Customized Internships & Spanish Immersion at the Beach

I spent ten weeks in A Coruña in summer of 2019. It was an amazing experience and I felt like I really was able to learn the language and the culture. Highly recommend to anyone looking for something authentic and immersive.

I found the city of La Coruña to be a charming little city with wonderful people and beautiful scenery. Immersion is simply the best and fastest way to improve in any language. I arrived in Spain with little-to-no Spanish ability, which at times was overwhelming, however with the support of Nicole, her family and my classmates, I found my Spanish improved rapidly. My teacher was excellent, encouraging and approachable. The day trips were my favourite part of my time in La Coruña, having time to explore Spain and spend time with fellow course-mates was extremely fun.

Loved the warm and inviting director, Nicole Berry! My Spanish improved a ton and I got the chance to see so many cultural excursions. Tandem conversations with locals, tapas, a summer celebration where they light bon fires at the beach - I had so much fun, and learned so much too!

I had a blast this summer thanks to Linguistic Horizons! I made great friends, had a great internship at a local jiu jitsu gym, and significantly improved my spanish all while living in a beautiful beach town with a great night life!

I chose this program due to reading a positive review! So, here is my honest review!! I HIGHLY recommend Linguistic Horizons for your study abroad experience. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and if I could've stayed longer, I would've. Here is why... This summer, I participated in a pre-vet internship with A Chico Centro Quirúrgico, a Veterinary Clinic in La Coruña, organized by Linguistic Horizons. It was an incredible learning experience that allowed me to gain valuable insights into the field of veterinary medicine and improve my Spanish language skills. This was my first time traveling abroad and arriving somewhere not knowing anyone. I made so many new friends, quickly learned how to get around the city, and felt safe the whole time. Nicole is so friendly and sweet and definitely helped the whole experience go smoothly. She has organized an incredible program that even when she had an emergency and had to leave the country, the program continued to flow smoothly! I highly recommend this program to anyone interested in a study abroad opportunity. My host family was so sweet and hospitable. They became my family and support system while abroad and were attentive to anything I needed! I wasn't sure if the Spanish course would be challenging, but it was the first time I'd taken a Spanish course that taught me something new in almost every class. The conversational style of the course was so valuable, that I genuinely looked forward to my Spanish classes as well as our field trips. This was the first time I ever did a presentation in Spanish too, which was really exciting! Nicole arranged all of our excursions and insurance plans, and she was always open to arranging any activity we wanted to do! Our group was small, but I actually enjoyed this aspect of the trip. We got to know each other well, and when we wanted to go out together, it was easier to move around (taxi, restaurants, etc.) as a small group. This internship not only deepened my passion for veterinary medicine but also instilled in me the importance of being able to confidently and accurately practice medicine in Spanish. As I continue to learn more about veterinary medicine, I am committed to also learning it in Spanish, thanks to the invaluable experience provided by Linguistic Horizons. I am unbelievably grateful to Linguistic Horizons for organizing such a wonderful program. I hope to have another similar experience in the future, and I highly recommend Linguistic Horizons to anyone seeking a unique and enriching study abroad opportunity!!!

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I had a BLAST in Spain this summer thanks to linguistic horizons! I was placed with a very sweet family in an apartment in the heart of A Coruña, and spent tons of time exploring the city with my friends i made in the program. The Spanish classes were very informative and helped me improve a ton! Though i didn't like my original internship, Nicole was very helpful and found me a different position that i loved very quickly. Thanks again Linguistic Horizons for a great summer!

Really great opportunity to learn Spanish in a professional setting. I gave a general idea of what kind of internship I was looking for, and Nicole got back to me with a few ideas. I liked the Emilia Pardo Bazan museum, and I got to intern there for a month. The staff were extremely welcoming and helped me grow as a Spanish learner and an employee. Communication was extremely clear from beginning to end. Along with the internship, there was a Spanish conversation course that was useful to practice Spanish in a less professional and less stressful environment. It was great that both the internship and the course counted for college credit and accredited by the University of A Coruna. The city is wonderful. There is a great beach that is always full of people in the summer. There are great landmarks to visit. The city center is beautiful, and Nicole personally guided us through the city on numerous occasions to see churches and landmarks. Nicole also set up housing for us, and was more than willing to accomodate any issues or concerns. She chose locations that were close to our internships, making it easy to walk over. She also sets up trips to other parts of Spain for weekends, as well as other day trips to places outside of Coruna like Santiago and a beach farther away for surfing. A really wonderful and unique program.

