E-mail: nienkeschoenmakers@hotmail.com
Study Program: Bachelor psychology
Exchange semester: Spring 2015
Academic year:
2014/2015
Host University: Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Country: Spain
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
I studied one semester at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) in Spain. Madrid is a
beautiful city with a very compact city centre. Everything in the centre is really easy to reach
and also because of that it doesn't take you much time to feel completely at home. The
streets in Madrid are always full of people and the bars and restaurants are always filled with
people. Especially in the weekends, everybody leaves their house to be with family or friends.
My flat was on a perfect location: i shared a flat with 6 other girls at Callao, which is located in
the middle of the city centre and near to sol, the central square.
I studied at UCM. UCM has a lot of faculties, I studied psychology at the one at campus
somosaguas. From the metro stop Moncloa, you have to take a bus which takes around 2030 minutes (depending on the traffic). The campus is not comparable to Tilburg University:
the classrooms and buildings are older and less modern than Tilburg University. Also the
facilities are less modern; the computers in the library are much older, the furniture is old and
on the campus you see a lot of graffiti.
There are so many good places to go to eat/drink in the city. I can tell that the food in Spain
only disappointed me 3 times. There are a lot of nice 'barrio's' with nice squares and a lot of
restaurants/bars. I recommend the barrio's La Latina and Malasaña for food and drinks; even
after 5 months you can find there a lot of places you never saw before. There are people
everywhere on the street and the spanish lifestyle is relaxed and the most of the people are
friendly and warm.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
I experienced a lot of problems regarding the information before I left. In October, I received
an e-mail to create an account at the UCM site for filling in a kind of online application. The
website and creating the account didn't work at my computer so it took me some time to
arrange everything regarding the online account, but in the end it worked out. Because of this,
I received the pre-arrival information from the host university quite late. In the week before I
left, I still didn't receive a confirmation of my application so I e-mailed the university. It turned
out that they already send it in December but I never received it. I also didn't receive any
information about the intensive language course, I could only choose this as an option when I
filled in the online application.
Visa procedure and arrival
I arrived at the 21th of january in Madrid. On the 22th of January there was a welcome
session at the university. It took us a long time to find it and we were too late, but when we
arrived we found out that the welcome session was not even started. We received a lot of
information about the things you need to arrange, the university, the library and ESN. Luckily
we received all the information on a USB-stick,because it was in Spanish it was really hard to
understand.
Orientation/Introduction activities
There were no introduction activities organised by the university, except for the information
session. However, ESN organized a welcome-week with a lot of activities.
In the application form they asked if I wanted a buddy and I applied for it. I received an e-mail
from my buddy when I was there for a week already and I organized everything already like
housing, my phone card etc., but he was very friendly and helpfull. One day he showed me
everything on the campus like the library, where to print etc. so I would recommend to apply
for a buddy. I was lucky because some of my friends also applied and never heard from the
buddy program again.
Housing
I had to arrange housing by myself, the university provides no help with this. I got the e-mail
adress of a landlord from a girl whom I know from Tilburg University who studied in Madrid
the year before. I send the landlord an e-mail and she still had rooms available. She was
really nice and helpfull and took a really good care of the flat and the girls who lived there. If
you want, you can ask me for her e-mail adress. I couldn't have wished for a better
accomodation: I lived in the city centre and 2 minutes from a metro station. I could basically
walk to everything. I lived together with 6 other girls with all different nationalities; dutch,
french, canadese, danish, german and one spanish girl.
I arranged the housing before I arrived but I had to stay in a hostel for the first week because
my room was not available yet. For me it turned out very well to arrange my room on
forehand, but a lot of people I know just came to Madrid and start looking for a flat there,
which is quite easy. For living I would recommend the barrio's Chueca, Malasaña or La
Latina. There also live a lot of students in Moncloa, which is close to the university, but after
going out you have to take a night bus to there.
There are a lot of organisations who can help you to find a room like for example
Erasmusflats and there are a lot of Facebook groups where people offer flats.
Living Costs
I financed my exchange period with savings and the montly amount you received from DUO.
Also I lend some money from DUO. I advice you to save a lot of money, as your life in Madrid
will be more expensive than in the Netherlands. Going out for dinner is really easy, in the
afternoon they offer 'menu del dia' in a lot of restaurants, where you can have 3 dishes
including drinks for €10. The spanish life is for a big part lived on the streets, in the bar, and
restaurants and that is also a reason why it is really attractive to go out for dinner a lot.
The most of my money I spend on trips, food and drinks. Also my rent was a lot higher than
my rent for my room in Tilburg.
My biggest expenses where the rent of my room, which was €400. Regarding to public
transport, if you are younger than 23 you can get a 'abono joven', which costs €35 euro and
you can travel by bus and metro in the whole city centre. When you are older than 23, you
pay around €55 for this card. I also had a phone card, which cost €15 euro monthly.
I also spend a lot of money on traveling: I traveled to Andalusia by bus and it is a really cheap
way to travel in Spain. Usefull websites are: avanzabus.com or alsa.es. I traveled by bus to
Lisbon, Granada, Cordoba & Sevilla and I think it is a good way to travel. Also I booked a car
with blablacar a few times, which also saves you some money.
