Studying at the German Language School in Heidelberg , was great. Originally I booked to study for 10 weeks through CESA, but decided to study there again because I had thoroughly enjoyed it.
The city of Heidelberg is beautiful and there are lots of students around so there is always something going on!
The classes are friendly and it is easy to find the right class that is suited to your language level.
The school also offers; weekly activities, trips to different cities, school parties and lunches, extra free grammar classes and culture talks. This gave me the opportunity to meet new students and make friends.

Overall I had a brilliant experience and my language skills improved hugely.
Heidelberg is so beautiful, I would recommend going there to anyone!”

I expected after 3 months in Seville to be more or less fluent in Spanish, to gain greater confidence in myself and my language abilities, I also expected the lessons to be partly in English. After 4 ½ months in Spain I wasn’t fluent in Spanish but I do believe it is possible if you work super hard and only speak Spanish. The fact that all the lessons are in Spanish and Spanish only is fantastic! I have definitely come home with a lot more confidence, and lots of new friends! In general I expected the whole trip to be a lot easier than it was, but this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing….. it’s all part of the adventure!

The school was lovely, bright and airy, really comfortable and all the staff were very friendly and smiley. The school is in the perfect location, right in the very centre of everything, with a perfect street with breakfast bars right up the road. The school made a really big effort to provide the best activities for the students. During my first week, a group of us went to the Carnaval, all the staff were dressed in costumes and taking over the dance floor! I only ever went to one excursion, to the Musee de Belles Artes. A Spanish guide shows you around and makes an average museum seem very interesting. There was a perfect balance between the amount of lessons and free time we had, but both went too fast.

The best parts of my course was meeting so many people and realising you can hold a conversation with someone in another language, and being in Seville. The worst part of my course was sitting in front of the class and doing a presentation, it was a bit daunting!
It was fabulous having a mix of younger and older students on the course from all sorts of different countries, it made everyone really enthusiastic about being in Seville! Everyone I mixed with at the college were really friendly and lots of fun.

I spent my last two weeks travelling around Andalucia and even though I am obviously biased, Seville is the best place by far. Eating out is good and also cheap, but you need to search for the best Tapas bars because there are so many. Local people were surprisingly friendly, seeing as there was so many foreign students around. The nightlife is fantastic; we started the nights out with a few drinks in the Plaza (the done thing to do in Seville, plus cheap and sociable) and then went onto one of the bars or clubs along by the river. During the day, siesta time is a super safe time to walk around the city. We spent most of our time down by the river, sunbathing again another sociable place to be.

What about my accommodation? I stayed with three host families during my stay in Seville. The first lady was fantastic; she was really chatty and friendly. There were two American students staying with her as well as me, she always cooked us good food and you never left the dinner table feeling anything less than full. My second host was a little disappointing, as I didn’t really see much of her, but the last hosts I were again fantastic. They were a really chatty and friendly family. Perfect for making you feel at ease when practising the lingo. The flat was lovely with a gorgeous terrace outside.

My most memorable moments are on a paddleboat on the river, sunbathing on the terraces, seeing the Alcazar, times spent in Alfalfa. Watching the women dance at feria, and lunchtimes at the school when lessons have just finished.

As for CESA, you were fab! Without you this would never have been a part of my life, I’m definitely going back. Thank you!

Before I arrived, I hoped to improve my French, particularly oral and listening skills. I also hoped that I would become more independent and have the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. My experience in Biarritz definitely matched up to my expectations! The course was excellent; I definitely felt that my French had improved by the end of the 2 weeks – not only did my oral and listening skills improve but I also learnt a lot of new vocabulary and became more confident with different grammatical structures. Outside of class my expectations were met and more! I met so many new people from lots of different countries and made lots of great friends! 

The French language lessons in Biarritz were definitely challenging to begin with as they were taught only in French however it was this aspect that I enjoyed the most as you could really feel your French improving as you understood more and more with every lesson. I liked the structure of the lessons as we had 3 different teachers each day and a break between the 2^nd and 3^rd lessons which meant you never got bored or tired!  Student/Teacher interaction was very good and we all got to know our teachers well and quickly became comfortable speaking in French with them.

I felt extremely comfortable at school as all the teachers and staff were so helpful and friendly. If anyone ever had a problem, the staff at school were always there to help! The activity organiser Laura was particularly enthusiastic and eager to get everyone involved! The language school itself was in a good location; close to the beach and easy to get to from our bus stop each morning.

I absolutely loved my language course experience! If I had to pick a best bit it would have to be all the new people I met from all over the world – everyone at school was so friendly. Coming to Biarritz on my own had been a little bit daunting at first however I soon felt right at home and made some great friends! The only bad part of the trip was leaving; I could have stayed longer!

The other students in my class and at school were lovely; at school there were students from Spain, Sweden, England, Ireland, Germany, America and Australia – it was so interesting to meet so many different people! The school’s activities and excursions made making friend and meeting new people so much easier. I thoroughly enjoyed all the activities that I took part in, from cycling alongside the beach to a day trip to San Sebastian. We were given plenty of free time as class ended at 1pm and the fact that activities weren’t compulsory meant that you only had to do activities that you would enjoy!

 Outside of class you definitely had to put your language skills into practise, not only with your host family but also with local people in the town’s cafes and shops. During my time at Biarritz I always felt safe and there was always plenty to do! There were so many beautiful beaches to visit during the day and at night there were often free concerts. Watching the Roxy Pro Surf Competition at La Grande Plage and trying moules-frites were some of my most memorable moments!

