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I'm a Spanish girl and next year I want to go for 4,5 months to United States to improve my English in an English Academy.
I have the chance to go to Franklin, MA or Santa Barbara, CA.
I would like you to tell me something about Franklin. For example if it's a sure town, if it's nice, or whatever you want to explain me.
I don't know if it's possible but I would love to see some pictures of it, because I can't find any in the Internet.
Well thank you very much to all of you. Any kind of information will be welcomed.
Let me ask you a few questions before I try to answer.
1) How much English do you know already?
It seems like you already know quite a bit judging by your post. If you aren't comfortable with English at all, I can tell you that Santa Barbara may be an easier transition for you as there is a large Spanish speaking population in Southern California. If you are comfortable speaking even a small amount of English, you will be fine in either destination.
2) What time of year do you plan on coming?
It gets really cold in Massachusetts during the winter. In the Spring, Summer and early Autumn the weather is much milder and even hot in the summer.
3) How much traveling do you plan on doing while you are in the United States?
The reason I ask is that if you don't plan on leaving the town you choose, Santa Barbara has a lot more to offer than Franklin. However, Franklin has cheap rail service into Boston so you can explore that city easily (and get there in less than an hour), and you're less than 4 hours drive and train ride from New York City. In Franklin, you are less than a single day's car or train ride from the coastal cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.
Franklin itself is very nice. It's a small town with a small town center, and it's right on the rail line into Boston (again, less than an hour). Like I said, it's a better place to stay than Santa Barbara if you want to explore other areas. Aside from being within driving and rail distance from New York and the other cities I mentioned, you' are also pretty close to the Ocean (though Santa Barbara is closer to the ocean than Franklin), close to the Mountains and woods of Northern New England (Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont). It's a great area to be in and I'm sure you would enjoy it.
If you do come to either Santa Barbara or Franklin and you are old enough, I would suggest renting a car. It's much harder get around in the U.S. by rail and bus than it is in Spain. If you chose Franklin, it would be easier to use the train and mass transit than it would be in Southern California, but a car would be helpful in both places.
I hope you find the place you want to stay, both are good choices, but being from Massachusetts, I would recommend Franklin simply because of the proximity to other places. Good luck, I hope this helps!
Thank you very much for your answer. You have been really helpful.
When I will go to USA, I'll be 23 years old. I have an advanced level of English (I have the Advanced Cambridge Exam, I do not know if you know what it is because I think in the US, Cambridge Exams are not so important as TOEFL.
I am planning to go to the USA on mid-september or the first of october. I do not really mind if it's really cold in winter in Franklin, but what I would like to know if it rains a lot (with a lot I mean almost every day) or it doesn't. Does it snow?
Of course I would like to travel to cities in the surroundings but I would also enjoy just living in the city I choose.
I have to say that here in Spain I live in a house with nothing around it, and I love it, so I really prefer to go to study in a small town that in a big city. But I would like to know if in Franklin there are restaurants, cafes, cinema, shops, gym, pubs, etc., because even I would love to stay in a small town, I wouldn't like to have to catch the train everyday to go to Boston just to wander around, you know what I mean?
The school I'm planning to go is in Dean College, do you know anything about that college? If it has a "good reputation" or whatever.
The last think I would like to ask you is if you know of any website where I could go to see some pictures of Franklin, because as you can understand I would love to see some photos and how it looks like before going there.
(People have told me that New England is really nice, specially in the fall)
Well thank you very much, I hope I don't bother you, it's not my intention, it's just that I would like to get as much information as I can before making a decision.
Well it sounds as if you'll be very comfortable in Franklin.
Franklin is beautiful, quaint, and small but it's also not far from the the bigger and entertaining cities of Boston, Providence and Worcester. Like I said, Franklin has some little cafes and restaurants around the college campus (I remember one called "cafe at the crossing") and town center, but I'm not sure exactly what because I haven't been there in years... hopefully someone else can clarify. I can tell you that you don't need to go all the way to Boston to wander around. There is a lot close by that's worth exploring.
There are cinemas and shops in and around Franklin. If you're looking for a Gym, Dean College has one that students can use for free, but other gyms and workout centers are very close by.
Dean College itself is a pretty good little school. I have some friends who actually go there (I'm 22) and enjoy it greatly. You wouldn't be making a mistake by going there.
September and October are beautiful in Franklin. The leaves are changing colors, the temperatures range from 50-70 Farenheit, and there's usually very little rain. November gets cooler and rainier (sometimes with snow by the end of the month), and there's always a risk of snow from December-March (occasionally an early April storm occurs).
I have a friend who lives in Boadilla del Monte (near Madrid, Spain) and I can safely compare the weather in October and November in Massachusetts to the weather in December and January in Madrid in terms of temperature. We probably get a little more rain and snow here than they get there, but it's not too bad.
Next, I did a flickr search of Dean College and came up with these photos: Flickr: Search
Have you been to the Dean College website, www.dean.edu it'll give you some good information.
It's hard to find pictures of franklin massachusetts, but I promise it's pretty. If you go to flickr.com or do a google image search, you may be able to find some more.
I think you'll like it here. My friend Ana from Spain has been twice and loves it. It's a small town, but there's enough to do and you're close to a lot of other places. I hope this helps, and I hope someone who's been to franklin more recently can give you some more information, but I bet you'll like it.
That's a pretty good description. The cinemas are gone, but there's one nearby in Bellingham and also the new Cinema Deluxe that just opened at Patriot Place in Foxborough. As far as the restaurants within walking distance from the college, there are 2 chinese, 1 mexican and 3 or 2 italian. There is also a nice small restaurant that moved into where Friendly's used to be. Franklin also has a little shuttle bus that will take you all over the town to the shopping centers and grocery stores.
Having grown up in California and now lived in Boston for the past 8 years, I would have to suggest Santa Barbara. I love Massachusetts! But as a young person traveling to the US, I think you would enjoy Santa Barbara much more. It's beautiful and you won't have to deal with all the snow.
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