Academic Calendar
I flew to Madrid on the 22th of January and the welcome session was on the 23th of January.
The next day there was a test to determine your level of Spanish for the intensive language
course. On monday the 26th the language course started and lasted for 2 weeks. After that, I
had a week of holidays (already) and my classes started the 16th of february.
You have one month to go to all the classes to see which subjects you like, I had to hand in
the final courses I wanted to take on the 16th of march.
There is a break around Easter, 'Semana Santa', and there are a lot of bank holidays where
we in the Netherlands never heard of. The whole month of June consists of exams.
The International Office
The erasmus office is also located at Somosaguas and the people who work there are really
nice. You have to keep in mind that the office is only opened from 10:00-14:00 and it is closed
on friday's.
Social Activities
ESN organizes a lot of activities for exchange students, but I only attend a few in the
beginning. There are also a lot of organisations like BEmadrid or Smart Insiders. They also
organize a lot of activities for students in Madrid.
Most of my friends were exchange students. I think it is a pity that I did not have a lot of
contact with spanish students, but during the classes it was hard to be in touch with the
Spanish students, also because my Spanish was far from perfect and their English is not so
good. In the beginning it was also easier to be in class with other Erasmus students.
However, if you ask them something or you need help, some of them can be extremely nice
and will help you with everything.
Most of my friends I met during the free intensive language course in the beginning, which I
highly recommend. Not only for improving your Spanish, but also because most of the
Erasmus students will follow the course. I also did an extra language course, every tuesday,
wednesday and thursday night and there I also met a lot of nice people. Most of my friends
were dutch and german. In Madrid there are also a lot of people from South America and they
are also really nice and their Spanish is better to understand than the Spanish from the
Spaniards.
I travelled a lot during my exchange: during Semana Santa we did a tour through andalusia
(Granada-Cordoba-Sevilla) and in one of the first weekends when the classes started we took
a spontaneous blablacar to Valencia and also visited some cities (quite) close to Madrid as
Toledo, Segovia & Zaragoza. I also found some cheap flights by Ryanair and went to Lisbon,
Oporto & Ibiza in the weeks after the exams.
Culture and Language
I did not experience a culture shock while I was on exchange. I visited Madrid in November
before I came, so I knew a little bit what to expect. However, I was not really prepared to the
'spanish way' of life. For example when I was e-mailing with my landlord to confirm my
reservation of the room she just said the whole time 'no te preocupes' (don't worry) which
made me only more worried, but in the end everything worked out.
I think the Spanish culture is not comparable to my own culture: people are way more relaxed
and don't worry a lot. I think that here, we are way more punctual and stick more to the rules.
For example, I had to do a group work together with 3 spanish students and we had to hand it
in on Monday. I allready did my part and at sunday night I asked them if I needed to print it.
Than they told me that we don't hand it in and do it next week ('no te preocupes').
Also with arranging things; keep in mind that it can take a while before you get it done. It took
me at least 1 month to get the student card (which I never used). On the other hand, I think
Spanish people are really proud of Spain and their culture. One time we were sitting in a
restaurant and two old men insisted that we tried the food they were eating, a typical dish
from Madrid. Most of the Spanish people are warm and open and really want to help you with
improving your Spanish. On the other hand, there are also a lot of people who are really not
interested in foreigners and only speak Spanish, but in general I think the people in Spain are
warm.
One thing I really appreciate about the Spanish culture is how they spend the day: they take
their time for the lunch at 2, their biggest meal of the day and have a 'merienda' around 5/6.
Than in the night they have a small dinner. I really liked that the Spanish people were always
on the streets, especially in the weekends everybody is coming out of their houses and
enjoying everything Madrid has to offer. Friends and family are really important for Spanish
people and that is something I really appreciate.
I experienced a lot of language problems, especially in the beginning. The classes were really
hard to follow and it took a lot of energy trying to understand what the professor was saying.
Maybe even harder was to understand the other students when they had questions or when
they were having a discussion. Sometimes I felt totally lost sitting in a class and trying to listen
to a language you don't understand that well. It helped that in the courses I picked, all the
professors used slides so that I could also read what they were saying. I followed an intensive
language course in the first 2 weeks that I arrived and I highly recommend it. It is nice to meet
some other students and you improve your Spanish a lot, because everybody wants to talk in
Spanish. I also followed a Spanish course during the semester, which was 3 times a week
from 7-9. This is sometimes really hard because you also have classes in the morning and
than you have to go back to university in the evening, but my course was also a lot of fun and
the professor also learned us a lot of things about Spain and the culture. The second course
costs around €320 euro but you get a certificate in the end and you can earn credit points by
following the course.
Personal Development
I think my exchange made me more open minded about other people and their cultures. I
learned a lot from my friends all over the world and they told me (funny things) I did not know
about their country/culture. Also because I was in a position where I could not understand
people because of their languages, I think I will be more patient with foreigners.
