Spain: San Sebastián - Spanish Language, Basque, Psychology, and European Studies

I took six years of Spanish classes at the middle school, high school, and college level and was still unable to hold a basic conversation. When I arrived in San Sebastian, I was unable to understand anything. After a few days of living with my host family, I began to understand bits and pieces. After a few weeks I stopped having to use the translator, and within two and a half months I was able to go to bars and talk to strangers. I finally learned Spanish after a few months of living in San Sebastian after trying to learn Spanish unsucessfully for over half a decade.

Studying abroad in San Sebastián has been a once in a lifetime experience!! From the surfing classes and surf instructors, the nicest and funniest Spanish Instructors and advisors, of course the people I traveled with were amazing, the music festivals, the night life and even befriending locals!! I have made lifelong friendships and we are all excited to get together again! I am already planning a Europe trip back to San Sebastián with my current roommate, to meet the locals I met last year! It was a movie like experience and it’s only for a blip of your life, SO GOO! You will not regret it :) !

I would definitely recommend studying abroad through USAC. The staff were willing to respond to any questions I had and provide additional information before, during, and after the program. Their number one priority was safety. I appreciated the small class sizes to get one-on-one attention from my professor. This helped my Spanish abilities grow immensely. The excursion days provided opportunities to view historical sites and famous museums in neighboring cities. I am a foodie and this city is fit for royalty. Be sure to pack your camera because everywhere you look is gorgeous! If you are on the fence, take the leap and go for it! You won't regret it!

My time in San Sebastián was exactly what I needed to feel confident enough with my language skills to begin student teaching. I lived with an amazing host family and grew so much in my language confidence. I had amazing cultural experiences (like visiting Basque ciderhouses, farmhouses, museums, and art installations) that I now use as references in my Spanish classroom! I am so thankful that I got the experience of living abroad with a host family, and it definitely prepared me to be a better language teacher!

I studied abroad for a summer in San Sebastián, Spain and I absolutely loved it! The reason I loved it is because the staff was so helpful, positive, and supportive. Also, I met some of the best people through this program and we still are in contact today! I learned so many skills that made me a better more confident person and I would recommend studying abroad to all of my friends and family. I developed better communication skills, I’m now more open-minded, and I appreciate other cultures even more now! If you like to have fun and live by the beach, this is the place for you!!!

I enjoyed my time abroad greatly. The courses were very small and had wonderful professors that loved teaching. The grading was a bit tougher than in the United States, but the professors worked with me. I enjoyed the surfing class a lot. The support staff were super nice and helpful with travel and sickness. I loved my host family. All of the students in the program were great, and we had a fun community. The excursions that the program provided were very enjoyable, and I wish we had more opportunities like that.

I had the privilege of participating in the 2022 San Sebastian Summer program. Words cannot articulate how special this experience was for me, but I hope that the fact that I am already planning a trip back/ have concrete plans to visit my peers that I met through this experience speaks for itself. When people ask about my study abroad experience, I think they may sometimes regret it because I can go on for an eternity about the amazing friendships, culture immersion, global contacts, and sense of travel identity that it gave me. San Sebastian is the most perfect combination of nature, nightlife, rich culture, cleanliness, and safeness.

The program leaders in Donostia went above and beyond planning and communicating events to the point where I did not want to travel to other countries on free weekends the way I thought I would because my beautiful host city always had something amazing to offer. However, on the off chance I did want to travel they were there every step of the way helping me plan the (unaffiliated with school) trip.
The program leaders, specifically Patricia, looked after me as if I was one of their own when I fell ill which is more than any parent who is sending their student abroad or sick college kid like myself could ever hope for when in a stressful situation as such. The last praise I want to give to the staff goes straight to the teachers! Marina helped me learn more in 6 weeks than I learned in 2 years of High School Spanish, I left Spain with more Spanish confidence than I ever thought I could have.

Although this is not a complaint, I did want to explain my one 9/10 stars in the housing category. The range of living situations is vast and it would have been nice to been informed of this however, it in no way negatively affected my experience. I was blessed to have lived in a quaint apartment near the ocean that had one of the most genuine and kind local landlords/ human beings I have ever met. The landlord was an older Basque gentleman who showed my roommates and I the upmost hospitality. Although we were on the lower end of housing size, quality, and distance from the school, I honestly would not have traded it for a "nicer" placement because it was extremely homey and safe.

The Spanish class put me outside of my comfort zone in the best way possible; we learned extremely fast paced yet efficiently. The workload was very reasonable and there was always easily accessible teacher support. The surf class gets an easy 10 stars, as it was one of the most rewarding and fun experiences I have ever had. The instructors were so patient, outgoing, and personable.

As cliche as it sounds, USAC studying abroad was everything I could have wish for and some. I left with lifelong friends and the biggest place in my heart for new cultures.

I would highly recommend this program! San Sebastián is the absolute best place to spend the summer and the USAC staff worked exceptionally hard to ensure the summer was educational, enlightening, and comfortable. They were helpful with every problem I came to them with and planned fun and exciting field trips. I learned so much in just two months and I could see the obvious growth in my Spanish abilities. The city is absolutely beautiful with picturesque beaches, exceptional restaurants, and so many fun activities to do. In addition, San Sebastián was in a good location to travel to other places and explore more of Europe. Learning about Basque culture was one of my favorite parts about this program and the staff and instructors made sure this was possible. I made incredible friends in this program and had the most memorable summer of my life.