National Chengchi University Uses 16-Week Semester to Expand Independent Learning in Spain

A three-week study trip to Spain gave 15 National Chengchi University students an unusually broad classroom, from Spanish conversation sessions to a rare total solar eclipse.

Organized by the university’s College of Foreign Languages, the summer program brought together students from different departments for intensive training in Spanish listening, speaking, reading and writing. The group also visited workshops and traditional markets in historic cities, conducting interviews and observing local culture.

The students held an in-depth exchange with members of Santander’s city government responsible for culture, education and youth affairs. Noemí Méndez Fernández, the official overseeing those areas, received the group at Santander City Hall. The university said the meeting opened a new channel for educational and public-sector exchange between Taiwan and Spain.

The program also took students to IHCantabria, the internationally known Cantabria Institute for Environmental Hydraulics. They saw a supercomputer used for complex environmental simulations and visited large wave and coastal-engineering testing facilities. Researchers explained the links between hydraulic engineering, water management and ecological sustainability.

The group happened to be in an ideal observation zone during the 2026 total solar eclipse, witnessing daylight briefly turn to dusk. Students who completed the three-week program could receive academic credit, and those who passed the assessment received an official course certificate from the Comillas Foundation.

The university said similar programs had previously received Education Ministry TOP1000 subsidies of NT$65,000 per student. With this year’s funding exhausted, participants paid their own costs, about NT$100,000 to NT$120,000 each. Cheng Yu-hsuan, an advertising student who began Spanish through an elective course, said classmates specializing in Spanish helped her during speaking practice and made the experience especially rewarding.

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The students gained a great deal from the experience.