Taking Classes at the University of Granada

One of my most valuable experiences this semester was taking a Spanish-taught course at the Universidad de Granada. In addition to taking four classes at the IES Abroad center, I took Fundaciones de Psicobiología alongside Spanish students. Every Monday and Wednesday, I took the U3 bus from Camino Ronda to the Cartuja Campus for lecture and practica. Because of my background in science, I already knew the first half of the content. While it made the class easier, I struggled to pay attention, and thus I didn’t improve my Spanish as much as I could have in a harder class. Professor Maria Jose Simón Ferre was incredibly welcoming and accommodating to my program calendar, despite needing to reschedule my midterm and take my final exam two months early. 

I strongly recommend taking classes at the Universidad de Granada during study abroad. It was a great opportunity to observe the differences between American and Spanish education systems, as well as immerse myself in the Andalusian accent. Below are my biggest takeaways from the semester.  

Advanced Courses May Not Be Worth It

Each course at the university is meant to be taken in a specific semester for the Spanish students. Thus, the year level each course has been assigned is a strong indicator of the course’s difficulty. My friends and I who took first- and second-year courses were able to prioritize learning Spanish through simple content without stressing about work, whereas my friend who took a fourth-year sociology course was stuck reading hundreds of pages of dense Spanish law articles in the second half of the semester. 

If you want to get better at Spanish and also have free time, I recommend taking beginner courses at the Universidad de Granada. 

The Professor’s Accent Matters

On my first day at the Universidad de Granada, I went to two different psychology courses. I picked psychobiology over personality psychology purely because the psychobiology professor’s Andalusian accent was much easier to understand. I know my friends who had teachers with strong accents often had a hard time comprehending material during lectures and understanding instructions for homework. 

I am very grateful that I chose the professor who was easier to understand, because it was hard enough to follow along in Spanish to begin with. Pick a professor according to your level of Spanish. 

Get a University Bus Card

The Universidad de Granada has a very spread-out campus. While my friends had a 15-minute walk to the department of sociology, I lived a 50-minute walk from the department of psychology. If you have a long walk, I recommend taking the time to get a university bus card early on. It saved me a lot of time and money throughout the semester, as it only costs students €0.33 per bus ride (€1.60 without a card). 

Befriend the Spanish Students

Last, definitely befriend the Spanish students in your class! They were very friendly and shared a lot of useful resources, like student-made study guides and notes, that I never would have had access to if I didn’t talk to them.

Last semester was a wonderful experience, and it wouldn’t have been complete without taking a course at the Universidad de Granada. Best of luck!