I am so glad that I did this program! The director worked so hard to make sure that the internship was exactly what I wanted and that everything would be a good fit. They also work very hard to make sure that you get the full immersion experience. You're not just an American student in a crowd of American students, you are really experiencing the lifestyle and culture while you are there. The program also cares a lot about it's students. There was always someone available for me when I was there to help me with whatever I needed, which made the experience a lot more comfortable. I would go back in a heartbeat!

Linguistic Horizons is incredibly well run and I was always impressed with the quality of the services provided. Right from the start, Nicole was an incredible resource and was very timely with all of her responses. She really took the time to understand my goals and what I wanted to receive from my experience and internship abroad. She was very receptive to what I wanted and was very attentive to my needs. She worked very hard to find me an internship that I liked! I participated in the 5 week internship/study abroad program in La Coruña, Spain, and I had an amazing time! Coruña is a great place to have an immersion experience to practice Spanish, and I appreciated that she always encouraged everyone to speak Spanish, even with her! I feel that my Spanish skills improved greatly during my time in Spain. The weekend excursions were fun, and we attended many interesting events during the week. We also had the freedom to do many things on our own. Nicole was always available to help us in any way, and was an excellent problem solver whenever life threw anything at us. When I got sick, she immediately put me in touch with a great hospital and the experience went very smoothly. She cares so much about her students and I always felt very supported by her. Even when I felt like my Spanish was plateauing, she was able to keep me motivated and help me. I highly recommend Linguistic Horizons. Thank you so much Nicole!

I found this program online and I am so glad that I did. My internship was amazing. I gained a lot of great experience in my field of study working for an engineering consulting company. I also took a class at the local university and further improved my spanish and learned about the rich Spanish culture. I absolutely loved living, working and studying in La Coruña. The program is super well organized. I made wonderful friends and connections to last a life time. It was definitely an experience I will never forget and that I would recommend to anyone looking to have an awesome summer experience abroad.

I had a great time studying and interning abroad with Linguistic Horizons! I spent a little over a month in A Coruña, Spain in the summer of 2018. The town was super walkable and safe, and the weekend trips to Portugal and Barcelona were a lot of fun. : ) Nicole found me an internship that matched what I was looking for and an apartment that was just a short walk away, and she was always ready to help while I was there. Would definitely recommend to anyone who wants to immerse themselves in Spanish!

Definitely go abroad with Linguistic Horizons! I had a great time, made lifelong friends, and improved my Spanish a lot. The program costs a lot less than others that are offered through my University, and in my opinion, is a lot better than the others. A Coruña is a safe, easily-walkable city. There is an old town, lots of great restaurants, and beaches right next to the classrooms. Plan on being a lot more tired than you are in your country. Constantly thinking and talking in your second language is exhausting! When there were opportunities to go places on the weekends, I almost didn't want to because I was so tired all the time! Nicole organized some unforgettable weekend trips, though, (Portugal, Spanish wine country, etc.), so don't even think about missing out on those. In this program, you get the chance to take Spanish classes from Spaniards, visit museums, and make Spanish friends. It teaches you a lot about the culture that you couldn't get from any textbook. Nicole responds to emails pretty much immediately. She keeps her business small on purpose so that she can pay full attention to each student and make sure they're getting what they need out of the program. She's fun to be around and you get close with her quickly. She's definitely 10/10, but I rated the staff section a little lower because she left halfway through my program. I knew that I had people to contact if I needed them, but I found myself feeling a little lonely for a few weeks before I made friends at my internship. There are so many stories and memories that I could share about the program, but instead, I'll just tell you to DO IT! Sometimes it will be hard (like any long-term abroad experience), but it'll be totally worth it.

I came across a Linguistic Horizons ad in a Political Science class at Santa Monica College and I'll never regret my decision. It has been one of the best experiences of my life! Living only a few blocks away from the beach and across the street from my internship with VALORA Consultores, I couldn’t have had a better location. It was four-bedroom apartment where I had my own room and lived with three other guys that I now consider my lifelong friends. A Coruña is an amazing city with amazing seafood and great people. I’ve never seen elderly people out having fun at one in the morning until my trip to Coruña. Every weekend was a new adventure, whether it was wine country in Ribeira Sacra, San Fermin in Pamplona, visiting the beautiful city of Oporto in Portugal or learning about the history of Santiago de Compostela. Nicole, the program director, made sure there was something to see or do at all time. She made herself available at all times and never did I feel lost in a foreign country. I highly recommend anyone that has the opportunity to study abroad whether it’s to improve your Spanish or gain new skills interning, this will be an unforgettable experience! Nicole has put together a great program, the only regret I have is not staying for the full ten-week program.

