Stanford Study Abroad Experience: Karen Lee
Hi! I'm Karen, a rising junior at Stanford University and I spent the past two and a half months in Madrid studying abroad. As part of a service learning course, I was also an English tutor at IIE, and my experience there was one of my favorite parts of being in Spain.
The Institute offers English lessons to adults and young learners (pun intended), organizes programs about American culture, and provides a fun and stimulating learning environment for students. As part of my work there, I organized tutorials for students who wanted to practice English conversation or review grammar concepts from class that they were confused about. One of the hardest things about learning English is definitely perfecting pronunciation, and the best way to work on it is through constant practice. Though my ten weeks flew by and I regret not being able to spend more time with my students, many people who came to me during their first week and were very hesitant to speak in English soon warmed up to it and improved tremendously. I noticed the same thing in my practice of Spanish. Studying abroad, I realize, helps you make friends with a language. Everyone will make mistakes, so the important thing is to not stop speaking and using the language, and your increased comfort with it will improve your interactions with locals and local culture.
I also worked in an private school as part of my class, which was a very different but equally valuable experience. Discipline is greatly emphasized in Spanish schools; I'm not saying this is good or bad—I went to elementary school in China where the classroom environment is very similar to the Spanish one and I had a blast—but it's markedly different from the US system. I'm glad that the children's classes at IIE have a laid back environment but still challenge kids to learn. I sat in on a Young Learners' class once and the professor had her students practice the future tense by roleplaying a fortunetelling session with a magic eight ball. The kids were particularly entertained by shaking the ball, and took turns dressing up as the fortuneteller with a colorful shawl.
I also helped organize two events with the American Space Program: a college panel for Spanish students interested in applying to college in the US, and an egg drop for 12-14 year old students. The egg drop idea came from an activity the advanced physics class at my high school does; each student gets one piece of A4 paper and a month to design a contraption that will protect their egg from a three-story fall, and your grade depends on the survival of your egg. In the American Space activity, we gave the kids balloons, string, foam, and other materials to use. All of their designs were super creative and impressive, especially given the half-hour time constraint.
I can't believe my time in Spain is already over, and I want to thank Patti Trimborn, Jean Choi, and all the staff at the Institute for welcoming me so generously. The Institute is the most supportive workplace and learning environment I've ever been in, so if you're in Madrid make sure to stay tuned for their events!
Hello! My name is Karen and I am a sophomore at Stanford University in the United States. I just spent two and a half months in Madrid doing an exchange, and as part of my course internship, I was an English tutor at the International Institute. I want to tell about my experiences there because they were one of my favorites from my time in Spain.
The Institute offers English courses for adults and teenagers, organizes events on American culture, and provides a fun and stimulating school environment for students. At my job, I organized tutorials for people who wanted to practice speaking or review grammar concepts. In my opinion, one of the most difficult things to learn English is pronunciation, and the most effective way to improve it is constant practice. Although my ten weeks went by quickly (too quickly) and I am sorry that I was not able to spend more time with my students, many students who came during the first week and had a hard time speaking at first improved a lot after practice. I noticed the same thing in my Spanish practice. In my opinion, doing an exchange is a way to “make friends” with a language. Everyone is going to make mistakes, so the most important thing is to keep talking.
I was also working at a charter school for my course, and it was a very different but equally valuable experience. Discipline is heavily emphasized in Spanish schools. I'm not saying it's good or bad, but it's very different from the American system. I am glad that the youth classes at the Institute have a relaxed atmosphere while stimulating the children to learn. I attended a Young Learners class and the teacher organized a divination activity to teach the future tense. The students were very entertained and it was each one's turn to be the seer and wear a colorful scarf.
Additionally, I helped organize two events for the American Space Program: a panel for Spanish students interested in applying to American universities, and an 'egg drop' for 12-14 year olds. The idea for the egg drop came from an activity that the advanced physics class at my school does every year—each student is given a sheet of A4 paper and a month to design a device that will protect their egg from falling three stories. , and the final mark depends on the survival of the egg. In this activity, we gave the children balloons, string, foam, and other resources. All the designs were very creative and impressive, especially since they only had half an hour to build the devices.
I can't believe my time in Spain is already over and I will miss it so much. I want to thank Patti Trimborn, Jean Choi, and all the employees of the Institute for their gracious welcome. The Institute is one of the most fun workplaces I have ever visited, so if you are in Madrid make sure you visit it!
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