Universidad de Zaragoza (UZ)

Avoid studying accounting subjects if possible as they use a different accounting system there comapred to the one we use here in Ireland and Britain.

Take plenty of time when choosing your subjects as the teaching methods of some may not suit students who do not speak Spanish fluently. Speak with the respective lecturers about this before choosing subjects. Subjects which involve groupwork and interaction with native speaking students are much more conducive to learning the language quicker.

The university lets you pick any classes from any years and you can try them all out for a month before finally choosing. The computer lab is a joke; it's too hot, too small, and half of the computers don't work. Most students use internet cafés.

Pick subjects carefully. Read the recommendations of people who went before you. Lots of other Erasmus in the same class is a good sign. Some teachers make it easy for you, some are particularly harsh. Use your trial period to figure them out.

I found the 5th year courses easier than the 3rd and second year courses. The classes are smaller, they tended to be coursework based and more interesting. Go for option rather than compulsory modules.

No printer (that I could find) in the whole of the engineering school! The lecturers are helpful and put a lot of time into teaching, but the general facilities/support for students is poor.

DO NOT STUDY "cursos trimestral/annual de lengua y cultura para extranjeros" language courses at The Departmento de Espanol como lengua extranjera, edificio interfacultades, Universidad de Zaragoza. In short: really bad teaching, no social side, expensive, little improvement to spanish. It is a terrible waste of your money and time. Some teachers have no experience with little training and lack basic personal skills expected of a teacher, classes are poor in most ways. The classes are basic and teacher preparation consists of photocopying textbooks, no actual spanish is used (spanish is always especially written for foreigners) even though we were "upper intermediate" level, there was little real conversation (following models in the textbooks like pre GCSE) and less culture than previous courses in the UK! The courses seem good value - mine was 260 hours for 680 euro which is 9 - 2.15 daily with 30 mins break - but every teacher arrives very late, you take extra breaks and finish the class early so you end up with 3 hours of poor language classes a day. They are able to continue to do this because they advertise heavily. Although the university is public, the spanish government privatised some parts of universities - so these courses are private. Teachers are bad because they are paid less than government run language schools so better/qualified teachers look to teach in reputable institutions, and earn more money. If you need more reason to not do this course, there are no social activities whatsoever to welcome students or encourage mixing. Most students outside classes had not met each other even by the end of the 3 months. The excursions they advertised were 2 days in a row to 2 places about 6 weeks into the course. I reccommend the escuela oficial de idiomas no 1. Although it's only 2 hours a week you will study the same grammar at the same pace as your level in the university school. The teachers are very professional and they are paid by the government so the quality of teaching is very high.

ninguno

the exams are harder that you migth think, many exchange students failed. Hardly anybody can pass more than 4-5 exams. Use the advantage of courses with group-work. It helps to get in touch with local students and improving your exam grades.

ninguno

The academic life at this university is a little confusing for a foreign student and the hours of the classes are very inconvenient, you have to go to classes very late and it is very deifferent to university life in Britain