Málaga, Spain
4 weeks in Málaga, Spain
Meet Claire!
I graduated from GVSU in August of 2023 with my Bachelor's of Science in Exercise Science and a minor in Spanish. I am now in the Master of Public Health program at GVSU and am a Study Abroad graduate assistant in the Padnos International Center. I took 9 years of Spanish, visited Spain once in high school, and then decided to go back for study abroad! I loved the challenge of learning a language and all the opportunities it has given me! In my free time I love to travel, spend time outdoors, watch sports, and crochet.
Program type: University of Malaga, Spanish Language and Culture, Intensive Month, External through ISA
Most time spent in: Málaga, Spain
Length: 4 weeks
Semester/Year: Spring/Summer 2021
Year at GVSU when studied abroad: Between Junior and Senior year
Background
I chose to study abroad in Malaga because I knew I loved the culture and people in southern Spain. Being in Malaga was perfect because I was right on the Mediterranean sea and lived only a 15 minute walk away from the beach. I also chose Malaga because it was a city I had never been to before. I absolutely love Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada but knew I wanted to experience a new city! I also loved the fact that Malaga was a big city but not quite as large as Sevilla or Madrid. This program was perfect for me at the time in terms of credits, duration, and location!
Example Day
Every day we would wake up around 7:30 am for breakfast which normally consisted of yogurt and a pastry! We then headed to class on the bus and were in Spanish grammar and conversation class from 9am to 2pm. We would have a 20 minute break during our school day and we would usually run down the street to the bakery or get a fresh juice from the fruit stand. This was definitely one of the best parts of our day.
Our classes were in the international center with students from all over the world! This meant that our common language was Spanish. After class we would head home for lunch with our host mom. She cooked us many traditional Spanish foods and we would sit and practice our Spanish with our host mom and her family for a couple of hours. She had two adult sons who would often come over for lunch on their lunch break. It was so much fun getting to talk with them and they definitely taught us a lot of new lingo. Our favorite dish was undoubtedly tortilla de patatas or paella. These are two of the most popular Spanish dishes and they are certainly popular for a reason. We would then head out for the rest of the day to sight see, shop, or go to the beach. We finished our nights off with a late dinner and made sure to journal about our day each night!
Reflection
If I could go back and do it all over again I would have gone for a longer period of time! I wish I would have gone for a whole summer so I would have had more time to learn, make friends, and travel outside the country. I also wish that I would have packed less. I did so much shopping there that I didn't even end up wearing half the clothes I packed!
"I wish I would have gone for a whole summer"
Advice/Recommendations
I would advise students to definitely live with a host family if they want to improve their Spanish skills. Although I was only abroad for four weeks, living with a host family helped me to improve my speaking skills exponentially. I learned more from my host mom than I did being in the classroom. I also encourage students to go to local language exchanges where you speak half the time in Spanish with native speakers and the rest in English to help them improve their English. They are honestly so much fun because you are both helping each other. Spain is of course fantastic and I will also encourage students to consider Spain, but do not hesitate to look into Latin American and South American countries. There are so many places you can go to learn Spanish, so really make sure to consider all of your options!
"I learned more from my host mom than I did being in the classroom."
If you have any questions about the program above or the experience of this page's author Claire Lynch specifically, feel free to contact her using the following email: lynchcl@mail.gvsu.edu
La Tertulia (GVSU Spanish Club)
This website is kept up by La Tertulia, the GVSU Spanish Club. This club gives students the opportunity to practice their Spanish and expand their knowledge about different countries where Spanish is spoken. Check out the La Tertulia Laker Link page for more details!
If you want to share your own experience studying abroad and be featured on this website to help future fellow students, fill out the following form: https://forms.gle/anqjj4d2tP5eQwWE9