I am doing UA in Spain, and I am doing it online due to COVID, however, it is still the same classes. I get to work on my Spanish with native Spanish speakers, which only increases my comprehension level and ability to speak Spanish fluently. This coming fall semester will be my last one at UA, and I have a double major, so this program will let me finish off my Spanish major without having to worry about it this fall. I am studying at the University of Nebrija in Madrid, and preparing for these classes was kind of difficult for me because I knew that there wasn’t a lot I could do to completely prepare for speaking and hearing Spanish for three hours straight. I read some short stories in Spanish to try to re-familiarize myself with some of the vocabulary and conjugation, but there isn’t truly an amazing way to prepare because total immersion is the only way to become completely fluent, and you have to just plunge into it. I’m hoping that I will learn more about Spain as a country, including the government, what daily life is like, and both the pros and cons of living there because I’m not going to lie, I’ve been wanting to live there for a while. I’m also hoping to come out of the program with much better hearing skills. I was born with some hearing loss, and I also have trouble focusing when people talk for a long period of time, so conversation has always been the hardest part of learning Spanish.
