I step off the bus and into the brightly-lit Plaza España. Waiting there is the group’s Señoras: the women who have so graciously agreed to host us in their homes. In turn, each Señora calls off the names of the students who will be living with her. When Señora Roldan calls off the names of my roommates and me, we eagerly walk forward to ...
Firstly, I would just like to say that I’m proud of myself for being able to function yesterday after twenty-four hours of no sleep (ok, maybe I cheated a little and got 2 hours in during the flight from New York to Madrid). Secondly, I have never seen a cuter city in my entire life. If you go on google right now and type in “Cadiz, ...
Prior to my summer program in France with Abbey Road, I wished to immerse myself in the French culture, expand my French vocabulary, and generally have a better understanding of the French language. I was so excited to come to France for the first time and explore the depths of the French Riviera. I couldn’t wait to meet my host family and ...
Our society places a great emphasis on diversity. Universities and corporations brag about their diversity, censuses and surveys collect information on diversity, and our own USA calls itself “the melting pot”. Travel, too, widens your gaze to new diverse perspectives that you would not otherwise encounter. Diversity is the difference, and ...
Last year for Chinese New Year I was invited to my friend’s house for dinner. We sat with his parents and in discussion of the celebration we started talking about his parents’ childhood in China. His father was born in southern China but was adopted by English parents and grew up in England. He has a British accent but still carries his ...
Language and its meaning are amazing tools that we use everyday. We create words with meanings that are useful for us—like “google” something, take a “selfie”, or, as they say out here in California, “shred” some “gnarly tube”. English has a lot of great words like that—but so do other languages. In that spirit, I found a ...
Mark Twain once said “Never knew before what eternity was made for. It is to give some of us the chance to learn German.” And he’s right—learning a language is a lifetime process. The way we communicate is nuanced and the only way to be confident in your language abilities is to continually learn and practice your skills. Sometimes ...
by Andrew Boas, Abbey Road Student, France 2014 The acquisition of linguistic skills and cultural understanding is an all-encompassing and constantly growing aspect of both my education and my life. As a particularly globally-minded person, the ability to speak to anyone I meet with confidence is something I never cease to cherish. ...
by Carrie Osborn, Abbey Road staff As with any language, sometimes the Italian that you hear spoken on the streets of Florence sounds like something entirely different from the simply structured, polite phrases you've memorized in your textbook back home. Just think about how many phrases we use in our everyday lives that we'd probably ...
Time is flying by too quickly here in Nice. Everyone knows their way around town now and we are getting comfortable using our French around the neighborhood. The weather has been beautiful and we had a brief cool down early in the week, which was a much-needed relief from the Cote D’Azur sun. This week has also brought us several ...