Student Testimonial: American Cultural Studies (ACS)

For those interested in rolling in an ACS course, here's a first-hand account of the experience, written by Juan Vega Esquerra, a former and current student of multiple ACS courses.

And don't forget about our free ACS open session on Wednesday, November 25th, from 18.30:19.30 p.m.-XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. at the International Institute.

After having participated in several cultural courses at the IIE I have been asked to write about my personal experience, thus I will try to explain what they have meant to me in terms of improving my English and getting a better understanding of the American culture.   

Firstly, I have to say that my main goal in following these courses was not to improve my English, since I think there are other activities better suited for that purpose. Fundamentally, what I wanted –and still want- was to deepen my knowledge on culture and humanities.

However, these courses have also improved my ability to build, reason and present, either verbally or in writing, sound arguments of a certain complexity about different subjects. No doubt that the skills acquired in those practices can be applied to other areas of professional or personal activity.

In any case, what I most value in the courses is that they have given me the opportunity to discover a huge variety of cultural manifestations (such as novels, short stories, essays, plays, poetry, songs, movies, art works, photography) , to reflect on them, and to share and contrast opinions with similarly interested people. In short, to gain access to sources of knowledge that, although focused on the US, have a much wider influence.

Essential to that result are the careful selection of materials to be discussed and the fact that the classes are very dynamic and participatory, an aspect that the teachers actively promote. It must be said as well that this fruitful participation requires that the students make an additional effort because, without the necessary previous preparation, the following exchange of ideas would be less enriching.

To conclude, my experience with the cultural courses at the IIE has been absolutely rewarding and I would recommend them to people with similar interests, who want to improve their skills to construct/building sound arguments in English and who are ready to make the necessary personal effort.

jamesbaldwinstretch

After having participated in several cultural courses at the IIE, I have been asked to write about my personal experience, so I will try to explain what  have meant to me in terms of improving my English and understanding of American culture.    

First of all, I must say that my main objective in following these courses was not to improve my command of English, since I believe that there are other activities that are more suitable for that purpose. What I fundamentally wanted –and want- is to deepen my knowledge of culture and humanities.

However, these courses have also improved my ability to construct, reason and present, both in writing and orally, solid and somewhat complex arguments on a variety of topics. There is no doubt that the skills acquired in these internships can be applied to other areas of professional or personal activity.

In any case, what I value most in the courses is that they have provided me with the opportunity to discover an immense variety of cultural manifestations (such as novels, short stories, essays, plays, poetry, songs, films, works of art, photography). ), reflect on them and share and contrast opinions with people with similar interests. In short, access to sources of knowledge that, although focused on the United States, have a much broader influence.

Essentially contributing to this result is the careful selection of materials to be discussed and the fact that the classes are very dynamic and participatory, an aspect that the teachers actively promote. It must also be said that this fruitful participation requires that the students make an additional effort because, without the necessary previous preparation, the subsequent exchange of ideas would be less enriching.

To conclude, my experience with IIE's cultural courses has been totally rewarding and I would recommend them to people who have similar concerns, who want to improve their argumentative skills in English and who are willing to make the necessary personal effort.