Please talk to me about Erasmus

[tapdancingmum]

DD has been offered a place to study in Vienna next semester. Can anybody furnish me with any useful information that I can pass onto her to make it all go quite smoothly.

[LongDroopyBoobyLady]

tapdancingmum my DD spent September 2015 to January 2016 studying in Vienna. Let me know any specific questions you have.

[velourvoyageur]

I went to Universität Wien and it was brilliant.

PM me if she wants details.

[Moominmammacat]

Neither is it a scheme for the poor ... sadly my daughter couldn't work before she went because she was in prison.

[bojorojo]

So she was in prison whilst doing a university course which required a year abroad? She was still entitled to a maintenance loan I assume. Or she could have done a paid teaching semester with the British Council? Most people sort something out that suits their circumstances, but the circumstance of being in prison is probably extremely unusual.

[tapdancingmum]

An update.

She is now there and enjoying coffee and cake every day

It was quite a painless process, she was accepted for a grant and has received some of it. The rest to be paid when she has finished. The only problem we had was trying to pay her deposit for her accommodation from England. Many emails back and forth to get the correct information but we managed it. She got her flight booked and I sorted insurance and transport for when she landed. And paid the excess baggage charge at the airport. She has been extremely homesick but I think that was because when they arrived there was no provision for Internet access and she felt very cut off from the world. This was sorted after 4 days but that's a lifetime to a 20 year old. She has found if she goes to Bratislava she can fly home for just over £70 and she is coming back for a short visit. Friends are going out to visit and my mum and dad are picking her up when she finishes at the end of June.

Not long now

[2rebecca]

Great, my son is doing an Erasmus year and has mixed feelings about it. His courses are in English and he struggles with the language and as he has so much course work (more than at his UK uni) he hasn't had as much time to mix with local students and learn the culture as he'd hoped. He also struggled with some of the lecturers' accents and found the feedback from some wasn't great, although another lecturer is his favourite so far. He also missed his uni friends and his girlfriend and kayak club more than he expected and found fewer societies than in the UK.
He is happier this semester than last, but chose his modules based on lecturer knowledge this time round.

[bojorojo]

How odd that his lectures are in English! My DD had lectures in both target languages at both universities. Even if making friends ends up being a bit difficult (and it can be) at least the language is acquired through the lectures. I am surprised he was allowed to do this by his university. My DD even learnt a thrid language in Switzerland - so absolutely nothing in English. I thought the whole reason for going to a university abroad was to study the language of the country in the lectures and that should obviously not be English.

I think you do not need societies if you can mix. There is so much else to do and travelling is popular. Is he living with Erasmus students or local ones? Where is he 2rebecca?

[Needmoresleep]

Borojo, didn't your daughter study languages. In which case it would make sense to be taught in the host language.

It is not uncommon for other subjects to be taught in English, especially when the University is hoping to attract other European and international students.

[user7214743615]

I thought the whole reason for going to a university abroad was to study the language of the country in the lectures and that should obviously not be English.

In subjects like sciences, the international language is English. It is still the case that most undergraduate courses throughout Europe are in the local language but this is gradually changing.

There is very little advantage to studying science subjects in languages other than English because in industry, finance etc people will use English and use English terms for almost everything scientific. At the same time, studying sciences in English in another country teaches you about culture, conventions in other places, different ways of doing things.

BTW re learning to understand accents in English - this is a useful skill in itself, if you are likely to go into a line of work which is international.

[voilets]

Watching with interest. Anyone have experience of Spain?

[bojorojo]

Yes needmoresleep it was languages but her boyfriend did Engineering at a Grande Ecole in France and that was taught in French. He had to be competent in French before he went. Others who were not competent in a target language went to the USA or Australia. I honestly thought few universities on the Erasmus scheme taught in English - I know the Dutch ones and a couple in Italy do. For some Engineering disciplines there are great work opportunities in France and who would pass up going to a Grande Ecole?

[bojorojo]

2rebecca - where is your DS studying this year?

[Needmoresleep]

Borojo,

www.topuniversities.com/where-to-study/europe/germany/study-germany-english

www.campusfrance.org/en/page/programs-taught-English

Countries with minority languages are likely to have an even higher proportion of English language programmes. Newer EU members in particular have been active in developing courses in English in subjects like medicine.

The Erasmus programme is supposed to foster learning and understanding of the host country, not simply language acquisition.

Its not just the English who study in Europe. Many US Universities have long offered a Junior year abroad. And obviously for overseas students Europe can be much cheaper, but many will be unwilling to spend the two or three years that would be needed to have sufficient language to study.

