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So i'm sure there have been a bunch of posts about this, but I am about to spend my Spring 2011 term abroad and simply can't decide between somewhere in Australia and Europe. Can anyone help lead me in any kind of direction? I'm easily persuaded haha.
What do you mean 'about to spend my Spring 2011 term abroad'?
He is going to study abroad (assuming abroad from the US) for the spring of his 3rd year of university.
Bartster, what are your criteria for studying abroad? Do you want to direct enroll in a university or do a program? What languages do you speak/study? Do you want a homestay?
I've studied abroad in Iceland, Mexico, and the UK so I'd love to help out once you narrow down what you're looking for.
If you want a easy transition choose Australia. In many countries in Europe you will need to work a bit with language barriers. You can't go wrong with either. I'd recommend Spain (Barcelona) and Australia (Sydney or Gold Coast). It's still too early to book a study abroad for Spring 2011 though, you must be overly excited and just wanting ideas at this point.
With all due respect for countries like Australia, UK and Canada, from the US perspective you can hardly consider them abroad, sorry.
You are young, for goodness sake, look for the difficult transition, not the easy one, take on the linguistic and cultural challenges and go to a proper European country, better where relatively few of the people speak English, though, as alluded to above, young people almost everywhere, it seems, speak at least some English. Also as mentioned above, you can't go wrong with Spain, maybe somewhere in central Europe if that's an option.
With all due respect for countries like Australia, UK and Canada, from the US perspective you can hardly consider them abroad, sorry.
And why is that? Because we speak the same language? Have you ever lived in another country that spoke the same language for more than a year? If not, I'm not sure you have the experience to say that - I'm an American living in the UK and there is a long adjustment period. The culture is very different, the foods are different, the language is different (though it's English, the words, phrases, slang and accents are very different and often hard to follow) - I could go on. I don't know any American who has moved to the UK and thought "this is very similar to the US" - if you have, you are the first I've known! lol. It's easy to think it would be very similar but once emerced in the country for an extended period of time, you realize just how different it is.
I recommend Europe. Even for International tuition, mainland Europe has remarkably affordable tuition compared to Anglophone countries. I'm considering it as well and I'm looking primarily at French speaking countries(France and Belgium) but I might try for somewhere a little more challenging.
"Bartster, what are your criteria for studying abroad? Do you want to direct enroll in a university or do a program? What languages do you speak/study? Do you want a homestay?"
Basically I am a US student and am planning as of now at least to direct enroll at a university. I unfortunately speak the one language that doesn't help me in many countries, American Sign Language. I do know very very basic Spanish from back in the high school days. I just want to have the best experience possible wherever it be. I have been debating more so between somewhere in Australia, Spain and Italy, but I'm open to anything. I have studied abroad briefly in Beijing and I know how hard and frustrating the language barrier can be, especially for 4 months or so.
With all due respect for countries like Australia, UK and Canada, from the US perspective you can hardly consider them abroad, sorry.
You are young, for goodness sake, look for the difficult transition, not the easy one, take on the linguistic and cultural challenges and go to a proper European country, better where relatively few of the people speak English, though, as alluded to above, young people almost everywhere, it seems, speak at least some English. Also as mentioned above, you can't go wrong with Spain, maybe somewhere in central Europe if that's an option.
Good luck!
Speaking as an American who's studied abroad in London I have to disagree with your first paragraph. Besides linguistics, being in London you really feel that you are immersed in a foreign culture because in fact you are!
I agree with you that it is not as adventurous though, to go to these places. If I could study abroad again I'd go to a German-speaking country I think (if I could afford it).
"Bartster, what are your criteria for studying abroad? Do you want to direct enroll in a university or do a program? What languages do you speak/study? Do you want a homestay?"
Basically I am a US student and am planning as of now at least to direct enroll at a university. I unfortunately speak the one language that doesn't help me in many countries, American Sign Language. I do know very very basic Spanish from back in the high school days. I just want to have the best experience possible wherever it be. I have been debating more so between somewhere in Australia, Spain and Italy, but I'm open to anything. I have studied abroad briefly in Beijing and I know how hard and frustrating the language barrier can be, especially for 4 months or so.
I'm really jealous that you're going to be studying abroad in the near future. I studied abroad in the UK in Spring 2008 and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I am now interning in Shanghai and although I'm loving the culture, food, nightlife, and picking up the language a little I will say that studying abroad is much more fun! I went to my classes in London hung-over or after 3 hrs sleep all the time as it was a relaxed atmosphere. Here I have to bring my 100%-not that that's a bad thing!
If you like large cities where you can experience many cultures while staying in the relative comfort zone of your own language then you should consider London. It's a happening, albeit expensive city, with easy access to other parts of Southern England for day trips (think Stonehenge, Salisbury, Dover cliffs) or a few hours train ride up North to Scotland. It also has very frequent direct trains running to Bruxelles, Belgium and Paris so continental Europe is never that far away. Also cheap airlines such as Ryan Air serve London very well for longer distance travel. After my semester I got a Eurail pass and backpacked through Europe.
This is really the key advantage the UK has over Australia I think-its integration with Europe. Australia might offer much on its own but you're really limited to visiting NZ. Also, depending on if you stay in a Southern city like Melbourne, the end of your semester would be way too cold to hit up those Australian beaches. If it was purely the UK vs Aus I'd probably pick Australia but UK should be considered as a package deal with Europe if you're like me a travel junkie.
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