International Education - would you study in foreign country? (15 Viewers)
- Thread starter Stephan
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Eh, that's what I'm trying to find out...what would be a good place to go.
For one I'd have to take a fair number of classes that count toward my concentration to graduate in the US, so wherever I go in Europe should be a reputable institution. As far as languages go...I'm fluent in Chinese and have been taking French for a while, but I've also thought of switching in college. What do you think is most useful for business purposes, I meant. A lot of people speak Spanish, but I'm not so sure about Italian or German. The place would depend on the language - obviously Italy wouldn't be helpful for furthering my Romanian skills...
For one I'd have to take a fair number of classes that count toward my concentration to graduate in the US, so wherever I go in Europe should be a reputable institution. As far as languages go...I'm fluent in Chinese and have been taking French for a while, but I've also thought of switching in college. What do you think is most useful for business purposes, I meant. A lot of people speak Spanish, but I'm not so sure about Italian or German. The place would depend on the language - obviously Italy wouldn't be helpful for furthering my Romanian skills...
What do you want to study? Be specific, you'll have to choose a specific course here. And note that the US education system is vastly different from the European systems.
Institutions are ranked, you can pick them off lists anywhere off the internet.
Language-wise: if you want to study in English, go to Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden or Norway. I know those countries offer educations in English (some, not all). Other nations I'm not certain of. Most of the time the vast majority of educations will be taught in the language of the nation in question.
If your French is of American highschool level, I would highly discourage you from going to France. It will NOT suffice.
Fluent in Chinese means, for the time being, nothing in Europe.
The best approach to this is figure out what you want to study. Political Science? Engineering? Computer science? European Studies? Communication? Law?
If you know that, look at which European institutions offer these educations. Those lists shouldn't be too hard to track down. At this point you can also research which institutions offer your education in which language. Don't choose a language you only have basic knowledge of. It will kill you. Most European languages (this is where they often differ from English) use vastly different language on universities than they do in normal life. Meaning if you can go about normal life in France just fine, you would probably still struggle significantly at any given French university. European languages are different from English, remember that.
If you've figured all that out and you've actually been accepted into the university, you can look at scholarships and subsidies.
Institutions are ranked, you can pick them off lists anywhere off the internet.
Language-wise: if you want to study in English, go to Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden or Norway. I know those countries offer educations in English (some, not all). Other nations I'm not certain of. Most of the time the vast majority of educations will be taught in the language of the nation in question.
If your French is of American highschool level, I would highly discourage you from going to France. It will NOT suffice.
Fluent in Chinese means, for the time being, nothing in Europe.
The best approach to this is figure out what you want to study. Political Science? Engineering? Computer science? European Studies? Communication? Law?
If you know that, look at which European institutions offer these educations. Those lists shouldn't be too hard to track down. At this point you can also research which institutions offer your education in which language. Don't choose a language you only have basic knowledge of. It will kill you. Most European languages (this is where they often differ from English) use vastly different language on universities than they do in normal life. Meaning if you can go about normal life in France just fine, you would probably still struggle significantly at any given French university. European languages are different from English, remember that.
If you've figured all that out and you've actually been accepted into the university, you can look at scholarships and subsidies.
First of all thanks for that long, very helpful post. 
Yeah I'm not at all deluded about my current language ability. We almost never go abroad until our 3rd year of university, so I hope to do something about that during the first 2 years. My concentration - math and economics, or business, depending on where I get in.
With the part about how European schools use a different language style than people would use when going through normal life, how did you get by in Italy? You'd said that you could maintain a conversation - was that enough, or did you have to bring your language level up a lot to take classes, or...something else?
Yeah I'm not at all deluded about my current language ability. We almost never go abroad until our 3rd year of university, so I hope to do something about that during the first 2 years. My concentration - math and economics, or business, depending on where I get in.
With the part about how European schools use a different language style than people would use when going through normal life, how did you get by in Italy? You'd said that you could maintain a conversation - was that enough, or did you have to bring your language level up a lot to take classes, or...something else?
Wraith said:
First of all thanks for that long, very helpful post.
Yeah I'm not at all deluded about my current language ability. We almost never go abroad until our 3rd year of university, so I hope to do something about that during the first 2 years. My concentration - math and economics, or business, depending on where I get in.
Yeah I'm not at all deluded about my current language ability. We almost never go abroad until our 3rd year of university, so I hope to do something about that during the first 2 years. My concentration - math and economics, or business, depending on where I get in.
When I went there I could manage more than well in normal life situations and I had followed some courses that were meant to prepare me for academic Italian. It still took me weeks and additional courses to get comfortable.
