What was the city of Granada like?

It was very nice.  There were several Dali museums, and we went to Montserrat , the location of the Black Virgin.  You can see the eternity in her; its some Catholic superstition.  In Spain , there are a lot of legends and superstitions that surround the culture.  It’s pretty neat.  The processions and parades are also very cool, but that is more Andalusian, not so much Catholic.

Some of my fondest memories of Granada are the walks I used to take in the parks.  There were two gorgeous parks, one of which is along a river that made my walks very pleasant.  I was also fond of the historic landmarks I was able to see, most notably the Alhambra , the last Moor stronghold in Spain to fall.  Also, Albazin is a typical Arab quarter in a Spanish city, with the white houses and other things you’d think of as very Spanish.  I loved meeting people from all over the world while on my walks. 

What do you wish you knew prior to your study abroad experience?

I wish I would have known what the classes would be like and what the expectations were, and how the professors would respond to my dyslexia.  I found the classes in Spain less rigorous than in the US because all of the students were struggling with the language, and the classes were designed for non-native Spanish speakers.

What accommodations did you receive from your university and program?

I found the professors to be very understanding of my disability and were often willing to give me some of the support that I asked for.  The staff of Centra de Lingua Modernas, which is a part of the University of Granada , was very supportive of my needs.  I often felt that I received less supports than many of the students that were there through a program.  The direct enrollment is significantly less expensive, but the amount of support you receive is also significantly less.  Your opportunities for traveling and doing things must also be organized on your own, so it’s a bit more difficult but still very easy to travel throughout Spain and Europe.

I found that I had to do a lot of the arranging to receive my supports on my own. I had to interact with a lot of people.  It was more work going as a direct enroll student.  Another thing that I found to be difficult by not going through a program is not having support to get the documentation I needed.  I actually had to go to the police station by myself, and that was a bit stressful, but I did get all the documentation I needed.  It is possible, but it is not necessarily for everyone.  One needs to consider what services they will need and how capable they are of arranging things for themselves.

I felt that some of the accommodations that I had here were not in place at my school in Granada .  They didn’t have as much support structure as we do here, but I do think that many of the programs would offer more support than I received, but I can’t speak for the programs.  I was given extra time for completing exams, though I didn’t really need it.  I was usually one  of the last people done, but I always finished before class was over.  That could depend on classes and professors.  They also said I could try to arrange copies of professor’s notes, but I felt mine were adequate.

What was your living situation like?

I chose to live with a family because I felt that it would give me a support structure that I wanted.  A family provides you with three meals a day and laundry service, which is very nice.  I’d much rather have somebody else cook and do my laundry for me.  Also I felt that it would be more structured, and better for me if I had that kind of environment.  In terms of being exposed to the language, it was best to live with native Spanish people.  I actually lived with two different families, which is atypical.  I had very good experiences with both families.  I only left one family because it didn’t work out for me to be able to stay with her for both semesters.  I had two American roommates named Jerry and John; they were both from Massachusetts and studied at a different language center than I did. 

What kinds of courses did you take in Spain ?

When I first arrived in Spain , I took a month-long intensive and then I planned on taking language and culture courses, which would be Spanish history and culture, as well as geography and art history.  I’d also take grammar, but I didn’t qualify because I did not pass the qualifying exam.  I did take a three-month intensive language program instead.  They were all taught in Spanish, but they placed you in the level in which you belonged.  They were not rigorous, but designed for those without a great grasp of Spanish, such as foreigners.  I even had to write in Spanish for two papers, which was difficult but possible.  I received a lot of help from professors, as well as feedback from my friends and host family.  There have been studies that said that learning another language is actually detrimental to mastering your own language.  However, I felt that it helped me in some ways.  I was doing things independently.

I really wanted to learn another language and experience another culture.  It has always been something I’ve been interested in.  I felt that Spanish was an important language in this country, considering that 31 million people speak the language in the United States .  It is actually becoming a second language here.  There are actually more speaking Spanish as their first language in the United States than in Spain , which I thought was interesting.

For dyslexics, it is very difficult to learn a foreign language.  It is difficult to even function in English too, in some ways.  I am a very slow reader and it takes me a long time to read.  It is also very difficult for me to spell things.  In a foreign language, it is even more difficult.  I had a hard time using dictionaries to look up words in both English and Spanish, and I would need extra time for doing some of my assignments.  I probably spent much longer doing them than other members of my class, but the material was not extremely difficult so it was OK. 

I had a laptop, so that helped me a great deal.  I was able to get some software that could read to me in both English and Spanish.  It had an unabridged English dictionary, which was pretty nice.  I also bought two Spanish dictionaries, and both came with CD-ROMs, which I was able to install those and use those easily for translation.

What are some of the rewards of studying abroad?

There are many things that are rewarding about study abroad.  First, you get exposure to a new culture.   You learn about that culture and, depending on where you study, you can learn a new language, which is very rewarding.  On top of that, I think it is very fun to be able to think in another language.  While I’m certainly not fluent yet, I can think about some things in Spanish, which is pretty cool.

Also, I met people from all over the world, and that’s another thing that is great about being in the situation where you exposed not only to the country but also people from other nations that can reveal their cultures to you as well. 

Do you have advice for any students with dyslexia that want to study abroad?

Don’t get too discouraged about not making progress.  It takes a lot of time to improve.  Everyone improves on different levels in terms of acquiring a language; some people may improve faster than you do, but that is ok.  Just keep trying and know that you’re getting things out of the experience, even if it is not as much as you would have liked at first. 

Also, at least for me, all my classes transferred into Pitt as pass/fail credit, so there was no real pressure for me to do well academically.  My grades were not important.  Of course, I did work hard because I always like to do my best.  Just try hard in classes.

I would definitely study abroad again if given the chance.  In fact, I’m kind of thinking about though I’m not sure about where yet.  It was a great experience.  I learned so much and grew as a person.  My experiences were wonderful, and I’m more independent and I feel more capable now.

How do you think you’ve changed from your experience?

I think that I am more independent.  Before I left, I was receiving a lot more help from my parents with everything, including school work.  When I was in Spain , I had to do all of my work by myself, so now I’m more confident in my ability to do things and work on my own.

What kinds of advice would you have for other students following in your footsteps?

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t feel that you’re making progress as rapidly as you’d like.  Don’t get discouraged if you don’t receive all the accommodations that you ask for and just do your best with what you receive.  Take advantage of your time studying abroad because it is a great experience. 

I felt that the University of Pittsburgh helped me a great deal. I received a lot of good info at both the branch campus at Greensburg from Kathy Murray as well as at the main campus.  My Spanish professor, Nancy Estrada, is a great person and encourages her students to study abroad.  She was on sabbatical in Spain for a month and came to Granada to spend two days with me.  It reminded me of home and alleviated my homesickness a bit. 

I hope to study abroad in Mexico in the summer before I begin graduate school next fall. 

One of my major concerns before I went to Spain was what the expectations in the classroom would be.  I found that the coursework was not extremely hard; it was not as rigorous as I’d expected.  There was not a disability office, but I could go to the Secretaria, and the professors had office hours if I needed assistance.  I just had to do a lot of advocating for myself.  My Spanish family and friends would read over my work and critique it and give me suggestions on how to improve my compositions.