Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

If you decide to go to Barcelona before the start of the semester, e.g. in August, keep in mind that many university and administrative offices and even shops will be closed or at least open for only minimal hours due to vacations. Keep in mind that you're not really awaited: You'll experience lots of problems concerning accommodation and living that during the first two weeks you might want to go home immediately (some did!), but don't give up or you'll miss a great time!

Don't forget to attend the Castellano courses for ERASMUS students at the UB! They only cost appr. 40€ for 36h of classes instead of 400€ as the regular price. It's good quality, usually good fun and a perfect opportunity to get to know other European exchange students.

That catalan is so much part of the everyday-life in Barcelona, regarding the language and the culture.

Do not take any course of a female teacher, whose name I forgot unfortunately. She does not talk very clearly and too fast what makes it very difficult to follow her.

The Knox College in Barcelona Program arranges its own courses taught by UB faculty on the UB campus. Enrollment in these courses, which are limited to topics dealing with Spanish language and culture with a few exceptions, is open to program participants only, most of which come from the United States, or more specifically, are Knox College students. While the professors the program employs are very knowlegeable in their areas of expertise and enjoy working with international students, the isolation of the program within UB is sometimes detrimental to the students' efforts to adjust to life in Barcelona. For example, many students continue to speak English with their American classmates in the program because it is the most comfortable and natural for them and they have difficulty making friends among the Spanish students who they don't interact with in regular classroom settings. While placing all program participants in classes together is comforting because of the common past experiences in American universities and the present situation having to intergrate themselves to life in Barcelona, most of the students find that they do not get to meet and interact with Spanish students at the UB as much as they would like to. Only some of the students have the opportunity to actually enter the Universitat de Barcelona and then take the same classes all Spanish students there can take, but these students must be staying on the Knox College program for the duration of the UB term as well, which is not always equal to program terms.

See "recommendations in regard to courses" above.