[2rebecca]

Czech technical uni in Prague. He's studying mechanical engineering. He did do Czech for beginners as one of his modules but found it tricky. He has dyslexia so isn't a natural linguist. He could have gone to the USA or Canada for his year abroad so it wasn't mainly about language acquisition.

[bojorojo]

Yes I know it is not all about language acquisition but where DD was at university the non MFL students did have to pass their MFL module and it was to a pretty high level. More A level standard. DD helped boyfriend with his French. I can see why Czech would be difficult to learn though! I can also see why the accent is difficult to comprehend.

My DD met many Australians and Americans in Italy. All understood Italian. No lessons were in English. The list of universities teaching in English is relatively small though.

One important thing though - he will learn from this and be very self reliant. My DD was asked at an interview recently about which achievement gave her the greatest satisfaction (she had a number to choose from) and chose her year abroad. I think it is a good thing to do, whatever the trials and tribulations!

[BuckingFrolicks2]

My DS is off to Bremen in Germany this sept on Erasmus so this thread is v helpful. He's struggled at uni in Scotland when home is se England so Bremen will be a massive step. Gulp

Of course Erasmus isn't about language acquisition its specifically about fostering a pan-European perspective. As DS is studying international relations it's perfect for him. His German is ok but no where near good enough for following lectures, which are of course in English. Hell use his German living there more than studying.

Erasmus will vanish post Brexit btw.

[user7214743615]

Erasmus will vanish post Brexit btw.

Nobody knows this for sure. Non-EU countries such as Switzerland contribute financially so that they can be part of Erasmus.

[2rebecca]

There are reciprocal agreements for years abroad with non-EU countries so I suspect something will continue. Other countries want to continue sending their students here too as the UK is a popular Erasmus destination. Brexit won't be finalised for years anyway.

[Needmoresleep]

And often there is more interest from mainland European students to study in the UK than vice versa. For example more Czech's wanting to improve their English and exposure to Anglo Saxon academic traditions, than vice versa. It has often been a problem for British Universities to find sufficient UK applicants to go out to balance the numbers wanting to come in.

[bojorojo]

I guess that is the case because so few students study languages and schools hardly teach them! Interesting that Germans can be taught in English but we cannot find enough German speakers who can be taught in German!

[Needmoresleep]

But Borojo, that is the point user7214743615 made up thread:

"In subjects like sciences, the international language is English. It is still the case that most undergraduate courses throughout Europe are in the local language but this is gradually changing. "

If you are an international banker, lawyer or scientist in Germany, you probably NEED English. It is rarely the case that the English "homologue" needs German. So there is a much greater incentive for a German to find their way to the UK for a year rather than vv. Plus we have a disproportionate number of internationally well regarded courses and universities.

Part of the issue for UK students is ensuring that the course they go to is of good quality. Warwick, say, offers study abroad opportunities in 40 different courtries. UCL too has as many opportunities outside the EU as within. To be honest an average science or social science student might be as interested in studying at Hong Kong university, Monash or one of the University of California campuses, as in the EU. Exchanges with Universities within the EU will still happen.

[user7214743615]

Exchanges within the EU will still happen but personally I doubt that funding for them will remain (unlikely to be high priority for our government).

BTW I agree that for top UK undergraduate courses a major issue is that the exchange course is taught at a comparable level. Even at top research departments in Europe, the undergraduate level is rarely comparable to our very top courses.

[bojorojo]

I was clumsily making the point that we should try harder at MFL. Why can German people manage English but we have so few students managing German? Whether English is the international language or not, we still look under educated. I think there is a problem with the quality of some courses abroad. It is always best to go to a high ranking university department - wherever it is. DD paid a great deal of attention to that when selecting a Swiss university over a French one. Also all her Swiss friends speak French (to work in Geneva), German and English. We just don't try hard enough! None of them were MFL students!

[2rebecca]

I think so few English speaking people learn German because the area of the world where German is mainly spoken is small compared to the area where English is spoken. I speak French a bit but rarely visit France so rarely get to practice it. With English you have English films, pop songs, visiting the UK, USA Oz or NZ to practice it and far more people speak it as a second language. I visit Spanish and Scandinavian speaking countries more than any other but didn't get the choice of those at school.
My son is going to a Czech/English cafe evening tonight set up by the international student association at CTU to try and improve his Czech and chat to some locals. He's struggling with some aspects of the time table, 7.15am classes in welding (he loves the practical aspects of engineering, he was disappointed to be unable to do an internship in casting because the Czech semester finishes a month later than the UK one). He was wondering about learning to be a blacksmith as a hobby.

[2rebecca]

practise