Testimony Letters 2007 - 2009

December 15, 2009

I had an extremely positive experience with Best Programs and would whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone looking to move to Spain for study or work purposes. Although I came to Spain with an advanced level of Spanish, the level of support I received with lodging, transportation work placement, Spanish classes and so forth was still invaluable and helped me transition smoothly to life here. Spain is a great place to live, filled with culture and life, but the bureaucracy is quite daunting.

Going through Best Programs relieved me of so much of the paperwork, red tape, and bureaucracy involved. The entire process with my visa application and student card went through smoothly, the wait time was minimal and everything was trouble free. The first week of classes was fantastic - the materials and quality of instruction provided and the cultural immersion activities at the school really helped me jumpstart my somewhat rusty Spanish skills and was a great way to segue into life and culture here, meeting local Spaniards as well as students from all corners of the world. Work-wise, everything also went smoothly as promised. Through Best Programs, I was able to find a paid work placement.

The training and support provided by Xavier and the staff there are very comprehensive, I have been working for 2 months now and am very happy with everything - the work content, the support system provided and the work salary. Jill herself was kind enough to rent me a room in her apartment for my first 3 months in Madrid. Lodging-wise everything could not have been better. I had a cozy, well-furnished room with my own private bathroom, the apartment was beautiful and there was such great energy in the house. Jill and Nimi are extremely positive, friendly people - they made my stay in Madrid very pleasant and were always there to help out with any issues that I came across while adjusting in Spain.

Initially, I came across Best Programs by pure accident while surfing on the net. At the time, I was considering a host of other similar stay-abroad/work+study programs offered by other agencies. I chose Best Programs purely out of gut instinct, and was worried about how it would be before arriving in Spain. Luckily, everything turned out great! Like I said, the support I received with just about everything was tremendous and it made life here so much easier. For me, it was definitely worth the money!

Thanks Jessica and thanks Jill!!

David Tzeng (darvinchy@yahoo.de)

April, 2008

Dear BEST,

I have just completed my last day at SOM and I feel very sad to be leaving the company. All my collegues were lovely and friendly and I have learnt a huge amount of Spanish. I would now say I am almost fluent! Until July I will be spending my last 3 months in Madrid at Glamour Magazine as an intern, much like my time at the fashion PR company. My work at SOM meant that I had the opportunity to go into The Conde Nast office and ask directly if they had any space for interns and there was a space availiable.

Working at SOM has been a great opportunity for me and I would really like to thank BEST programs for initiating and organising everything out here for me. I really feel that the whole process of obtaining work in a foreign city was made very easy by you all. My sister is even coming out to do a language course at the school you organised for me! Many thanks and I will be in touch until I leave in July.

Best wishes,

Olivia Rollins (ollierollins@hotmail.com)

November, 2007

Dear BEST,

I am really enjoying my internship and all is going well. I sent the contract in on time to my university so they know what I am up to. I realise that you will want a copy. My university does not require this and it will be difficult to get a signature from them as I am in Madrid and not going back to see them in the near future.

I have various responsibilities within the company, but mainly I am an assistant stylist. I organise collections into the database and style the showrooms. We had an event last Wednesday for an open day which I really enjoyed and think it went really well. If there is anything else you need to know I would be happy to inform you.

Kind regards,

Olivia Rollins (ollierollins@hotmail.com)

July 3, 2007

Hi Jessica,

Yes, I am doing great. My internship is keeping me very busy. ESBA has given many unique opportunities to learn more about the EU. They are very nice and fun to work with. I love it here in Brussels. I hope to find a way to stay longer or come back someday. I just wish it would stop raining right now. Anyways, hope all is well.

Kind regards,

Virginia Ellis (btrcup2003@yahoo.com)

Hola Jessica,

Sorry for not being in touch earlier. I do not have internet at my apartment so it takes a while for me to respond. Things are going great. I started my internship at the school in the reception office as well as teaching english twice a week to children. Today was my first day teaching and it went pretty well. It was not as hard as I thought. In the reception I do basic office duties like greet students, answer the phone, enter data into the computer etc. My spanish is improving day by day. Thanks for keeping an update on me!

Gracias,

Marcia Nguyen (mngy@hotmail.com)