International Education - would you study in foreign country? (12 Viewers)

[Stephan]

Well, its a footballforum but theres a lot of members in here so i might as well ask it. Are you interested of studyng in foreign country? And has anyone had any expierences?

i am interested myself (in the future) and i got some information about this from here:
http://www.ef.com

everything seems to look reliable but it would be a very differant way of studyng languages for me, so i am taking my time before i really make my desicion about this.

So if anyone has had any expierences of studyng in foreign country i would be happy to hear your opinions about those expierences.

 

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[JCK]

I did and it is good.

 

[Martin]

Erik with a k, you're up.

 

[Jem83]

EF is an organisation that gathers very young people from all over the world so that they can meet up and party all night long. If that's what you wanna do then I say go for it. If you wanna go somewhere and really be serious about your studies, you should attend a University and sign up for one of their programs which lets you study abroad.

 

[Slagathor]

EF is legit from what I know, but not very widely used in the European Union where the Erasmus programme remains the cornerstone of international studying. Those organisations are easily traced tho, ask the right people and they'll tell you if it's a good idea trying to achieve what you want via those institutions.

About studying in a foreign country: I did it twice and I'm glad I did it. But I wouldn't do it again.

 

[JCK]

I did and it is good.

What I meant here is studying in a foreign country, not that I studied with EF.

 

[Jem83]

Erik, did you ever go to Italy via the Erasmus programme? I plan on doing so. Perugia or Verona.

 

[Slagathor]

Erik, did you ever go to Italy via the Erasmus programme? I plan on doing so. Perugia or Verona.

Yeah I went to Salerno (Campania, south of Napoli) January through July 2005

 

[Jem83]

Yeah I went to Salerno (Campania, south of Napoli) January through July 2005

I'd be very interested to know more about how you experienced your time there. From your earlier post I gathered that "you wouldn't do it ever again", so I got a little curious. Was it really that bad? Forgive me if you think that I'm being nosy, but I personally can't wait to study abroad and any piece of advice/opinion about this will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Geof]

I'm currently doing it! (Erasmus, not EF)

 

[Jem83]

I'm currently doing it! (Erasmus, not EF)

Cool. So how do you like Germany? You're from Belgium, right?

 

[Slagathor]

I'd be very interested to know more about how you experienced your time there. From your earlier post I gathered that "you wouldn't do it ever again", so I got a little curious. Was it really that bad? Forgive me if you think that I'm being nosy, but I personally can't wait to study abroad and any piece of advice/opinion about this will be greatly appreciated.

After I returned, I wrote several bits on my time in Italy. Here's two quotes:

I had my doubts before I moved there in January 2005 and they were confirmed: Italy is for holidaying only. You can't live there. No, really, you can't. See living comes with bureaucracy, we all know that. It's torture to be filling out tax forms and all that other paperwork we all despise and, guess what, in Italy they managed to make it even worse. Stacks and stacks and stacks of paper everywhere, people bugging you about silly little details such as the lady at the post office who would. not. let me send my package because I didn't write the address on it correctly (meaning I accidentally positioned it too low on the top side of the thing, I know, I'm a rebel).
Plus, a lot of Italians seem to have fallen victim to a culturally defined inferiority complex. Yes I said inferiority. God knows where it comes from since their country is a stunning sight, but it's there. And to make up for it they usually adopt a 'we against the world' attitude translated into nationalistic arrogance. It's very unattractive.

Italians should be met in Italy, it's the only real way to meet any of them. It's a natural habitat type of situation. You know, as opposed to going to the zoo

It takes a special type of person to land in Italy and continue to love it as he lives there.

I had a hell of a time and I came out of it a much better/stronger person than I was before that. But living in Italy is crazy. You will get insanely frustrated and angry more often than you like.

 

[Jem83]

It takes a special type of person to land in Italy and continue to love it as he lives there.

I had a hell of a time and I came out of it a much better/stronger person than I was before that. But living in Italy is crazy. You will get insanely frustrated and angry more often than you like.

Thanx a lot Erik, I really appreciate it. But I conclude with what I already know: Stay the f*ck away from the Napoli-area :toast:

I'll probably go to Verona because I think this "us against the world" attitude is much more a trait from the south of Italy than the north.

 

[Slagathor]

Thanx a lot Erik, I really appreciate it. But I conclude with what I already know: Stay the f*ck away from the Napoli-area :toast:

Excellent game-plan It's a great region for a short holiday though.

I'll probably go to Verona because I think this "us against the world" attitude is much more a trait from the south of Italy than the north.

That might be the case, I'm not too familiar with the cultures of the North because I've only been on holiday there, I haven't actually resided there for a longer period of time.

Classmates of mine had an awesome time in Padua tho. For what it's worth. Out of your options, I would definitely choose Verona.

 

[Geof]

Cool. So how do you like Germany? You're from Belgium, right?

yes.

Great, thanks! Well in fact, I don't think Berlin can be compared to the rest of Germany. Life here is really great. I mean it's a huge city, but quite calm and unstressed at the same time. There's a hell of a cultural and music scene over here, loads of things to do... I really like it.
I would consider to stay here for a longer period of time if there was actually work... Unemployment here is huge and the city itself has huge debts (60 Billion Euro), so people are a bit afraid of the future...

When I chose, I was hesitating between Italy and Berlin. I took Berlin because of the language (more useful than Italian IMO), and because of the extraordinary cultural life.
The only bummers are the food and the wheather...

 

[Jem83]

@Geof

I bet Berlin is a fantastic place for a student. If I go there some time we have to have a drink or grab a bite or something, although I very much agree with you on the part about German food

I decided on Italy for several reasons and learning the language more thoroughly through interaction was one of them. I considered Germany, because I'm very fascinated by the country both historically and culturally. My German skills are really not that bad, though, so I opted for Italy instead.

And I guess I want to be a bit closer to Juve

The danger is, though, that I won't get any studying done and end up a hobo in a carton box outside of Delle Alpi

In that case, please come get me (and that goes to all of you)

 

[Slagathor]

Sorry buddy, there's no way I'm going anywhere near the Delle Alpi again

 

[Geof]

@Geof

I bet Berlin is a fantastic place for a student. If I go there some time we have to have a drink or grab a bite or something, although I very much agree with you on the part about German food

I decided on Italy for several reasons and learning the language more thoroughly through interaction was one of them. I considered Germany, because I'm very fascinated by the country both historically and culturally. My German skills are really not that bad, though, so I opted for Italy instead.

And I guess I want to be a bit closer to Juve

The danger is, though, that I won't get any studying done and end up a hobo in a carton box outside of Delle Alpi

In that case, please come get me (and that goes to all of you)

I know the feeling mate. Last year I visited a friend who was on Erasmus in Parma, we took the car and drove to Torino to attend Juve-Palermo.
It was a great weekend!!

 

[Jem83]

Sorry buddy, there's no way I'm going anywhere near the Delle Alpi again

When were you there?

 

[Stephan]

EF is an organisation that gathers very young people from all over the world so that they can meet up and party all night long. If that's what you wanna do then I say go for it. If you wanna go somewhere and really be serious about your studies, you should attend a University and sign up for one of their programs which lets you study abroad.

no, i dont want to party or make friends, i am interested of studyng language(and in a serious way/thats why i am planing to travel to there) , but from their site i read that you can have individual program and if you meant that partyng after lessons with other students in hostel, then they also offer other housings, and one whats quite interesting (but could be risky) is living with some local family. Has anyone expierences with that? if its a nice family i think it could be a good way of practising my lessons. But i havent expierenced something like that before so i dont know how helpful and trustful that family can be.