(Study Abroad) Class

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1. : I was in Costa Rica for 5 weeks and taking 7 credit hours, so I was extremely busy with classes. I sort of wish I had taken less of a load so that I didn’t have to study so much, but I figured that, since grades don’t transfer back to Kansas State, I should knock out as many credits as possible. That said, I didn’t slack off; slacking off in language classes would be pointless when you’re trying to learn a language.

I also took classes above my technical ability level, which forced me to push myself. With only one semester of Spanish under my belt at Kansas State, I was a little nervous when I enrolled in Intermediate Spanish and Spanish Conversation, but the classes forced me to work hard and I learned an enormous amount about the language which helped me in my day to day life around Heredia.

If Latin American Dance is offered, take it. I didn’t by any stretch of the imagination master any of the dances that we learned, but it was an incredibly fun way to bond with my fellow gringo students. We would generally meet at a café and study for a few hours before the dance class, then meet everyone else at a bar an hour before the class and get a little loose for dancing. It was great fun.

*I feel like I should clarify here that everyone in Costa Rica refers to white foreigners as gringos. It is not derogatory. It is considered more endearing than anything, akin to calling Costa Ricans Ticos (which, by the way, comes from their tendency to add –ito or ita to the ends of words. For instance, a guy I knew named Carlos was called Carlitos).



I would not recommend taking any of the history classes that are conducted in English. I took a 1 credit hour Latin American History class which was absolutely interesting, but was also incredibly time consuming. I could easily have learned in my free time what we were taught and avoided hours of writing papers. Or I could have spent the time talking with my host family or exploring the city. Basically, although the topic is interesting, the time could be better spent.

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