Barcelona, Spain: Spanish Summer Immersion for HS Students

Our son had the most fabulous time of his life on the extended Barcelona immersion trip this summer! In addition to the top notch instruction in conversational Spanish and overall substantive content of the program, he was delighted by the upscale accommodations, the delicious and special dining experiences, the friendships that he developed, and all of the tremendous support from Arthur, Diana and Amira. The entire trip was curated to maximize exposure to the local culture, while providing age appropriate independence. The local day trips were memorable and fun. A comfortable, safe and perfect experience for a rising senior!

Our son had the best time of his life! We are happy to see him develop into an extrovert. Overall, my son's experience in the Barcelona program provided by Abbey Road Programs has been overwhelmingly positive. The blend of academics, cultural diversity, and a supportive environment makes it an excellent choice.

My 17 year old son had an excellent and unforgettable time on this summer program to Barcelona. The program was extremely well run, the residence was 4 star and the kids, who came from across the US, were all great. They had wonderful weekend trips and it seemed like a perfect mix of structured and free time . We were very happy with this program !

My son loved this program. He was well taken care of, well fed and exposed to so many new and different experiences. Despite being the youngest in his group, everyone was inclusive and engaging. Thank you Abby Road! My younger son wants to go on a trip next year!!

My son enjoyed his 2.5 weeks on the Abbey Road Program in Barcelona. He found the other students to be very friendly and enjoyed all of the activities. The accommodations were above what he expected and he really liked the counselors on the program. He was sad for this experience to be over.

My son has just returned from the 3-week Spanish program at BCN. A well-structured program offered 3 hours of learning in the morning followed by an afternoon and evening of planned activities that allowed the students to practice what they learned. The weekends were planned to allow the students to explore areas outside Barcelona. The students respected the teachers and support admins. My son has been home for a few days and has let us know how much he enjoyed it.

i loved my trip to barcelona so so much and i’m so glad i got the opportunity to do it through abbey road!!! The staff were wonderful and i’ll miss them almost as much as the students. Barcelona is such a great city and the places that the staff took us were so cool, i think they did a great job planning activities, dinners, and excursions! The food options were always great and there was a lot of great shopping too. In all, i think the program was amazing and i would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to travel.

The Abbey Road Barcelona program was one of the best experiences of my life. Not only do I feel much more confident in my Spanish speaking ability, I now have friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. The Abbey Road staff planned everything perfectly so we could enjoy so many amazing cultural experiences. I still can’t believe how much we accomplished during the 3.5 week program! I will be forever grateful to Abbey Road and the incredible staff. I highly recommend the program to anyone who has interest in immersing themselves in different culture. You won’t regret it!

I spent 4 weeks in Barcelona Spain with Abbey Road, I was apprehensive about going at first because I had never been away from my family for that long, much less alone in a country where I didn't know anyone. I can say with confidence now, that Abbey Road gave me the best month of my life. It was difficult going into a program where I didn't know anyone but I was able to make amazing friends from all over the country. We stayed in an Apartment hotel and being so close to the program organizers and other people on the program allowed me to make meaningful connections with incredible people. I can confidently say I know Barcelona very well and I gained a completely new perspective on language and culture outside of my own. I went on this program to improve my Spanish, which I absolutely did, I am now taking my forth year of in school Spanish as an AP. Furthermore, by interacting with locals who spoke no English and opting to speak only Spanish when I could, I was able to become a more confident communicator and overcome my anxieties about speaking up and really build myself as an independent individual. I learned how communication requires a mutual effort and compromise and what an integral part of the human experience it is. That value of communication and that newfound understanding of how easy it can be to connect beyond words still sticks with me months after. In this program I was offered more independence then I have ever had at home which I was able to devote to new experiences. I appreciated how Abbey Road catered to every student and how if a student was interested, they had ample opportunities to make their time unforgettable. I saw flamenco shows, the sagrada de familia, spanish movies, works by picaso and Dali and much more. It was incredible to get to know a place so well and see and enjoy so much culture. I was able to establish fond memories with staff and peers alike and would HIGHLY recommend this program to anyone with an interest in travel and culture.

My son Charlie did the Abbey Road program in Barcelona last summer right after he turned 17. He did not know anyone on the trip before he left. Charlie had a very positive experience. He made a lot of friends with whom he has kept in touch and the trip was well organized. To me, they had the right mix of freedom and supervision. My husband and I actually visited for one night while we were in Spain and we saw the lobby of the apartments, which were in a safe area and clean – while nothing fancy, they were more than fine for Charlie. He found the Spanish class challenging, and for his elective he did sports, which was great for him as he got in shape for soccer before the fall.

Abbey Road was fantastic! The staff was great and went out of their way on many occasions. My Spanish teacher Alicia was one of the best Spanish teachers I ever had. I came back from Barcelona feeling confident in my ability to hold long conversations. I loved that we were in a classroom one hour and the rest of the morning the class was out experiencing and learning in a Spanish environment. The dorm was very nice and we enjoyed hanging by the rooftop pool. The food was amazing. We went to a large variety of restaurants and I was able to try a lot of new foods. Overall, the program exceeded my expectations!