seville Abroad

Seville Abroad

Why choose Seville Abroad?

We are a agency dedicated to organizing Spanish courses, high school programs and educational trips to Spain. Our business philosophy is focused on the closeness, trust and personalized attention we give to students and families.

If you want to improve your Spanish, enjoy an experience abroad or go on the educational trip of your dreams, we are your agency, and you our priority!

Reviews

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Janos
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Our daughter had an incredible experience

Our daughter had a wonderful experience with Seville Abroad. She did the year long program her junior year of HS. The program staff were very welcoming, and provided excellent communication before, during and after the program. We felt that they went above and beyond to make sure our daughter and the other students were buys with meaning excursions both locally and in places like Morocco, Paris and Cadiz. She was placed with a terrific host family that cared for her and proved her with all she needed for he year abroad. The additional tutoring and meet-ups provided by the program during the school week really helped her with her Spanish language skills. We would feel very comfortable recommending Seville Abroad to anyone who has a child interested in studying abroad in Spain!

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Nicole
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Best decision

Our decision to send our 16-year-old daughter away for a year was a difficult one. We worried about many things and of course about missing her. There were rough transitions and tough days for sure, but the overall message is: I couldn’t recommend this experience more for a young person to grow and develop and gain independence. Our daughter grew in ways that I couldn't have even imagined and came home with a strong sense of self, a new family and home away from home, and friendships to last a lifetime. She is also fluent in Spanish and has an incredible sense of self and empathy that is rare in someone so young. Thank you, Seville Abroad for your care and programming for our daughter.

What would you improve about this program?
Send to a school with less or no other Americans to better be able to meet the local students.
Pros
  • Great Spanish language learning
  • Great foreign travel/trips
  • Wonderful staff
Cons
  • Tough first family experience
  • Too many Americans at school
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Lisa
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Amazing experience for our daughter

Our daughter spent the first half of 2024 in the Seville Abroad program. We really liked the fact that this is a small program based entirely in the beautiful and safe city of Seville. The students and staff become like a close family. When our daughter was struggling with culture shock and home sickness, the staff was so kind and supportive, helping her to make adjustments and find the support she needed to work through the struggles and come away from the experience with a new sense of self and confidence. Her language skills and ability to face challenges and new environments have improved immensely, and we're so grateful she had this experience. As a parent I could not have asked for more!

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Jordan
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Amazing experience in Seville

I spent one semester in Seville. I lived with a family in Triana. The food, architecture and culture were great. I loved Semana Santa and Feria! My family was caring and helped me throughout the semester. High school was very different from my experience in the United States but the people at Seville Abroad helped me adjust. I also appreciated the weekly Spanish lessons provided by Seville Abroad. The excursions planned by Seville Abroad were educational and fun. I will always remember my time in Seville.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
Anchovies and condensed milk sandwich, a tapas at La Flor de Toranzo in Seville. Surprising and delicious!
Pros
  • Food
  • Walkability
  • Making new relationships with friends and family
Cons
  • Eating late at night was hard to get used to.
  • Gets really hot sometimes.
  • n/a
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Jackson
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Amazing Experience

My year with Sevilla Abroad was amazing! The team at Sevilla Abroad was extremely helpful throughout the application process as well as supportive throughout my time there. It was an incredible adventure with challenges and obstacles that helped me grow as a person. I loved the food, the sights, the music, and the people! I especially enjoyed the excursions to other cities and countries! This experience left me with lifelong friends that I plan to visit in the future. I know that I am a more confident, independent, and cultured individual from having been through this experience.

What was the most nerve-racking moment and how did you overcome it?
When I left, I was worried that I'd be homesick after a couple months. However, the Sevilla Abroad program and my fellow study abroad students helped me feel at home. They were my family away from home - we celebrated birthdays and Thanksgiving. They provided a space where we could all discuss any issues we faced.
Pros
  • I gained independence.
  • I gained confidence in myself.
  • I experienced so many things that others never will.
Cons
  • I was away from friends and family.
  • Taking classes in Spanish was challenging and required more studying.
  • I had to take extra classes that I missed once I returned to my home school.

Programs

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Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Pepa Hernandez Vargas

Job Title
High School Program Director
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Pepa was born in Madrid, Spain, traveling, learning from other cultures, and meeting people from other countries has always been constant in her life during more than 25 years in which she has developed her professional career working for high-level multinationals. She has gained experience in organizing travel and in the management of large groups.

At the same time, she also took part as host family welcoming young students of different nationalities to her home for more than 15 years. This experience gave her enough knowledge to know in detail what each student needs when traveling outside their home and how to deal with cultural change and adaptation in Spain.

What is your favorite travel memory?

Without a doubt, my favorite travel memory was my first experience abroad. At the age of 20, I put my things in a suitcase and traveled across half the world, destined for Seattle. I was going on an educational program that would change my life completely. That experience opened my mind to other countries, cultures, to another language. It was one of the most enriching experiences of my life, and from which I keep the best memories. My American family and my friends were the best part of my year abroad, I´m still in touch with all of them and I am lucky to be able to see them every so often.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

Being able to work with people from all over the world, traveling, and helping young people to have a unique experience in Spain has always been one of my greatest passions in life, so, to lead this company, is to fulfill a dream and make others can do it too.

I would highlight maybe the relationship with our student´s families in their home countries, it feels good when you see that parents trust you their children and the relationship that we developed with them before and during the stay of their children in Spain It is very satisfying for me.

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

In general, all the messages we receive when the students return home thanking us and letting us know how special the experience has been for them and how they miss their host families. But we always get emotional when we receive images of one of our students from their graduation in their home country, we are very pleased to have contributed, in some way, when they get to graduate.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

The full-year High School program. Shorter programs are very fun and enjoyable, but the vision that you get from Spain is more in a tourist way, however, with the full school year it is how you really get to live and experience the real local life, and is also when you can make more real friends and strengthen your emotional relationship with them and with your host family.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

Commitment, closeness and communication, are our company values. For us, being a coordinator goes beyond solving specific problems with students, it has to do with dedicating your time to them, knowing them, and being able get them to see you like a close person to trust.

All of us who coordinate students have been in our youth abroad, just like them, and we know all the satisfaction that a program of this type brings, but also the difficulties and problems of adaptation to Spanish culture. As a director, I feel particularly satisfied with the commitment and love with which all the coordinators give to the student and their families.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

Particularly for this type of organizations, the most important factor to be successful is trust. After all, you are working with younger children, they are young people who embark on an unknown adventure away from their parents, for most part it is the first time they leave their homes, so, trust both for the students and parents is a determining factor.