I wish I had this problem . . . .

Thessaloniki is freaking gorgeous – but you’re kind of stuck in Greece. It’s bordering countries, while beautiful, aren’t exactly the safest places for American college students to go running around. Also, flights into and out of Greece are pretty expensive, so getting around the continent that way will be more difficult.

Spain – also pretty – but again it’s only bordered by Portugal and France and would take you at least 8 hours on a train to get to any other country. I’ve never been to Salamanca so I can’t really comment on it. If you choose this one, don’t go to Ibiza unless you can get there between June and August, it’s a ghost town otherwise and check out Morocco.

Florence is very pretty – my only real complaint with it is that you and about a million other American college students will be studying there at the same time. However, it’s located in the northern part of Italy, so the train ride to France/Switzerland/Austria/Czech Repubic (and others) isn’t too long. Italy is also so diverse that you can travel just a few hours in any direction and it’s very different.

I was an exchange student to Denmark — I didn’t know a word of Danish before I went there. After a year, I was fairly fluent..and 20 years later, I can still communicate the basics. At the time, I had studied Spanish in high school so it was a bit similar to your situation. (After studying in Denmark, I later studied in Austria…and having learnt Danish, I was able to guess at a lot of German because the languages have some similiarites). Once you study one language, it’s easier to study new languages because you learn how to learn a language and can see patterns, common roots, etc. I think it’s important that you live somewhere where you will learn another language so rule England out. Living with host families are a great way for that immersion (if you’re in a dorm or apartment you may migrate toward other exchange students or not mingle enough with locals to pick up language and culture). Likewise, being in smaller cities or towns will probably show you more of the culture than a capital city (and less people will speak English so you will have to use your language skills!) If you can, I’d suggest a full year rather than semester since most of my fellow exchange students regreted not having planned to stay the full year. Being an exchange student can be tough but it will teach you a lot about yourself and the world around you…and definitely will give you a better sense of independence to strive out in the world. I had a hard time but looking back it was a great thing to have done. If you enjoy Spanish, you can also consider going somewhere in Central or Latin America like Argentina, Peru, etc…loads of great countries to consider. Or, having studied a romance language, it will be easier for you to study French, Italian or Portuguese if you want to make a switch but have a head start. German is probably more useful than Italian in the long run, for whatever that’s worth. I think Italian is an easier language to learn. The most important thing is that you want to learn it so pick a country or language that fascinates you since that alone will inspire you more than ‘having’ to learn a language that you really don’t care about, or living in a place you don’t like….

How easily do you get distracted? If its hard for you to stay focused then I would stay away from Spain. I know some people who went there on vacation and ended up staying for months to years just to party.

I would personally choose Greece out of those countries you mentioned.

But I think Italy would be an interesting experience as well.

I would choose Spain. I am a Spanish major and in a honors program that both require study abroad, so people are constantly presenting about their experiences. From what I have seen and heard, Spain has everything you are looking for.

Choose Greece. I had friends that went there.

My ancestors are from Spain. So I would choose there.