Program Overview
Program Overview
What’s better than living, learning, and growing in a foreign country during a gap year abroad? Living, learning, and growing in two countries!
From the mystique of Chile to the vibrancy of Spain, with CIEE’s Gap Year Abroad Chile and Spain duo program, you’ll discover two very different—but equally fascinating—cultures while immersing yourself in the beauty and lyricism of the Spanish language.
Your journey starts in Chile where you’ll live among the rainbow-colored houses and winding cobblestone streets. You’ll practice your Spanish in-class at the Universidad Viña del Mar and get to know the people who call Valparaíso home.
Six months later you’ll jet off to Spain for three more months of intense Spanish language and cultural immersion. Enjoy your favorite tapas during nights out with new friends, dance the flamenco during a cultural class, and step back into history on excursions to sites you’ve only read about. You’ll return home with new life skills and greater insight into the Spanish language and the diversity of the people who speak it.
The CIEE Difference
The CIEE Difference
Academic Program
You’ve never studied language like this before.
While in Chile you’ll enroll in an intensive Spanish language program four days a week at the Universidad Viña del Mar. Courses include Spanish Language and Culture, Spanish Grammar and Composition, and Spanish Phonetics and Pronunciation. You’ll also take culture courses at the CIEE Study Center with fellow CIEE Gap Year Abroad participants.
During your time in Spain, you’ll continue your Spanish language study through intensive language classes five days a week at a local international language center. Classes are designed to help you build and improve your language skills while giving you insight into Spanish literature, history, and culture. Culture classes at CIEE’s Study Center will introduce you to the Spanish educational system, local cuisine, and more, and give you a better sense of this dynamic country and its people.
Volunteer Opportunities
Give back to, and make a difference in, your host community.
Volunteering is an essential component of a gap year abroad, and a fantastic way to build fluency and gain insight into both Chilean and Spanish society and culture.
Customize your volunteering experience based on personal interests. Like working with kids? In Spain you could support English classes at a local school. In Chile you could assist at a public health organization or work in a youth shelter.
Cultural Immersion
There’s no better way to immerse yourself in another culture than by living with a local family. Not only will your host family provide you with daily meals and a place to stay, they’ll help you develop your Spanish language skills, introduce you to local customs, and offer support and guidance in an unfamiliar environment.
Our host families are as diverse as our gap year abroad students. Whomever you’re placed with, all host families are carefully screened and matched with you based on personality profiles and common interests. Through your host family, you’ll build a home away from home and develop relationships that endure long after you’ve finished your Gap Year Abroad program
Program Excursions
Program Excursions
During your gap year abroad, you’ll have time to discover your host countries both with CIEE during sponsored trips and excursions, and through your personal explorations.
Explore local sites of religious and historical significance and see history come alive. Visit local exhibits, museums, parks, and take day trips to neighboring locales. Spend the day at a local community packing plant and farm and spend three days in San Pedro de Atacama, located in Northern Chile. You’ll also get involved with entertaining cultural activities—flamenco classes, cooking lessons, trips to local olive groves—designed to connect you with the local culture and people.
Dates, Deadlines & Fees
Dates, Deadlines & Fees
We want to make sure you get the most out of your gap year abroad experience with CIEE, which is why we offer the most inclusions in our fees.
- Transportation to and from local Chilean and Spanish airports
- Language classes at the Universidad Viña del Mar and a local Spanish intercultural center
- Volunteering opportunities
- CIEE-sponsored trips and excursions
- Room and board with host families
- Supervision and support by a student services manager
- Orientations prior to leaving U.S. and upon arrival in Chile and Spain
- International medical insurance through iNext and 24-hour worldwide travel assistance and support services
Application Due
Start Date
End Date
Cost
Academic Year
May 25, 2013
August
April
$19,975
*Prices are subject to change and will be locked in for the participant on the day CIEE receives the completed application and program deposit.
Eligibility
Eligibility
- Students must be a high school graduate in good academic standing
- No previous language experience required
- Students must demonstrate, through the application and interview process, their flexibility, maturity, adaptability, and readiness to face the challenges of living in a new culture
CIEE Support
CIEE Support
The CIEE Study Centers in Chile and Spain are responsible for the supervision and support of CIEE Gap Year Abroad participants throughout the duration of their stay. The Gap Year Abroad program coordinators at the Study Centers will remain in regular contact throughout the semester/academic year in order to check in on your language progress and to make sure that the homestay and volunteer placements are going well. The office selects, screens, and interviews all host families and will place students with a family that best matches their student profile.
CIEE Orientation
CIEE Orientation
All CIEE Gap Year Abroad participants take part in an online orientation prior to their departure. In addition to providing logistical information, the orientation helps students set realistic expectations and goals. It also affords students and parents the opportunity to ask questions of CIEE Study Center staff.
Upon arrival in both Chile and Spain you’ll participate in orientations designed to start you off on the right foot. Get to know local customs and culture, set expectations for your time in each country, take language placement tests, and participate in exciting cultural activities, such as city tours—all while settling in with your host families and before starting classes.
Program Blog
Program Blog
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