My name is Amy Sepp and I have been the acting social media manager at MLC since June of 2024. I recently studied abroad in Spain in the Spring of 2025 and wanted to share my experiences abroad. As I reflect, many of my adventures in Europe overlap with some of our MLC students’ experiences traveling to the United States for their academic and work-related journeys.
I studied abroad through the University of Michigan’s CGIS program for advanced Spanish language in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. As a rising 4th-year Spanish major at UM, my main goal through this program was to immerse myself in the language and culture of Spain to increase my fluency in Spanish, and therefore widen opportunities for myself post-graduation.
Workplace benefits
One of the many motivations for learning a new language is academic or work related. In my case, along with the majority of our MLC students, this rings true. Having a second language under your belt provides new opportunities in the workforce. To quote one of our students from Chile, Giovanna, “I had meetings with American brands in English and couldn’t understand or participate in them without someone to help me. It was frustrating for me,” she said. Being abroad, I related to this. It was hard to put into practice the skills I learned at UM thus far. I wanted to improve so that I could be able to use my Spanish skills practically.
Learning a second language opens up an entire population of people you can communicate and work with. While the process of learning a new language is bound to be frustrating– not remembering words, not understanding slang, or falling out of practice– it drives you to want to learn more. One of my main goals with learning Spanish, just like Giovanna and many other students with English, is to have more opportunities in the workplace. Schools and programs that are fully immersive, like MLC and the program I participated in, give you greater chances to progress and broaden your horizons for those opportunities.
Language Barriers
Language barriers can be difficult, yet gratifying if you keep trying. My experience in a smaller city in Spain definitely made it more difficult to revert back to English when I was struggling. I had my fellow UM students with me for most of the time, so I still felt I could express myself in my native language when needed. For our MLC students living with family or in certain suburbs where their native language is common, this experience is similar for them. I know in Giovanna’s case, she lives in Detroit with a large population of people who speak Spanish. However, for other students who may not have family here or their native language isn’t as common, English is the only way to get around. In the classroom at MLC, everyone comes from distinct places around the globe. Most cannot revert back to their first language, and that can be demanding. However, one common vernacular, whether that be English or Spanish, unites people; I see that firsthand through speaking with the people at MLC and reflecting on my own experiences abroad. Fully immersing myself by only speaking Spanish, often out of necessity, challenged me to new levels of fluency and broke down that language barrier bit by bit; and oftentimes, it’s the best way to learn.
Immersion
With 4 hours of classes 4 days a week, my experience abroad was a lot like MLC. My classes were all taught in Spanish, as well as the outside activities like city tours, hikes, cooking classes, and other adventures. The classes were intensive and the immersion made it so I could make a lot of progress in a short amount of time– similar to what our alumni have said about MLC. Even when learning a new language in your home country, for example, it is hard to progress without being surrounded by that language– in all aspects of life. One of our students from Japan, Koyata, noted that it was much harder to learn English even when he was actively trying to learn it in Japan. After coming to the US, though, his progress sped up dramatically. I relate to this; it is much harder for me to noticeably improve in my classes in Ann Arbor than in Spain. I certainly progressed in my listening skills, speech production, and accent work during my 6 weeks abroad.
In a way, I got to experience what our students experience when they move abroad to the US: the nervous yet excited feeling of arriving at the airport, the culture shock of living in a new country, adapting to the language, and making new friends and lifelong memories. Although it can be a bit scary and unknown at times, the benefits of learning a second language and gaining cultural knowledge are skills you can utilize for years to come in all facets of life.
