Where: Las Canas, Dominican Republic (on the north coast).
When: May 8-24th, 2023 (application deadline early January 2023.)
Who is eligible for the program? The program is designed for students who wish to be involved in an international service project and practice their Spanish while earning credits toward graduation. All IU students are eligible that have taken S280 and received a B (3.0 GPA) or above. The application requires two letters of recommendation and a statement from the student.
Cost: (tentative $2,846 +/- Indiana resident) Includes room and board, tuition, fees, Health insurance in the Dominican Republic, and excursions. Students are responsible for airfare.
How to apply: Application information is available at https://overseas.iu.edu/programs/iu/unit-based/iub/spanish-conv-dr.html (to be open soon)
Objectives: Spanish conversation practice with vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar in an authentic communicative setting with native speakers (and ourselves) through service learning and cultural excursions.
Course components
- Class: we have approximately 2 hours of class per day
- Service: we provide service with and to local community members to help with their needs and to practice our spoken Spanish skills with them
- Excursions: every third or fourth day we have an excursion to experience the country and practice our Spanish in other venues--and to explore the diversity of the Dominican Republic
- Each component is described below
Class
- Formal classes is typically held in the morning from 7:30-8:30 and in the evenings 7-8:30 pm (times may be adjusted by ½ hour depending on the project). We will use our dining area for our class
- The facilities includes tables, projectors for computer displays and wireless connectivity
- Class activities will include book exercises, vocabulary development, pronunciation practice, grammar review and the preparation of materials for our community service
- Group discussions and reviews of the day's activities, sharing pictures and experiences
- We will take one day to travel to Santiago to visit museums and other cultural sites as well as other local presentations
Grade components and weights
- Homeworks (3x5 challenges) 10%
- Oral Reflections (4) 20%
- Interviews of natives (2 @ 5%) 10%
- Vocabulary quizzes (2) 10%
- Presentation/reflection final 20%
- Participation and Spanish use 30%
Here is one student's personal review of her memories of the program.
Tutoring local school children in Las Canas.
Mixing lots of cement
Applying the cement mixture to the bottle walls.
Polishing the cement-coated walls prior to painting.
Interviews with local community members.
Construction project to install cement floor.
Forestation project. We moved 500 plantain tree starts (cepas) and planted 300 in a local hillside of Las Canas.
Planting the plantain "cepas".
More cepas. We ate plantains in at least six different forms.
The hill we excavated to fill the floors of a collaborative project with the Catholic Church of Gaspar Hernández to help a recent widow
Sometimes we find hidden construction skills.
The best part is interacting with the family and other Dominican workers.
Lots of cement.
Accommodations and food
A detailed description is with the walking video below.
Excursions. We have an excursion every third or fourth day. Excursions include: Cabarete Beach, Caves and Dream Project, 27 Charcos
27 Waterfalls de damajagua combined with Chocolala (Women's cacao cooperative)
Salto de Limón waterfall
Santiago city-all day. Museum, University, city scavenger hunt, City mural tour
Río San Juan beach-mangroves, Playa Caletón, Playa Grande/Preciosa (Dominican community beaches)
Catholic Mass in Gaspar Hernandez
Credits:
Erik Willis