Studying abroad is a unique and life-changing experience for any college student. It will help you broaden your personal and professional horizons and become an intercultural speaker with sound command of Spanish. In addition, you will have the opportunity to develop your multilingual competence if you choose additional classes in Italian.

Come to Soria, come to CIAM… Your Study Abroad program will help you:

1. See Europe from Soria.

We are made from the places we live in; they are part of our identity. Soria is a quiet, unique, and comfortable city to get around in. It is full of green spaces and has a rich cultural life which leaves no one indifferent. Away from the mass tourism of other Spanish cities, it will enable you to enjoy an authentic experience and easily integrate into the life and work of the community.

Soria is strategically located in Spain and is an ideal place to explore other parts of the country such as Madrid, Zaragoza, Valladolid and Burgos, which are all two hours away, Bilbao and San Sebastián, which are less than three hours away, and Barcelona, which is about four hours and a half away. From Soria you can go by car to France or Portugal in a day trip, and if you want to explore other European cities, there are flights from Madrid and Barcelona to almost any country in the world. Soria offers you the security of a comfortable and quiet stay, a friendly community where it is easy to interact and be part of the cultural life… And it is also a highway to Europe and the world.

2. Improve your education and training.

You will have the opportunity to get to know other ways of learning. The foundations of our project are the affective, humanistic and cultural bases of our Study Abroad programs. Our programs are designed by a team of foreign language education and teaching specialists, who work side by side with those US universities that choose and trust us every year.

3. Enjoy a new culture.

Exploring and immersing yourself in a new culture is always fascinating. You will become an intercultural speaker while you develop open-mindedness and tolerance, and break down barriers and stereotypes. At first you will be fascinated, and afterwards you will have to develop strategies to adapt to the new environment. Some international students might experience cultural shock at some point, but it will eventually fade away and you will find yourself truly enjoying the experience. When you go back home, you will feel different and will want to meet again with the friends and family that you leave in Soria.

4. Improve your language skills in Spanish and Italian.

The best way to learn Spanish is to immerse in the language and the community. Soria is Spanish in its purest form. Some of the greatest Spanish poets of all time, including Antonio Machado, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer and Vicente Aleixandre, fell in love with the city and its people.

You will learn both inside and outside the classroom, through programs, classes, workshops, and volunteer activities in the community. It is a life experience, not just an academic experience. That is what makes our programs unique.

We are also an exam center for official Spanish exams, so you can officially certify your level of Spanish proficiency before going back home.

You can also complement your language training with individual or small-group Italian classes, or you can participate in online sessions before coming. You also have the opportunity to continue working with us after your stay in Soria through our online classes.

5. Expand your career opportunities.

During your Study Abroad program in Soria you will be able to do professional internships and participate in our program Spanish in the community and volunteering. Our students have the chance to gain first-hand knowledge of professional sectors and organizations in Soria: educational centers, companies, foundations with social objectives, institutions, or even CIAM itself. We have around 300 students every year, which allows us to guarantee a completely personalized program and to find the internship that best meets our students’ needs. By the time you return home, you will have more tools, more experiences, and more willingness to learn. Your career opportunities will have increased.

6. Discover new interests.

A change of scene is sometimes necessary. It allows developing creativity and finding yourself. It is also very enriching to leave for a while whatever it is you are doing and do something else somewhere else, away from home and from the relationships and traditions of your country. If you go to another place, in another country, in a different culture, with new people and customs, you will probably discover that you are very good at sports that you have the chance to do, such as hiking, horseback riding, skiing, and golf, among others. You will also fall in love with the green landscapes and rural environments of the area of Soria. In addition, Madrid is less than two hours away from here, so you will be able to spend a weekend there if you want to live the vibrant cultural and social life of a city that never sleeps.

7. Make friends for life.

You are going to live with your fellow students from the Study Abroad program, but not only with them. At CIAM we prepare activities so that you can interact with young Spaniards, which will allow you to build long-lasting friendship relationships. Your host family will be essential in your integration, and its members will become important people in your life. During the stay, if you wish, we can also help you contact international student associations.

8. Grow personally.

There are moments in life when it is necessary to be alone in a foreign country. At CIAM we know about living abroad. We have lived abroad for more than 20 years and we can help you take the most of this linguistic experience of growth and personal development.

Your Study Abroad program will help you connect with your emotions and values. You will learn to know yourself better at the time you learn about others. You will learn to compare, contrast, broaden horizons, and better guide yourself for your future life. Soria is a perfect place to take a break for reflection and learning. You will return as a different person, a better version of yourself.

9. Increase your admission opportunities to a graduate school.

Those responsible for admitting students in graduate schools highly value study abroad experiences. Having studied abroad is the best cover letter that you can write, because you show that you are an open, flexible person, and that you have developed skills for an intense learning experience that requires initiative, emotional intelligence and effort.

10. Open yourself to a life experience.

We all need to contrast our worldview with those of other people, and compare what we do to what is done in other places. We need to learn from other experiences and other environments. We also need to learn from other places and from different people. We need to hear other voices, other languages, the stories and experiences of other people who have worked in different areas. For this reason, a Study Abroad program in Soria will help you change your mindset, discover new hobbies, and improve your decision-making skills. It is much more than learning; it is a life experience. That is why our motto is SPANISH FOR LIFE.