Resource: Studying abroad

Post Reply New Topic

Hey all

Anyone pondered about studying over seas?

I have...

fun in the sun

so whos doing it?

who wants to do it?

whos in the know? on where to go study? Im a new zealander looking at studying architecture abroad but where
What are you studying and so you want to study abroad? where and why?

AND if anyone knows some good resources LOAD them up

Links to aussie Nz universities:
http://www.australearn.org/

links to global market:
http://usac.unr.edu/usac/students_default.aspx?menu=1

http://www.stateuniversity.com/universi ... rsity.html

http://www.semester-abroad.com/semester ... ersity.htm

Lincoln University a "easier" university lol I havent attended but they have a lot of agriculutural courses etc..
they focus on good tutor-student ratios..

so any other easy universities near you? lol.. sometime fun is good...

and... yea learning is fun

I've done it.

4 months homestay with host family in Japan back in 2000.


www.nrcsa.com offers a lot of great programs.

I'd probably like to go somewhere and study abroad. But given that I don't even go away to college (i.e., I live at home and commute somewhere close) it seems like a ridiculous stretch to go away for 4-5 months to a foreign country.

Add on to the fact that I can barely speak english, let alone another language, kinda limits where I'd be able to go.

I want to go to Toronto Film School. Which is overseas for me, being Swedish.

I will spend one year of my studies (Computer Science) in the UK.

I have studied abroad. I had a three month homestay with a family, which went pretty well. But because of a few problems at the end of their contract I found my own place to stay for the remaining month and a half.

I was studying Economics in Chile. It's a pretty interesting place to study economics.

I would do it again though, except I've run out of time. So maybe instead I can work abroad?

Yea working abroad there is that ...

too

cool eh...

so for you who have studied abroad?

any tips:

did you go to a country of the same language eg english or....

Ive seen universities in Italy where they teach the course in english... I wonder how true this is..

I believe a good way to learn a different language is to be immersed in it eh????

Did you give homestay gifts....
any must packs? eg camera ... multiple IDs???

?

I went to a country with a different language. Being immersed definitely speed up the learning process. It was really interesting because there were a lot of places where you had to take a number (like a bakery or drug store), then when they called your number you went to tell them what you wanted. Then you go pay while they got your order ready then you show them the receit and get your stuff. It was such a different process that was hard to learn.

I did give homestay gifts. I didn't know what the family would be like though, so I brought a couple small toys and a couple girly things. I think my family really appreciated that I brought something. Anything you bring would be cool though because it's from a different country. I bought a lot of post cards to give to anyone who was interested.

You should definitely bring a camera, converter and/or adapter. I also recommend that you make copies of your passport/visa. Depending on the length of time and how much the weather varies you may want to pack a variety of clothing. I'm not the best at knowing what to pack, someone else might have a better idea. I do recommend calling your bank and credit cards (if you have any) I never used my credit card while abroad, but I wanted to be able to just in case. Some banks and credit cards have a default block from use in another country unless you call them.

The country where you go to is your decision to make, it depends on what you want out of the experience. Going to an english speaking country will give you the least 'exotic' experience since most english speaking nations share so much in terms of culture and history.. at best you'd be experiencing a different way of living and doing things but not a different way of thinking.

There are universities in non-english speaking countries that teach the courses in english. They do so for their local students benefits (plus it attracts lots of international students so their local students benefit even more from the contact with the outside without traveling abroad themselves).

Immersion method to learn a language I strongly recommend AGAINST. You must.. you MUST have taken at least 6 months of language classes before going into the immersion method.

The way the immersion method works is they isolate you from your own language and try to teach you their language based on what I call the 'assumption' method. It is based on making the student associate words with what they perceive the teacher is showing them. Personally I think this system is the worst there is.

Its hard to explain so i'll give you an example of what happened to me in Japan:

The teacher (who did not speak english) was showing the class a cup. The cup was half full and had green tea on it and it was steaming hot.

Teacher begins to use her hands to illustrate the various features of the cup and repeating some words over and over again.

The students 'assume' that when she points at the cup, the word she is saying..is CUP.
When she points at the green tea, the word she says means 'green tea'
when she points at the ear-hold of thee cup, the word she says means just that.

In that excercise when the teacher pointed at the cup, I did assume the word was 'cup'
when she pointed at the green tea, I did not know if she meant 'half full', 'hot' or 'half empty' or 'tea'. I guessed she was saying 'hot' because the steam was very visible.
when she pointed at the ear-hold of the cup, I thought she was pointing at the drawing of the flower that was next to it... so the word she said to me became the word for flower.

And thats the problem. If you 'assume' wrong you end up 'learning' the wrong word for the item. Learning and then finding out its wrong and re-learning another word for it (and maybe THATS wrong too) makes you SO confused it becomes counter-productive. When you get into CONCEPTS rather than words it becomes even worse.

If it had not been for another foreigner that had been in Japan for a year helping me out, I wouldnt have learned anything. The guy would tell me the word for the item and i'd learn it. In 5 seconds I learned what I could not learn correctly in a whole month.

So, if you going for an immersion method, only go for it if you have a good understanding of the basics of the language first. You need a basic vocabulary and basic grammar skills.

If you have those, the immersion method is REALLY good. It forces you to think and speak in that language.


Homestay gifts are mandatory pretty much. Research the culture where you're staying first, some cultures consider gifts by guests as either insulting or may be compelled to give you a gift in return later on which is of much higher value.

Camera? Are you kidding me? YES!! !! Take two: a good one for your outdoor 'tourist' trips and a small pocket size one for your 'daily' snapshots.

IDs yes you need them. Your passport is your most vital ID. Make sure not to lose it

Must packs -

medicines - any medication you take, triple the amount and pack them into separate 'sets' and pack one set in each of your bags. Make sure at least one of those sets is in your hand-carry on bag. You dont want to be without your medication and packing three sets will insure you will have at least one set available at all times if you lose them or if your bags get lost at the airport.

extra socks and underwear.

pack at least one 'formal' attire. shirt, pants, tie. You dont know if you'll be involved in a formal event and you dont want to go shopping for elegant clothing in a foreign country at the last minute.

Make sure your debit/credit card will not block international transactions before you get on the plane. Call the credit card company/bank and tell them to approve international transactions for the next X number of days. You dont want to be abroad and have your credit card blocked. Its embarrasing!

Buy traveler's / student insurance - in case of accidents or emergencies you definitely will want to have this.

Some good advice there

YEA... reckon the Travel insurance is a must eh...

ha... Yea and the two cameras is good idea too

IM thinking about getting one of thos fancy phones eh.. nokia 93 possibly..

summin like that so yea.. I can take those important snaps.. ideas etc...

lol

anyone carry a daily media device?

mp3.. camera etc... phone..
have you got a multifunction one? which one works best..

I guess it could be good for a trip too.. but yea.. you dont wanna be zoned out on a mp3 player eh...