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If you have not yet studied or worked abroad, try to do so while you are still young, before your have the responsibilities of a post-graduation job, a spouse who doesn’t speak the language, children, and/or a mortgage. Don’t put off your adventure abroad, because when you are older – even if you can extricate yourself from other obligations – the experience simply will not be the same. If you want to go abroad, follow your dream. Experience abroad will even make a good impression on future employers, so don’t fail to include such experience under the "Education" section of your résumé.
One advantage to students of any program operated out of their own university is that they can speak directly to returning students to find out how good the program is. Also, program directors are very accountable to students in their own universities.
You can find dozens of programs on the internet as well. For example: the site National Registration Center for Study Abroad will provide you with lists of programs by country: Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, most Latin American countries, and many others; and by language (all the ones you would expect [French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian], plus a few surprises, like Maya and Guarani). It gives information on selecting the best school for you, making sure you get credit for your work, other students’ evaluations of programs, insurance, and how to register.
Other sources on the internet abound. To begin tracking them down, click on: Dogpile. Dogpile is a search engine which searches other search engines. Here's how you use dogpile: If you want to find a good study abroad program in Costa Rica, for example, type in exactly what you see below: "study abroad" and Costa Rica in the space provided (next to the word "search") at the Dogpile home page. Then click on "Fetch." If you are interested in Germany, Italy, or India, type those country names in instead. You will access information to a great many programs. An interesting site with general information about dozens of countries is: Have fun exploring!
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If you have already had the chance to study abroad as an undergraduate,
congratulations! You already know how such experience can dramatically increase
your fluency in your second language, and your knowledge of another culture.
If you are wondering which study abroad program to go
on, be aware that Southern offers its own study programs to 
If you are interested in spending longer than a summer abroad, you might want
to investigate the semester or year-long programs operated through the
University of Connecticut.
Also, one of our alumni strongly recommends: