Which European city would you study in? (people, living, German)

[Scotslass]

I recommend Edinburgh and Glasgow. Both universities have a good rep.

Both cities are young and studenty (I'm a student) pleanty of brilliant nightlife, restaurants and shopping.

I would just recommend it because both cities always seem to get a good report from exchange students especially people i met from the states and other E.U countries.

I would also recommend Spain.

[Phillip S1]

Of your choice, I would either pick Istanbul or Vienna

Sweden is also very nice!

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by happynoodleboycey

If you are interested in Amsterdam then you might want to look at other places in the Netherlands as well such as Rotterdam or Eindhoven because they're delightful too and have really nice atmospheres.

Originally Posted by City of Rain

btw, how come copenhagen isnt on your list? its a great city (with the best university in all of scandinavia, i think)

Originally Posted by SouthCity09

Zagreb Croatia.

Originally Posted by Sandpointian

Istanbul
Amsterdam
Prague
Barcelona
Budapest
Florence

Of these cities, I would only be able to study in Amsterdam, so I had to rule all the others out unfortunately. Though now it looks like I could study in Prague also.

I am leaning towards Spain or Portugal because I completed 2 years of Spanish and 1 year of French in high school and I would like some lingual and cultural immersion so I'm leaning away from anywhere in Ireland or the U.K.

I'm worried that in Scandinavia or The Netherlands it will be too similar to the sort of austere, reserved culture I'm used to in the Pacific Northwest. Is that a valid fear to have?

Originally Posted by City of Rain

im from norway, so obviously im flattered that someone wants to study in my country I'm going to start studying soon myself, so ive been searching through the web for which city/university is the best.

as i live in Bergen (the second biggest city in Norway), it'd be really practical for me to study at the university here, but at the same time i want to try something new.. so i tried to find out if i should study in Bergen or Oslo. I read through a lot of forum threads discussing the topic and surprisingly 80% of the people said that Bergen is the better than city for studying. If you want, i can try to find out why etc..

Bergen, Norway is actually another option I have as well as Macerata, Italy. Prague, Czech Republic I thought had a certain study requirement, but it doesn't. So that is an option now too. Sao Paulo, Brazil is an option and the only non-European one I'm looking at, but I'm worried about the huge size of the city and I know it's not quite as safe as Europe.

Thanks to everyone who is responding... Any more thoughts?

[majoun]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

Of these cities, I would only be able to study in Amsterdam, so I had to rule all the others out unfortunately. Though now it looks like I could study in Prague also.

I am leaning towards Spain or Portugal because I completed 2 years of Spanish and 1 year of French in high school and I would like some lingual and cultural immersion so I'm leaning away from anywhere in Ireland or the U.K.

I'm worried that in Scandinavia or The Netherlands it will be too similar to the sort of austere, reserved culture I'm used to in the Pacific Northwest. Is that a valid fear to have?


Bergen, Norway is actually another option I have as well as Macerata, Italy. Prague, Czech Republic I thought had a certain study requirement, but it doesn't. So that is an option now too. Sao Paulo, Brazil is an option and the only non-European one I'm looking at, but I'm worried about the huge size of the city and I know it's not quite as safe as Europe.

Thanks to everyone who is responding... Any more thoughts?

Go for Lisbon. The last truly Old World capital city.

[Plentadir]

I would pick Oviedo, Spain. More lay back and sunshine. Amsterdam is nice too, but the weather here in the netherlands sucks. A lot of rain and it's cold from September till March. And alot of people are stressed here in the Netherlands. Everyone has to hurry to their work. Not my life style. So i'd say Spain baby!

[Sandpointian]

pompeu fabra

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by happynoodleboycey

Vienna is very beautiful but I warn you that the Austrians aren't the most hospitable of people. That isn't to say that they're all bad, but you might have a harder time being accepted socially there than in most other places as they're not hugely keen on the idea of their country becoming saturated with foreigners.

Good luck in your decision anyway!

I've worked in Austria and did take two classes at the time... met lots of wonderful people and some have become good friends...