This is a once in a life-time kind of program. The internship placements felt very personal and cultivated toward my professional goals. Nicole is always extremely friendly, conscientious, and quick to respond to emails/concerns/questions. I stayed in Spain and I can say that my Spanish vastly improved, especially because of the emphasis Nicole put on speaking Spanish the whole time. As awesome as the internship placement was, I also felt like there were lots of opportunities for weekend trips and to make friends with locals. I’d highly recommend it for people interested in cultural immersion.

This program was really integral for me getting to where I am today. Learning Spanish has helped me so many times since then and I have found myself being the only one who speaks it in a group of people when it is necessary to use to communicate with someone else. The immersive experience really not only forces you to learn Spanish but makes it natural, you learn Spanish anytime you go anywhere and have to communicate with the people there! The internship let me get experience in a field I was unable to get back in the US, when I really needed it to apply to grad school. While doing any medical internship can be difficult because you have to learn an entire extra vocabulary set, I was still able to understand a lot of what was going on and get experience doing basic things around the clinic. I am so grateful for this experience!

If you are considering to study abroad, I strongly recommend Linguistic Horizons. Nicole, the program director, is very well organized, always available and willing to help the students. The program is well structured with a syllabus suitable to the course. There are a lot of weekend excursions which make the time abroad extremely fun. La Coruña is a safe and beautiful coastal city to learn Spanish, practice with native speakers, enjoy the culture and food while enjoying life abroad. That was my first time in Spain and quite frankly I didn’t regret a second of it.

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I loved Linguistic Horizons. They provided me with so many opportunities, and I made so many good friends while there. Nicole Berry helped the other students and me with transitioning and feeling comfortable with living in Spain.

A Coruña was fantastic and is the perfect place to study abroad. Because it isn’t a study abroad hotspot you actually get an immersive Spanish experience and the majority of people you meet will either be locals or European students there for the Erasmus program. Nicole was great and very on top of things, just keep in mind that the sense of urgency might not be quite the same in Spain. Food and culture were both 10/10 and I would 100% go again.

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No matter where you would like to intern at or visit, contact Nicole! What I loved most about my experience overseas was the internship opportunity Nicole was able to find and organize for me. I wanted a place that was rich in culture, participate and immerse myself with the locals, try new foods, improve my Spanish, and gain experience in a work environment that catered to my education. La Coruña was all that and much more! The places we visited were so gorgeous, the other people in my group were just as involved, class was very helpful since we were fortunate enough to have such a small class size, it all worked out so wonderfully. Not to mention, interning with Linguistic Horizons is very affordable! As compared to other programs I was looking into at the time, Linguistic Horizons not only offered a lot more, but also gave individual attention to everyone! The whole schooling and interning were so very well organized that it leaves you feeling very safe and comfortable with being so far away from home. Thank you, Nicole, for the experience!

Overall, I had an amazing experience. A Coruna is extremely safe. Walking around on a weekend evening from 2-4am in the summer, I rarely felt unsafe and often saw families or young children out on the streets. The city is also extremely walkable, so it is easy to get anywhere in 10-30 minutes. Living with a host family was amazing- coordinated by Nicole to meet our personal requests, I lived with two young professionals in a very clean 3-bedroom apartment. I had my own room and access to a very clean bathroom, kitchen, and city center. In addition, the building I lived in was extremely welcoming and socially and educationally engaged with me to show me the city and improve my conversation skills. I am extremely thankful to all of the people in my building. Nicole was always available; for advice, practical assistance, or company. However, she somehow always knew when to push you beyond your boundaries or check in with you at the exact right times. She is a wise woman with many worldly connections that has immeasurable worth. Studying at Universidad da Coruna was a complex yet extremely rewarding Spanish-language learning experience. Not only were the University resources sufficient, but the teachers were extremely kind, generous with their time, and knowledgeable. Class sizes were extremely small and limited to the students in the study abroad program, so a lot of conversation and one-on-one learning made for a perfect environment to gain comfort ability speaking.