it was the best money I have ever spent!!!

La escuela es espectacular. Los profesores y directores son increíbles y mi experiencia fue excelente. En particular un profesor era muy bueno. Él tuvo buenas presentaciones con muchos diferentes cosas y tópico de Sevilla o España. Yo aprendí mucho durante mis clases.

¡Magnífica la experiencia! Todos mis estudiantes quieren volver y los que no vinieron, aún más! (A magnificent experience! All of my students who went loved the trip and want to return, and those who didn’t go want to go even more! )

From making paella to dancing tango, I learned so much about not just the Spanish language but also the richness of Spanish culture. I found Abbey Road's Cadiz program during my junior year when I was searching for the perfect opportunity to hone my Spanish language skill. From day one, I was exposed to the native Spanish speakers. It was also at this time that despite my 5 years of education in Spanish, I found that I still had much to study in order to achieve fluency. From this realization came dedication towards improving my skill in this language, an endeavor that was fully supported by the program's staff members. After 4 weeks of living in Spain and interacting with the native Spanish, I was able to reflect back and realize that I was able to speak with more nuanced vocabulary and fluency. Although I still have many more hours of studying to do in order to attain fluency, I believe that Abbey Road's program had provided me with the necessary first step in order to achieve my goal. Furthermore, I know that I would not have gotten the opportunity to become the 2020 Olympics' translator (as a volunteer) at the mere age of 18 without the knowledge that I had gained through my stay in Cadiz. Therefore, I truly believe that this program is an experience that everyone should partake in.

This was an once in a lifetime opportunity that I would forever cherish. For me, not only did my skill in Spanish rapidly increase in just 4 weeks, I was able to determine that I did truly wish to participate in Study Abroad in my college years.

It has been 3years now that I came in Cadiz and I’m still keeping in touch with most of the people I met there. I am French and was 14 at the time, I wasn’t really fluent in English and in Spanish either. Being in a Spanish host family and sharing my bedroom with an American helped a lot, I admit the first days were really hard but American teenagers are way more outgoing than the French ones and I had no difficulties to integrate. I had to think in English and in Spanish 24/7 to communicate and it is the best way to learn languages. What’s more, the staff couldn’t be better, we had so much fun with them. This trip was my first time being alone abroad and I could not have imagined a better experience... We surfed, went to pretty beaches, visited museum, and even went to Gibraltar ! The morning lessons in Spanish were really playful, we spent half time inside and halftime outside in Cadiz while making games to speak with people. I will finish by talking about the free times, we had 2 a day, one before eating and one after diner, it was honestly my favorite time of the day, my roommate and I used to adore visiting by ourselves the little streets of Cadiz, the parks... We even had our favorite places ahah, the immersion was real !

I was very satisfied with the experience. We chose Cadiz over other cities because it is a smaller city and would have more opportunities to practice Spanish. I stayed at a lovely home near the ocean about 20 minutes walk from the school. Some students had to take the bus in to school. The home mom was very friendly. I shared a room with another teen from California and we got along well. The home mom also housed several other younger Italian girls and it all worked out. Everyone was polite and cordial. My roommate and I did not go out with the mom as we were always busy with Abbey road activities. I contacted the instructor in charge and was pleased to have all questions answered before arrival. My roommate and I walked together every morning and back in the afternoon for siesta. After siesta we met out group once again around town within walking distance. I always felt safe. The people in Cadiz were very friendly. The curfew was strict as we all needed to be in by 9:30pm unless there were planned activities for the night. I really enjoyed the weekend excursions. Spain is a lovely country. I wish I could have stayed 4 weeks instead of 3. I flew without the group from Miami and met them in Madrid airport. It was my first time flying alone and first time in Europe.

My daughter Anna did the Cadiz three week program this summer. She stayed with three other girls in an apartment with a very sweet, single, retired Señora in New Cadiz, near the beach. There were also two other girls in a nearby apartment. She liked being so close to the beach and the girls often went there in the afternoon. She liked the Spanish classes. Before Spain she took four years of Spanish class every day in school. They take a placement test the first day. She did the cultural activities for her free choice. Anna said she finally understood what her Spanish teacher had been working on all year! I think her Spanish has really improved. On the weekends and nights they did a lot of group activities and trips in vans to nearby towns and they went to Gibraltar one day. I have never been to Cadiz but last year another mother told me they visited and she felt like it was very safe. Overall I would say she had a great time. She really liked the other girls and they are even talking about meeting up again this summer.

My daughter Isabella was 16 when she went to Cadiz last summer. It was her first time traveling to a foreign country. First off, I want to say that she had the “best time of her life” and had an incredible trip and all her new friends (one actually was from England) were amazing. Abbey Road is an amazing program that I would recommend to others. After the initial few days of “culture shock” Bella settled into her new home. Her host was an older woman that cooked dinners for them, and had a dog. The group took many excursions on the weekends with their contact, Iraida, who was amazing and very sweet according to the kids. Iraida, the contact for Cadiz who chaperoned from JFK to Cadiz, also had a blog which she shared photos and stories about their excursions. The initial culture shock was most difficult for Isabella but she hung in there and after the first few days….. she soared! She had the most amazing time! They all cried when it was time to go.

My daughter had a great experience! She felt it was a lot of fun and a very worthwhile experience. She had traveled alone in the US but not internationally. We live near Minneapolis MN so she flew to NYC where she met the group and leader and then they traveled to Cadiz as a group. We used the travel agent recommended by Abbey road to book the tickets and that worked out well. Gwen liked many things about the program. They were given a schedule every Monday morning that was all the activities through Sunday night. She loved the Spanish classes in the mornings and many of the activities including surfing, flamenco dancing, the trip to Gibraltar, going to the movies and more. She had a great homestay. The family only knew a few words in English so she really had to use Spanish in the home. I think she did speak English with the other students, but I know some students made a commitment to not speak any English.