Where should I study abroad this summer?

Which country should I study abroad in for the summer?

• My college offers many different study abroad programs but here are the ones I've narrowed it down to: Cultural Immersion programs: Prague, Czech Republic Dublin, Ireland Amsterdam, The Netherlands Language Immersion Programs Rosario, Argentina Angers, France Berlin, Germany Athens, Greece Oviedo, Spain Each of these are one month programs that I would earn credit for through my university and are of equivalent cost. I currently speak English and a moderate amount of Spanish so the programs in Argentina and Spain would further my Spanish where as the programs in Greece, Germany and France would be a introduction to a new language. I just don't know where I want to go! Any help would be appreciated :)

• Answer:

  Hi Lexi, I would ask myself a couple of questions: Am I from Europe? If so, do I want to stay in Europe for the study abroad programme or go "as far as possible"? (i.e. Argentina) Is English my mother tongue? If so, would I prefer to go somewhere they speak the language (i.e. Ireland) or go somewhere more 'exotic'? If I go to Spanish speaking country I will broaden my horizons as well as deepend my knowledge of the spanish language. Do I want to do that and 'focus' or try something totally new? What is my area of study? Would any particular language/culture experience be useful? Looking at the population, for example, maybe a job with German and Spanish would be easier to grab after college? Germay - 82m Spain – 46m France – 45m Argentina – 41m Amsterdam – 17m Greece – 11m Czech Republic – 10m Ireland – 4m Am I in my final year(s) in college? If not, I can probably explore more but if yes - maybe it is time to focus more and not "jump from one to another"? But on the other hand, I might never have an opportunity like this to get to explore something totally unkown so it might be a good idea to grab it now. What type of university is offering these programs? Maybe some of them has a really outstanding reputation and would look very well on a CV? What subjects do they offer - anything of a particular itnerest? What is the weather going to be in the country when I'll be there? Do I care? Does the culture interest me? The food, dance, architecture, landscape... Does the language sound good to my ear? How easy/difficult is to learn the particular language and which way do I prefer to learn a language? (e.g. german has loads of strict grammar rules, and so does czech language) Go online and listen to each of the languages and look at as many photos as you can to get a 'feel' for all of them. Do you know any people from those countries or friends/family/..who travelled to those countries? What do they think? The best of luck, you'll have a ball and learn loads no matter which country you choose.