Languages-3rd year abroad

[Gettingstuffdonehere]

Anyone else’s student DC got a year abroad in 3rd year for languages degree? Mine was adamant it’s what she wanted, now it’s getting nearer and she’s terrified. Hoping that’s normal. Not sure how to help her. Anyone?

DD went 4 yrs ago - Sheffield Uni ..they left them to themselves sorting the accommodation and mostly everything really.
It was really that that helped dd gain a lot of confidence in the language , sorting bank , uni, flat ,bills and her laptop needed fixing as soon as she got there. It was scary for her and us but she managed it all herself and gained a huge amount from that.

But definitely the french landlords expected parents to be guarantors and dd was there herself so she did end up living in a shithole ..but it was near friends and she loved it .

Hi all, so glad we’re having this conversation! Talked to DD yesterday & she says 3 girls from her course are going to the same place , so already that feels better, even if they do different modules they will have each other there, which will definitely help. They have been given contacts of students at their UK uni who went to the same place & DD is getting in touch. Apparently most people go without having accom sorted , DD says that will be too scary for her, she like to know where she’s going!

I think lots find accommodation when they get there because they want to have a look at it! Don’t be too hasty about signing up for a private flat. The Spanish university may have links to agencies so she could have a look before she goes and shortlist. Is she going to try and share with the other girls? Sounds like the she is feeling more positive. That’s good.

My DS had three moves during his year in Austria, used AirBnB to find out which parts of the cities he liked. Got sacked, evicted, into debt but generally had a marvellous time and came back a much better person, not to mention totally fluent in German.

Hi I’m back..DD’s location for 3rd year abroad has been confirmed, it’s her 3rd choice , she doesn’t want to go at all. She was feeling better about it all, and although still nervous, she was OK. Now she’s been allocated to a town that was everyone’s last resort choice. She’s gutted. I seriously think she will want to jack it all in at this point - she hinted as much on the phone. She’s got a meeting with tutor Wed to discuss it, he knows her well & is sympathetic but we don’t know how much he can do. A tense & tearful couple of days ahead.

My youngest is second year heading to Italy for a year in August. Luckily she au paired for a couple of months near Garda and is still in contact the the family and has been back to visit etc so it feels like a safety net. The university seems quite supportive and is helping with placements and accommodation, so she’s quite relaxed a bit. For her, the problem is leaving her boyfriend behind.

That sounds good, Crumbs, that she knows a family there, a safety net must definitely help. Sympathise about boyfriend, we’ve got same issue in the mix. Now that the location isn’t where she wanted, she’s lost sight of any benefit to doing it at all. 🙁

Gettingstuffdonehere Yes definitely lowers our stress levels. She ‘inherited’ the family she au paired for from the daughter of family friends who did a couple of summers with them. We know it’s a lovely family and mum is a headteacher so sensible.
We’ll still plan to go out a few times as I think homesickness can crop up at the most unlikely times. Certainly our friends daughter (who is charming, confident and competent) struggled in Naples a little - but she was on her own there. We went to see her which was lovely and helped us understand what it felt like for them. I have to,say, the friends daughter loved the six months in France it was the Italian bit where she took a while to settle. Mainly she moved in with three girls from the course at Naples university and it became clear they had little in common. Exeter feels like it’s more supported.

They do need support, it’s a difficult thing to do, & they’re young . I don’t know what my dd will do if there is no alternative to her placement

Can I ask what is wrong with the placement? Is it a teaching assistant job, a job or a university place? Nowhere is that bad in Italy.

My DD was totally on her own when she started but because she went to universities, there were welcome events and she went into a flat in Italy ,which she found herself, and found another British girl already there. Then one of her friends moved in when a room became available. This girl was a language assistant about 10 miles away from the city but could not make friends locally. I was glad DD did the university route because you are far less likely to be isolated. The teaching assistant posts can be anywhere but they do pay a salary of course so appear attractive.

If she is not doing a university placement, could she ask for one? Is this placement organised via the British Council or the university? The British Council have been known to have too many applicants and say people cannot go at the last minute. Has the university got anything up its sleeve for unhappy students or do they expect them to get onwith it?