The only thing I would do differently is that I would have made more contact with Spanish
people and maybe picked some other courses, but in the end I do not have any regrets. I
really enjoyed every day I was in Madrid and I loved to experience the spanish lifestyle. I am
happy that I could live in this beautiful city for 5 months and I recommend everybody to go out
of your comfort zone and go on an exchange. For me it was not always easy because of the
language and a lot of times I thought: 'Why did I do this?' but in the end I am proud of myself
that in the end I was able to write exams in a language that I did not speak fluently.
I will never forgot the great time I had in Madrid and the great people I've met there.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
The courses at Complutense are only offered in Spanish. There is a billingual group but you
can not choose this group because it is only for Spanish students or English/Irish students.
You have a month to try all the courses you want and I recommend to go to a lot of courses
as possible. I would also talk with other Erasmus students to hear which courses they
recommend. I picked my courses because the professors spoke Spanish clearly and they all
used powerpoint sheets. This was the most important reason for me to choose these courses.
The first course I took was Diversidad. This was in the end also the only course I picked
before going to Spain. The other courses I took were psicología cliníca infanto-juvenvil,
Psicología jurídica , trastornos del Desarollo and a extra Spanish course. I choose these
courses because the teacher were nice to erasmus students and because they all used
powerpoint sheets. I would recommend trastornos del desarollo, because you have to take
two midterms and if you pass both, you don't have to do a final exam. The teacher also gives
another course, trastornos del aprendizaje, and it works with the same principle. In the end I
would prefered to do trastornos del aprendizaje, because I think its better to have 2 midterms
than 1 final exam. I would also recommend Diversidad, although it is a lot of work, but the
teacher is nice and talks clearly and is interested in erasmus students. The other two course
were harder and I would not recommend them.
The general level in Spain is lower, but the language makes it so much harder.
The first course I picked was Diversidad, In the beginning I could not understand a lot from
the courses, but in the end I was able to understand the biggest part.
I think the courses here are more comparable to high school. The classes are not in big
rooms like in Tilburg but in smaller rooms and with less people. Also the contact with the
teachers is more personal and they are more interested in you as a person.
Most of the classes consist out of 1 lecture and 1 working group. There was a lot of group
work and the assignments were quite big.
In the end, I did not pass all the courses but I am really proud that I passed 3 out of 4. I think I
can be really proud of myself, because in the first weeks I never thought that I would be able
to do a presentation in Spanish or to write a whole essay in Spanish and pass it. Offcourse it
was not flawless. I remember doing a presentation in Spanish and the spanish students were
looking really confused, but they were really polite. Also the presentation I had to do with a
group was scary but they were really nice to me and I can be proud that I did a presentation in
a language which I don't master.
Exams
All of the exams I wrote where multiple choice. Some consisted out of 25 questions, right or
wrong, but other ones were really long and if you answer a question wrong, you get minus
points. I was not used to this system and I think it is a good thing to keep in mind while writing
the exams.
Other
The library is easily accessible but I would not recommend working there. I only was there a
few times to print but the facilities look old and the internet is really slow. However, there are a
lot of other places in the city centre where you can study.
Description of Courses
All the courses I took were 4th year bachelor courses.
Course
8002002 Trastornos
del Desarollo
Prerequisites
None
Exam
Written
ECTS
6
Comments
Presentation,
assignments during the
practicas
2 midterms(multiple
choice), no final exam
800204 Psicología
Jurídica
None
Written
6
Assignment,
Final exam(multiple
choice)
800199 Psicología
Clínica infanto-juvenil
None
Written
6
1 big assignment;
analyzing 3 case
studies, final
exam(multiple choice)
800183 Diversidad,
exclusión social e
integracíon
None
Written
6
Paper about
intervention session
with a psychological
problem in the context
of the course, final
exam(multiple choice)
Spanish course for
Erasmus students
None
Written
4
Pretest to determine
your level
Tips for the future students:
I would recommend everybody to go on an exchange. I learned a lot from this 5 months
living on my own in a totally different environment with people from all over the world. I
really love Madrid and I would recommend everybody to go there; it has a relaxed
atmosphere, beautiful buildings, parks, plaza's and everything and I enjoyed every minute
in Spain. I would also recommend to go to UCM, but you have to be prepared because it
is a big university with a lot of students. You also need to be assertive and to be willing to
look for information yourself. Don't be scared because everything is in Spanish: in the
beginning it will be challenging but you will notice that you will improve quickly and in the
end you can be really proud of yourself that you passed courses in Spanish and that you
were able to live in a city and go to an university where everything is in Spanish.
If you want to practice more spanish before you go to be more confident, I would
recommend watching Spanish series or reading easy spanish books, but you will notice
that you will improve quickly when you are in an environment that forces you to speak
and listen Spanish.
It might be more challenging to go to a Spanish university, but as the spanish people like
to say: 'no te preocupes', everything will work out in the end.
If you have any questions or doubts, you can always e-mail my. My e-mail adress is on
top of this document and I would be happy to assure you that you are going to have the
best time of your life! Also if you have any questions where to go, where to stay and
where to eat, I will be happy to answer them.