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My nephew is going to Europe next term (Fall 2013) to attend a semester abroad. He insists that if he went to a non English Speaking Country he would not be able to survive without speaking the language and is limiting his search for colleges to Great Britain. What a shame!
Did you go to college for a semester abroad and if so, tell us about it.
My youngest did a summer semester abroad in Germany a couple of years ago. He loved it, but he also is doing a double major in International Business and German and study abroad was required for both majors. Even though he was a German major, he said he had a hard time at first, but eventually it got easier. Even then, his classes were taught by American professors from a large state university, and some of the classes were taught in English.
When my boys were in high school they also did a month in Germany, where they lived with families and attended school with their kids. At that time, both boys had had 3 years of high school German. They said they never understood a word that was said in class. They just sat and smiled.
Has your nephew considered doing his semester abroad in Australia or New Zealand or possibly South Africa? One of my kids had a fried that did a semester in Australia and they loved it.
My oldest son did an abroad in England (English major) and my daughter did a Spanish immersion one in Peru. Both traveled abroad quite a bit after college graduation, including countries where they did not speak the language. My youngest is planning to do an abroad next Spring in either Dublin or Montreal. I don't know of any colleges where US kids would do a study abroad where the classes are NOT in English. But, some people do find that out of their comfort level, I wouldn't think less of anyone for feeling that way.
I spend 5 months in Barcelona and man was it awesome. The program supplied us with an apartment with a local. The apartment was nice and modern and in a very central location. Having a local living with us helped a bit. Many of my friends did not know much to any Spanish but they did fine. The school was located in an area with plenty of locals and everyone had to take Spanish.
I know Spanish pretty well and had no problem getting around the city, shopping, using transit etc.. What was great about my program was it was basically independent living. I did grocery shopping, had our own apartment etc.. It was a great experience just living every day life in another continent. But half the weekends we were there we did travel somewhere. Make sure he budgets for travel. I went to: Athens, Corfu, Prague, Madrid, Valencia, Tarragona, Munich, Venice, Rome.
Traveling around Europe and the UK is a must. No reason not to go to places when you are so close.
I would say that when dealing with large cities he does NOT need to only look at countries which speak English. Plenty of people with me had pretty poor to no Spanish skills but loved Barcelona. Take one level of Rosetta Stone in a language and they will be fine. I know people who studied abroad in Prague, the did not speak nor learn Czech but so many people all across Europe with speak English. And after a few weeks you learn the basics of the countries language.
If there is all kinds of Americans going to Europe to study, wouldn't there be programs in places like Spain and Italy that had the classes in English?
If there is all kinds of Americans going to Europe to study, wouldn't there be programs in places like Spain and Italy that had the classes in English?
Yes. Exactly.
My son has a friend that did a semester in Japan. Classes were in English. Another friend did a semester in China, again classes in English.
His university should have an office for "study abroad". They could really help point him in the right direction. My sons university offers all kinds of study abroad options, but for things like my son's German language major, they worked in conjunction with another uni in another state that actually ran the program. So for his semester he studied abroad, he was actually enrolled at the other uni and then his grades were automatically transferred to his uni. His courses were taught at what was the German equivalent of a community college, but he was not in classes with German students. His entire class was made up of kids from his uni and the uni that ran the program, taught by professors that were from the uni that ran the program. They just got to go to German to teach and study for a semester. So it was an American professor teaching a classroom of American students, they just happened to be doing it in Germany.
They lived in the homes of German families, but they spoke enough English. All of the students had their phones with everyone, including the professors phone numbers. My son actually had a very nasty bike accident while there and needed to be seen at a hospital. One of his professors accompanied him to the hospital and took care of all of the translation issues, since my son was not versed in German medical terminology and was in far too much pain to try listen or respond in German. Afterwords, he had to be seen by a doctor for a follow up, so his "host dad" took him and did all the translation for him.
Another thing that your nephew needs to remember is that in most of Western Europe its not hard to find someone who speaks English. We had two German high school students that spent about a month with us. They spoke perfect English, because they all take English in school starting at a very early age.
After my son had completed is studies in Germany, he spent a week by himself in Italy. He doesn't speak a word of Italian and he did fine. Any time I've traveled to Europe, I've been able to communicate with people. Now in areas of Eastern Europe it might not be as easy. My husband recently traveled to Moscow for business. He said he got lost and it took him over an hour to find anyone that could speak any English to help him, and that happened to be a French women.
I did a study abroad in Austria with no prior German language. There were some courses offered in English. It does seem daunting to a lot of students, but it is really not that hard to adjust to living in a non-English speaking country, especially if you take the effort to take some beginning language classes. I have also traveled throughout eastern Europe, though I do know some Slovak, so that helped a bit.
He should check with his universities study abroad office (I work in one as an advisor ) They should be able to direct him to some other options where courses in his major may be offered in English. I know we have TONS of options for studying in Europe in English even though the countries are non-English speaking countries.
I LOVED my study abroad experiences. I did 2 semesters in Austria, an internship in London, an internship in Hungary and a summer intensive language program in Slovakia. They were all such amazing experiences. I wish I could have done more.
I always try to advise students coming into my office not to be so narrow. You WILL have an awesome experience no matter where you go.
If there is all kinds of Americans going to Europe to study, wouldn't there be programs in places like Spain and Italy that had the classes in English?
You can find English language classes in every European country, especially for business topics. You don't have to do the programs sponsored by your university and every college in the U.S. seems to sponsor a number of programs.
From what I remember, Spain, France, and Italy were very popular for males because it was very easy to hook up with females in those countries. Not so much in stuffy countries like Germany or the UK.
Not ONE of the study abroad students mentioned so far had foreign language proficiency in the country they went to? They had to take all their classes in English, taught by American professors? Sorry, but that is really weak. Study abroad lite. Plus, going to Europe is a complete waste of time. We need our young people to focus on places like China, India and Vietnam. South America, too.
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) They should be able to direct him to some other options where courses in his major may be offered in English. I know we have TONS of options for studying in Europe in English even though the countries are non-English speaking countries.
