I’m trying to decide where to study abroad and I’m debating between a program in Granada, Spain, or Cape Town, South Africa. Both are about the same cost and both would give me classes toward my major. The benefit of Granada is that it lets me focus on perfecting my Spanish and lets me take Arabic classes, but South Africa is a more unique destination that I think would stand out more on a resume. I can do an internship at both. I’m wondering which destination would be more fun and more beneficial.
Are you talking about a semester, or a year? And would Spanish be highly beneficial to your career?
A semester abroad wouldn’t “perfect” your Spanish all that much – it’s just not long enough, though for sure your Spanish would get better. Just don’t expect fluency. And if it’s something that would be good to know, but not really career-enhancing, then I’d say go to Cape Town. You may not have this opportunity again, while Spain, let’s face it, isn’t that far way AND you can also try to work on your Spanish even closer to home, in Mexico.
But if you’re talking about going for a year, then I’d say go to Granada, because a year WOULD have a significant impact on your Spanish – if you know a fair amount already, a year would push you toward fluency. A year would allow you enough time to get to know locals well, to develop much stronger ties than you could over a period of a semester. And yea, you could learn some Arabic and learn A LOT about the impact/importance of Islamic culture.
Bottom line: two very interesting choices and you sort of can’t really go wrong either way. Enjoy.
I agree! I’m a little prejudiced, because I LOVE South Africa and Cape Town in particular. The people are friendly and the country is spectacular. I’m going back for my fifth time next year and I can’t wait. But the chance to be immersed in Spanish for a year would be wonderful, too. You will be fortunate to study in either locale.