 I loved my host family, they were extremely welcoming and friendly and I felt at home from the very minute I arrived. My host family didn’t speak much English and whilst at first this was a little scary, it definitely helped me improve my French and I quickly came to enjoy chatting to them each day. I felt very comfortable in the apartment – it was quite far away from the town centre and school but the bus service and use of bus passes meant this wasn’t a problem!

CESA were extremely helpful and provided me with all the necessary information before I left for Biarritz!

 I loved Biarritz and would definitely go again! The freedom and independence of being abroad without parents and the opportunity to meet so many new people were definitely the best aspects of my experience!

I was very pleased with my experience in Guadeloupe. My French instructor was excellent; she was extremely knowledgeable and well-prepared, and created a comfortable and fun classroom environment that was conducive to learning. She also tailored specific assignments to meet my learning needs and goals, such as loaning me a short novel by a Haitian writer to read on my own time. After just three weeks of classes at the French school in Guadeloupe, I had advanced significantly (testing at B2, leaving with a level of “utilisateur independant avance”). During that time, we also took a field trip with all students at the institute, visiting one of only three large Caribbean slave cemeteries that has been studied academically, as well as an anthropological museum and a rum distillery. I found this to be an excellent use of time and enjoyed the day very much. Additionally, I found the other students and the staff at the institute to be very friendly and helpful.

Guadeloupe is a gorgeous island. The accommodation that CESA arranged for us (myself and a friend with whom I was traveling) were perfect. We opted for a private apartment, but we were fortunate to have the best of both worlds, as a wonderful couple who owned the property lived in the same building, and their daughter and grandchildren lived next door, so we also were able to interact with them as with a host family. Our apartment was up on a hill and there was a beautiful view of the sea from our porch.

Sainte Anne is a nice, quiet little town. You can find anything you may need there, at least for the short term (there are grocery stores, a bookstore, pharmacies, restaurants, etc.) The beach is beautiful, the ti punch is excellent, the people are friendly, and there is no better option for learning French in the winter.

I have taught Spanish abroad in Costa Rica and Peru, and I have studied abroad in the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Haiti, so I have some experience with education abroad. I highly recommend this program.

Thank you!

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CESA Note :
Anne went out for 3 weeks end of December/early January
We can’t think of a better way to see in the New Year :  )

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The thing I was most pleased about was the quality of the teaching and instruction throughout the course.  It was consistently good, challenging and the teachers were excellent and very motivational.  I also enjoyed my tutoring sessions.  I liked the fact that the teaching and tutoring staff encouraged the use of Arabic outside of the classroom, as much as in it.  I was impressed by the enthusiasm that instructors and staff for their work and the intensity of the lessons, yet the sense of informality in the school.  It is a great place to study Arabic, not just because of the atmosphere but also because of the excellent facilities.  I really have nothing critical to say.

I really wanted to highlight the college Cultural Clubs, which are open to all students and take place after normal classes.  These clubs are run by college tutors and are another great opportunity for everyone to practise their language skills and put the Arabic language into context.  Even better, the Clubs are free to join and run once a month or even once a week. 

Here’s a quick run down of the one’s available when I was there:

Calligraphy Club: 
Calligraphy class is held in bi-weekly sessions, each two hours in length.  The Calligraphy instructor, Mohammed doesn’t speak English, so you HAVE to practice language skills and increase vocabulary.  For the artistically inclined, it is truly a fantastic exercise (for me it was more of an artistic challenge but I gave it a go)! 

Cooking Club:
Cooking club teachers you the most famous Moroccan dishes.  Students go with their instructor to the souk to shop for the ingredients and the next day prepare the dish as a group. 

Islamic Studies Club:
A lecture series on the basics of Islamic practice and theology.  Lectures take place bi-weekly and are followed by a Q&A session.

Cinema Club:
Cinema club takes place monthly.  Students watch an Arabic movie and then have a discussion led by their instructor.

Media Club:
Students discuss current news events or watch popular Arab media channels.  Students attempt to analyze the information for perspective, bias, and political ramifications.

I expected comfortable accommodation, that the other students would be from a range of countries and aged between 16-19 and that the classes wouldn’t be too large and the teachers would be experienced. Overall I felt that these expectations were met and the course was a success.

I found that the lessons were very good, and although I wasn’t sure at first, actually having lessons in the afternoon made the week more relaxing than courses I have previously attended. We were provided with a good textbook and the teacher made the classes interesting, however the lessons of one of the teachers didn’t work so well for me, but overall definitely a good German language course.

The German language school facilities were excellent.  The school was modern and light with ample space outside to relax with friends between classes. The staff were all very approachable and provided us with a good range of activities and excursions. The location was fantastic, right next to the tram stop for the city centre and there were many things going on in the local neighbourhood as well.

For me, being able to explore Berlin and meet such a range of people whilst improving my German made the language course, in fact the whole experience so worthwhile.

Main plus point for me:
The travel arrangements were very good and the wide range of excursions allowing us to discover Berlin. 
The number of German lessons per day were ideal, enabling us to learn enough whilst still being able to relax and enjoy the trip, after all it was in our summer holidays!
Also I really like Berlin as a city. The night life was great and in general not too overpriced. I felt very safe in the city, definitely more so than home in London.  There is much to do during the day and excursions were also available to the majority of tourist sites. Some locals were willing to converse in German but others assumed we were tourists, not students trying to learn the German language.

Accommodation:  I stayed in the Hostel, a few blocks from the college.  For me the location was great, next to the V Baha and easy distance to college (on foot) and the city centre (by public transport).

The assistance and information from CESA Languages was excellent and the website was very clear to use and very helpful.

I would definitely go again but only to a large city, like Berlin, where I knew many things would be going on, aside from the school excursions.  I like city life and feel a smaller location could bore me after a week or two.