Then of course there is the added dimension of knowing specific words in the language in question. For instance one of my courses was sociology, which I knew was called sociologia in Italian, but I didn't know all the professional terms and names of conditions.
That shouldn't be too big a problem for you, however, since many words in business and economics aren't translated in many European languages. Public Relations, Unique Selling Point, etc...
Oh that's easy. In terms of bureaucracy:
Northern & Western Europe = good
Southern & Eastern Europe = bad
Detailed, it means:
No hassle and nasty surprises = Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Ireland and to a lesser extent France and Spain.
Those are the 'cleanest', easiest-to-live-in nations. Other nations are bureaucratic/corrupt to varying degrees.
That's not a racist opinion of mine, that's a classification based on EU research. Italy, for example only ranks between 40 and 50 on the global index of transparency (basically a corruption index). One big issue new member states of the EU were complaining about when they were still in the process of becoming a member was the fact they had to meet non-corruption standards that Italy couldn't even dream of getting anywhere near. They felt it was hypocritical.
I can't say I disagree.
Check it: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/World_Map_Index_of_perception_of_corruption.png
Northern & Western Europe = good
Southern & Eastern Europe = bad
Detailed, it means:
No hassle and nasty surprises = Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Ireland and to a lesser extent France and Spain.
Those are the 'cleanest', easiest-to-live-in nations. Other nations are bureaucratic/corrupt to varying degrees.
That's not a racist opinion of mine, that's a classification based on EU research. Italy, for example only ranks between 40 and 50 on the global index of transparency (basically a corruption index). One big issue new member states of the EU were complaining about when they were still in the process of becoming a member was the fact they had to meet non-corruption standards that Italy couldn't even dream of getting anywhere near. They felt it was hypocritical.
I can't say I disagree.
Check it: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/World_Map_Index_of_perception_of_corruption.png
I don't think I could ever get comfortable in Salerno if I actually lived there .
Only three Italian options for me: Bologna, Padova and Venezia. I'm putting them in that order as well. Bologna's probably not going to work out as there are only a few places and it's one of the more prestigious universities. My results are okay, but far from great, I didn't fail a course in my first year, but to say I had wonderful results..
Then again my motivation is better than most. Since I study history and Italian, I should have both the language skills and the will to further enhance my Italian. I'll see what comes of it, though at the moment I'm not too hopeful.
.Only three Italian options for me: Bologna, Padova and Venezia. I'm putting them in that order as well. Bologna's probably not going to work out as there are only a few places and it's one of the more prestigious universities. My results are okay, but far from great, I didn't fail a course in my first year, but to say I had wonderful results..
Then again my motivation is better than most. Since I study history and Italian, I should have both the language skills and the will to further enhance my Italian. I'll see what comes of it, though at the moment I'm not too hopeful.
I like walking around in Salerno, but I must say I have never felt at ease in Salerno, bar in the restaurant we go to every time. Somehow I always feel reassured because we know the owner. As if knowing a native secures us from whatever might happen otherwise .
So Padova's defnitely worthwile? I don't think Venezia's my best option. As far as I know Padova has a lot of students and people tell me it's an alright city to live in. The few times I was in Venezia I hated it.
.So Padova's defnitely worthwile? I don't think Venezia's my best option. As far as I know Padova has a lot of students and people tell me it's an alright city to live in. The few times I was in Venezia I hated it.
I like walking around in Salerno, but I must say I have never felt at ease in Salerno, bar in the restaurant we go to every time. Somehow I always feel reassured because we know the owner. As if knowing a native secures us from whatever might happen otherwise .
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Well I've never been, but from what I hear:
yes and yes.
Yeah it's a dump and overcrowded with tourists.
So, after long thought and four years late, i decided to quit my job ( I work in a bank here in Morocco ) and decided to go to france exactly Paris to continue my studies and hope that i find a job there. I will be doing a MS in Supply chain management. Only thing left for me is to have my Visa.
It's been a tough decision for me, mainly because of my family. The positive side i have one sister who studied in france and working there and got a citizenship, same for my brother who moved last year to Fort Lauderdale.
The two trips that i did to europe last year really motivated me, the standards of living, the mentality and a lot of other things contributed in my decision. Hopefully i get my Visa and this decision won't come back to bite me in the ass.
It's been a tough decision for me, mainly because of my family. The positive side i have one sister who studied in france and working there and got a citizenship, same for my brother who moved last year to Fort Lauderdale.
The two trips that i did to europe last year really motivated me, the standards of living, the mentality and a lot of other things contributed in my decision. Hopefully i get my Visa and this decision won't come back to bite me in the ass.