I guess it really all depends... could have been once you get introduced by a couple of people the rest comes naturally?

One subject that I had to be very careful in what I said was US politics... Mind you, I would never bring up the subject, but once someone knows a person is from the "States"... politics is inevitable...

I'm not adverse to speaking my mind... but, I can't explain the how and why for everything America does...

I think you will enjoy time in any of the countries you mentioned as long as you have your finances in order... remember to appreciate people for who they are and most of all... remember you are a guest in their country

PS: Language Immersion might be very difficult in practice... especially in a University City... EVERYONE you meet will want to practice their English with you!!! It got to the point where I was saying everything in German and my friends where saying everything in English... correcting each other as we went along...

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

I've worked in Austria and did take two classes at the time... met lots of wonderful people and some have become good friends...

I guess it really all depends... could have been once you get introduced by a couple of people the rest comes naturally?

One subject that I had to be very careful in what I said was US politics... Mind you, I would never bring up the subject, but once someone knows a person is from the "States"... politics is inevitable...

I'm not adverse to speaking my mind... but, I can't explain the how and why for everything America does...

I think you will enjoy time in any of the countries you mentioned as long as you have your finances in order... remember to appreciate people for who they are and most of all... remember you are a guest in their country

PS: Language Immersion might be very difficult in practice... especially in a University City... EVERYONE you meet will want to practice their English with you!!! It got to the point where I was saying everything in German and my friends where saying everything in English... correcting each other as we went along...

That's so funny! I am sure though that I will have a good time no matter where I go, and I also have plenty of time to figure out what I want to do and get my monetary affairs in order. I'm leaning the most towards Lisbon or Amsterdam at the moment, with a slight possibility of Spain or Brazil. But lots could happen between now and then.

I'm just jealous of my friends who've gotten a head start on their studies and got to go abroad already. One friend studied in Santiago, Chile for a semester. Another went to Aix-en-Provence, France for a semester. My best friend though will be coming back home in one month after spending a calendar year in Europe. She was studying in Tübingen, Germany, but met a Slovakian who took her to his hometown over winter break and she also had time to take discount trains or planes and couchsurfed in Berlin, Prague, Brno, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Oslo... I'm hoping if I go to Europe I will have that kind of opportunity also.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

So here are the options I've narrowed down:

Istanbul, Turkey
Uppsala, Sweden
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Brussels, Belgium
Vienna, Austria
Oslo, Norway
Lisbon, Portugal
Oviedo, Spain

Which would you choose and why?

It seems that your main interest is cultural diversification/immersion on a relatively short-term view. On that basis, I would choose Lisbon or Oviedo. I lived in Portugal for two years and studied in Salamanca for a month, both great experiences.

If you had certain longer term career goals, then Brussels, Amsterdam or Vienna might be better choices; for example, if you are interested in the commercial relations of German-speaking countries in central and eastern Europe, Vienna may be most appropriate. Having said that, my experiences in Iberia have also helped me in both my business career, in Europe, and in my personal life, back across the Atlantic.

Istanbul is fascinating, especially from the historical perspective, but looking forward it would more appropriate if you plan on specializing in Turkish studies, the same goes for the Scandinavian countries.

If another goal is to travel to as many countries as possible during your time there, then Vienna's relatively central location may be the best choice.

Alternatively, if you want exposure to an up-and-coming regional powerhouse and possible global powerhouse, then Brazil is probably a great choice, a huge, fascinating, complex country that requires study and probably offers career opportunities going forward as the countries of early industrialization continue their relative decline.

To be a bit polemical, from the US perspective, and in comparison to the list above, I do not consider the UK a culturally diverse experience, and arguably not even part of Europe, and I laugh when in the US in the mass media and political propaganda there is talk of "international" and the only reference is to Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

[City of Rain]

btw. the bigger the country is, the worse their english is going to be (unless you study in the UK).

take germans, for an example.. their english will be horrible, while dutch and scandinavian people are said to be almost on par with english people themselves

pretty much anyone speaking a major language will be bad at other major languages.