Penn State students soak up Spanish culture on summer faculty-led program in Ronda

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — This summer, a group of Penn State students ventured to Ronda, a small, mountainous town located in southern Spain, as part of the annual Spanish Language and Culture faculty-led course in the College of the Liberal Arts.

Led by Associate Teaching Professors of Spanish Susana Garcia Prudencio and Miguel Ramírez Bernal, the group spent six weeks living with local families, going on cultural excursions and attending lectures about Spanish geography, culture, grammar and communication.

Prudencio has led the program in the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese since its start in 2015, while Ramírez Bernal joined a year later. Throughout the past decade, both have seen firsthand the impact and value in leading University students through their time abroad.

“Seeing students improve their linguistic abilities, gain confidence in communicating in Spanish and develop a deeper appreciation for cultural diversity and the historical foundations of Spanish society has been incredibly rewarding,” Prudencio said. “The opportunity to guide students through these meaningful experiences continues to inspire my teaching and reinforces my commitment to fostering global citizenship through language education.”

Like others before them, the students traveled to the cities of Seville, Granada and Málaga, where they visited the Cathedral of Seville and La Giralda, the Real Alcazar, and the Alhambra, a palace and fortress complex in Granada. They also explored Andalusian culture and history through visiting the picturesque villages surrounding Ronda.

During these visits, students were tasked with giving on-site presentations about the landmarks and villages, helping them engage deeply with each location’s history, architecture and significance.

Students were able to apply the lessons learned in daily lectures when visiting other iconic sites like the New Bridge, the Arab baths, caves including the Cueva del Gato, and the Garganta del Tajo, the gorge that splits the town in two.

For Grace Giles, a third-year student majoring in pharmacology and toxicology in the College of Agricultural Sciences, opting to travel to Spain was a strategic choice. Already having an interest in improving her Spanish-speaking abilities, Giles wanted a way to fill her summer with Spanish without interfering with her main concentration. Ronda, she said, was the perfect way to do that.

Besides establishing relationships with the local community, Giles said she enjoyed exploring the different cities, hiking and taking in the scenery with classmates.

Giles said her homestay family in Ronda was one of the best parts of her time away. She enjoyed all the meals cooked by her host mother and related well to her host sister, whom she relied on for advice when exploring and navigating the town.

“I found so much care in my homestay family,” Giles said. “I felt so welcomed. I’m thankful to have the opportunity to live with people and speak Spanish with them, which have formed the speaker I am today.”

Nicholas Corsetti, a third-year student majoring in mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering and Spanish in the College of the Liberal Arts, said he found the perfect summer adventure in Ronda, reveling in his time interacting with a foreign language and learning to become more adaptable.

Corsetti and his homestay family bonded over their love of soccer. Also, he said, one of his favorite times were when he and fellow students went for hikes by the river, taking in and then jumping from the towering waterfall to cool off after a hot day.

“Ronda has beautiful nature and landscapes,” he said. “You’re never going to get a similar experience outside of a program like this.”

The students had to adjust to different social customs and schedules while in the program. For example, in Spain, lunch is the largest meal of the day, followed by “sobremesa,” when people spend time at the table to talk and relax with others, or a “siesta,” a short nap after the midday meal.

Financial aid plays a vital part in many students’ ability to study abroad, and both Giles and Corsetti expressed gratitude for the funding they received for their travels. The College of the Liberal Arts offers enrichment funding through the Career Enrichment Network to help students access out-of-classroom experiences.

That time abroad often proves to be life-changing for students, Ramírez-Bernal said.

“A six-week program allows students to fully immerse themselves in the language and culture,” he said. “These students take classes, live with host families, travel to important cities and sites and use Spanish every day. Seeing students use Spanish in real-life situations and connect with the local culture reminds me of the impact language learning can have on their lives.”