For the year abroad I think you do have to have a flexible approach to it. I honestly think DD would have pitched in anywhere but did want a city, not the middle of nowhere. Planning makes it easier and many universities do not offer much help so you have to be self-reliant to get the best out of it. Thousands do manage quite happily every year.

Hi Bubbles - all fair points. It’s a university place. Tbf,it’s not just the place , but also that she got 3rd choice when all the others got their 1st, when the criterion was the last year’s mark - she got 1 point less than at least one girl she knows who got their 1st choice . It is also the place, small town 2 hrs train journey from airport that nobody’s heard of. The uni is seeing what they can do (whatever that means) so fingers crossed.

The Italian universities have huge numbers of Eurasmus and overseas students. Bologna has a student population of 88,000 and 5000 overseas students. Way bigger than anything here. Padua has 66,000 students. They can squeeze in another one at a big university with luck. Has she had a look on 3rd Year Abroad to see if anyone else has thoughts on the university?

I can see why she is cross if they have done it on marks and I can also see that travel to the airport is annoying. Could the university put her in touch with anyone that went last year if there is not change? DD got both first choices but they did it on first come first served for Switzerland but by written application for Bologna because they usually found it was over-subscribed. I remember DD had choices of Bologna, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Milan, Forli and a few others I cannot remember. She would have taken Florence (2nd choice) or Milan (3rd choice) if she had not been given Bologna but Florence was also very popular.

I hope it gets resolved.

Thanks Bubbles-your replies really help. They had a talk last year from returners, the only person who had been to her town said she had a miserable year & hated it ! Not sure what the value of that was , it just put all of them off going there! She’s in limbo at the moment, while everyone else’s place is confirmed. Thankfully she’s got a busy weekend planned, hopefully that will shift her focus till next week & there might be news then.

My son had a year abroad for his engineering. He applied for a course with a year abroad and when it got near time to go wasn't sure as big change/ good friends/ loved his activities/ girlfriend but he went and after a month of feeling a bit miserable and lonely got in to it, struggled with the exams in the first semester and loved his second semester and is now wondering about trying to go abroad with a group of fellow students for some of his 5th year.

Good to hear that, 2rebecca. Leaving friends/partner etc will be hard , but that’s all part of the package I suppose.I’d really like Dd to be looking forward to going ,despite the hard bits, & there’s more chance of that if it’s somewhere she actually wants to go to, that would help!

Agree, my son didn't get his first choice but it wasn't somewhere he didn't want to go either as he had to put 3 choices. If she isn't keen on the course there or location that's tough, but still for a language course I'd have though going was better than not going, different for engineering when going abroad is more personal preference.

Term abroad is getting near & I remembered this thread & all the helpful comments, so I’ve come back. Dd leaves for Spain at Easter , for 3 months, still has no accommodation 😬! Got a session planned next week to hit the various links & websites her UK uni has recommended & book somewhere. As soon as that’s done she’ll have to get started on accom in different country again for her year from Sept. it’s all a bit 🤪! But main thing is she’s feeling a lot better about it all than a few months ago.

Glad to hear it! Hope she enjoys herself.

Thanks Leeds2

Please do keep us posted here. I will have to go through all this, too.

Simbobs where is your son/daughter going? Is it in Sept?

What is the 3 month placement? DD just did one year. Is she not doing the last part of y2 here?

It’s a term in country A, then 3rd full year in country B (2 different languages), then final year in UK.

That’s quite unusual. Dd did a semester in each. Two languages. One year in total. I never knew anyone did part of the second year abroad!

Sorry, lost this thread. My DD is in her 1st year and will be going abroad in Y3. She is doing 3 languages and insists that she is expected to divide the year equally between them. I did 2 and spent a semester in each. I think she is spreading herself too thin and will find it difficult to find anything meaningful to do for 4 months somewhere, There seems to be a lot more emphasis on work placements these days vs going to a uni or teaching in a school. She is quite an introvert with no work experience so I do not know what she could do, nor do they seem to get much help from uni, which is a mystery to me. She is doing a month's Summer school this year (own initiative) to get her up to speed in the newest language, but that apparently will not be counted.