University of Granada vs Northeastern

We started our courses October 1st at the Center of Modern Languages in the heart of Granada. Its a beautiful little building and luckily for me, it’s only about a 6 minute walk from my apartment. I am taking 5 classes here (Spanish Grammar, Spanish Writing and Oral Skills, Spanish Literature,Spanish Civilization and Culture, and Spain´s Evolving Socialand Demographic Landscapes), and each class is twice a week. My schedule is a bit tricky because on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have class from 8:30 am -2:30 pm without any break. My Mondays and Wednesdays aren’t so bad though, and we don’t have Friday classes. My classes are small; each only having about 10-15 students, most of whom are Americans. Each class is 2 hours long, which is a bit longer than I’m used to, but professors will generally break it up by giving us a 10 minute coffee break in the middle. Most of my classes here feel more casual than my lectures back at Northeastern. Because they know we are learning Spanish, the professors really encourage participation and speaking in Spanish as often as possible. I’m taking 4 classes that are instructed in Spanish, and one elective taught in English. I really enjoy all my classes so far, and my professors are all very approachable. I feel comfortable participating and asking questions, even in my broken Spanish and horrible American accent.

4 out of 5 of my courses require a book. 1 of these, my professor supplied us with the materials, but for the other 3, I had to purchase the workbooks. Each of these were only 5 euros, and I was able to purchase them in the office in the building where my classes are. Coming from Northeastern, I’m used to spending hundreds of dollars every semester on textbook rentals, so I couldn’t be happier to only spend 15 euros on books here. I’m so used to renting textbooks so it’s really nice to be able to write directly in the workbooks here.