My experience as an intern in a Spanish language school

My name is Stephanie Izard, I´m an 18-year-old French student and I am currently in my first year studying for the BTS (Executive Assistant training) in Jehan de Chilles college in Seine et Marne in France.

During my first year of the BTS, I have to do an obligatory internship in a company abroad for 2 months, between the 4th of April and the 4th of June 2011. I decided to come to Bilbao with some friends from my Spanish class because our Spanish teacher knew Bilbao and some of her former students had told us about the city.

I work in Instituto Hemingway, located on Calle Bailén, no. 5 in Bilbao. The Institute offers Spanish courses, internships, hospitality management placements, volunteering placements and various other activities.

I have to complete a variety of administrative tasks, such as translating articles from Spanish into French. I work with a friend from my Spanish class in France, Rozenne, and there are also two English girls working with us.

Before arriving here in Bilbao, I didn’t know much about the city. I had been to Spain twice before, but both times to Barcelona. Bilbao is a city with a great public transport network, many things to see and do, excellent shops and lots of green, open spaces. The people here are very welcoming and the climate is very pleasant.

I live together with 2 of my French classmates in an apartment belonging to the language school, as well as with a Hungarian lady who speaks English with us. This allows me to practice both English and Spanish at the same time.

The first few days were difficult because I had never been so far away from my family for such a long time. This period of time abroad will certainly help me to be more independent, to improve my level of Spanish and to gain the experience of working abroad with new people.

Undertaking an internship for 2 months abroad is a great opportunity for students because I think it really improves your language level and you learn to live with different people in a different environment.