Over half way through my semester here at Universidad Carlos III Madrid I thought it’s probably time to start writing about my experiences here. But where to start?
After my Spanish intensive course I was feeling a bit more confident with my level of Spanish but was still nervous as hell about starting to take three classes in Spanish (Politics, Sociology and General Linguistics). And I was even more nervous when our Sociology lecturer started asking all the American students if their level of Spanish was up to taking this class in Spanish and reminding us that there was an English option. Luckily she turns out to be a good lecturer and she relaxed a heap once only 20 out of 60 students were turning up to her class. Every week it gets easier to understand the classes – most of the time it’s pretty do-able but when the other students start talking and arguing I start getting lost! They speak super fast! Some topics are also particularly hard to follow as it is the norm to use very long words ending in “ización”, sometimes I feel like I’m taking a dictation test that lasts an hour an half. But reading over my notes I seem to usually catch the main concepts.
University is different here in a few major ways. For one, the universities have to continually evaluate students under the “Plan Bolonia” changes to university education. For me, this means I have weekly assignments on top of weekly readings for most subjects, as well as mid-term tests, a final group work project and presentation and a final essay or exam, plus our class participation mark. Get tired just thinking about how much work that is? Me too. Luckily I’m only taking four classes, not the usual six regular students take. Spanish students come in all shapes in forms, but for the most part they are quite diligent as it’s necessary to study a fair amount just to pass.
Another major difference between university here and at home is the general lack of respect during class. Students will talk to each other constantly throughout the lectures and tutorial classes as if they were in high school or out to lunch and no matter how many times the teachers tell them off for acting like children they continue to do it. And they have no problem interrupting the teacher to argue with them on anything – including academic definitions of political and sociological concepts. Finally we sorted out that no matter what “feminism” means in the street when you’re talking to your friends, the recognised sociology definition is the fight for equality between all genders. Apparently this chatter within classes is normal, but I’m unsure as to why. The classes are interactive and interesting enough and the ground rules were set in Week 1, but are hardly followed. I’m not sure if it is that the interruptive style of speaking that is common in normal conversations in Spanish has also been transferred to the classroom or if it’s something else altogether. Other Spanish students also complain about their class mates talking throughout the class but say that it’s normal in all of their classes.
In terms of course content, education here is very traditional. In my politics and sociology classes, even given they are first year, first semester classes, we focus wholly on the classical theorists of each theme covered. There is little discussion about alternative contemporary interpretations of such phenomenons or actual examples world wide. The practical classes each week give a little more room for discussion and looking into the practical application and manifestation of such phenomenons but it is more like a side-note to the theory. Some definitions, such of that of globalisation, are quite old and do not take into account recent theorists very often. In saying that, classical political and sociological theory is probably a very good base to build off during the rest of their degree.
What I’ve noticed from my class in English (Economic History) and from talking with Spanish students about this is that the level of English of many Spanish students is very basic, especially in comparison to other European countries. I have friends here on Erasmus from Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic who speak English at a very high level, some nearly perfectly and without a strong accent, however I have hardly met any Spanish students with such high levels of English. While they all recognise the importance of learning English, they struggle to attain the necessary level to apply to study overseas in an English speaking country which is ultimately the only way to properly learn a language. One thing that appears to greatly aid people in learning English is if the television programmes on national TV are not dubbed, but kept in English- something which does not occur in Spain. Some also say that Spain is behind the rest of Europe in English attainment due to the prohibition of English and all languages other than Spanish during the Franco era. Another factor that probably does not help is that many “English classes” have teachers with low levels of English who revert back to Spanish when they can’t find the word in English and use sources (including videos and guest speakers) and graphs in Spanish.
So university here is different, but overall much the same – there are teachers, students, on-going assessment and weekends jammed packed with partying, sleeping, studying and travel (usually in that order). And time is flying by, only just over a month left of classes!
Puerta del Sol Madrid
Studying the fun stuff – grammar…
Getafe – my current home and university town
Tour of Madrid with two of my classmates 
Madrid at night
Sunset in Getafe, view from my balcony
Cooking up a storm with my room mate!
S
Sunset in Getafe, view from my balcony
travel, explore, adventure 