MFL degree and year aboard

[tiredwardsister]

My Dc does Italian and another subject at a RG uni, (I dont need to enter in any conversation about the use of Italian Ive already heard all the arguments) he has applied for his year abroad through the British Council. According to their website places in Italy are very limited, only 50 a year, you have to find your own accommodation, some often end up in Sicily and therefore learn little or no Italian, you only teach 12 hours a week and you're teaching English, you get paid but opening a bank account in Italy is a minefield and you wait months to get paid and often don't get paid in January/Feb due to some complicated Italian tax thing. Alternatively you can go to an Italian university his lectures have told him they're are awful, or at the better ones everything is taught in English and assignments are in English, you live with other foreign students (your common language is English so no guessing what you speak). He knows someone who's just done it through the British Council had a great time but learnt no Italian at all (in Sicily). I'm struggling to see what the point of it is!
We have some business connections in Italy and could try and get him a full time job in an Italian company speaking Italian all the time he wouldn't need a wage (we would fund him) and he would be given free board and lodgings in return for work (he is doing a joint honours and his other subject is very highly regarded by companies and he has excellent references from his previous employment as he's a real grafter) but apparently the universities are reluctant to support this as they feel they don't learn enough Italian.

Any one have any advise/experience?

I used to work for the BC language assistants programme. They socialise a lot with one another if they are close enough geographically and otherwise end up being monopolised by teachers who want to practice their English.
How much Italian he learns will be completely up to his attitude and approach, particularly what he does in his spare time and who his friends are. If he spends the whole year hanging out with Anglophones, he won’t get the most out of it, irrespective of what he does during the day.
The universities may not be good but listening to bad lectures in good Italian will still help. Finding a social group of only Italians would be the key.

I would have thought that giving the details of the work placement as you have here would be enough 'proof' that he'd be talking Italian, I would be surprised if it were hugely onerous. But universities do surprise

Re bank accounts - have a look at Monzo (haven't used but read good things) or Transferwise borderless account (dd uses that, works really well). The Transferwise account gives you account details for the UK, Europe, North America and Australasia, rather than having to set up local accounts wherever you go. You transfer money within your 'pots' with a low conversion rate. So I can transfer money to dd's UK pot for free (sending money from the UK to a European account costs money) and then she moves it to her euro pot paying 0.35% commission. She's on her year abroad atm - has been in France, going to Spain and Germany next, so having such a flexible account is invaluable!

I think you are dismissive of quite a few options regarding the British Ciuncil and the universities because he wants the work you can get him. My DD did go to an Italian university but it doesn’t really matter what world standing they have and obviously you don’t go to one that teaches in English!

What the university does give you, is a chance to broaden your knowledge as well as speaking and listening in Italian. If you are interested in History of Art, what better place to be? Italian culture is broad and the best universities are Bologna, Padua and Milan. Most universities will have these on their lists. They are not well organised as British universities are but you are at very old universities if you choose one of the first two.

As you have relatives there, wouldn’t it be better if he forged new friendships and made his own way? My DD transferred to Italy from Switzerland knowing no one. She found her own accommodation and wasn’t spoon fed in any way. She now has a great job and being at an Italian university for a few months has not been to her detriment!

The BC teaching assistant roles can be anywhere. That’s the risk. You get paid but you can be isolated. Many young people who do this hope to be near a university city to meet up with friends.

DDs university was particular about work placements but they did accept them as long as the language acquisition was deemed strong enough. I don’t think general dogsbody work helps with anything much and you have to do academic work for your home university and dogsbody work doesn’t seem very academic. It’s not just about language acquisition. It also seems a bit cosy. This might be why the university isn’t keen. Going abroad is about spreading your wings and not really doing what falls into your lap.

I was a language assistant, but not in Italy. It is what you make of it, if you are in a big enough place you can end up socialising with other assistants, but of the foreign people I knew, I mostly socialised with the German assistant anyway, so at least we did that in the language of the country that you are in.

I would say that the low point of the trip was that the school was really blasé about having an assistant, I was met my the librarian, who was delightful, and housed me for a few days, but the English teachers showed very little interest. I did not have a lot of prep to do at all, I spend lots of time in the classroom with the teachers, or they gave me small groups and very specific thing to do.

It is in a regular school, so there are naturally, other teachers of other subjects, I think it's easy if you are the sort of personality who will go and chat to people to get to know others, and to speak in the language. You don't have to really speak in English beyond those twelve hours. You get lots of free time to visit and explore, and the salary definitely enough to live on, once it comes of course.

I absolutely came back with a better level in the language than those who had spent time at a university, there was just no comparaison. But as I say, I made massive efforts to go out of my way to speak the language and not to socialise just with English speakers.

I also attended a RG university, and they interviewed us and ranked us before they sent our applications to the British Council. Perhaps that has changed but I would say that feedback is available, even if they cannont guarentee anything, they know what happens on a year on year basis, I don't remember finding out as late as June though, I remember it being sooner.

All in all, I would absolutely recommend the experience, but it is what you make of it. The huge, huge advantage for me was that the wages meant that I did not incurr any debt for the year. I'm still in touch with people I met then and it made an enormous difference to my language skills.

My DD has friends who had BC placements “confirmed” that were then pulled at the last minute. I don’t think anyone who goes to a university speaks in English. They make Italian friends too!

Mine is just back from an Erasmus year in Germany, worked at a few uni-approved jobs and other things he found himself. In general, working students seem more positive about experience than those who went to unis.

To be fair though, most working students are doing jobs they want to do are and far less challenged than those at a university. Many universities abroad are very different to ones here. In Italy, Bologna has 88,000 students and Padua 66,000 students. At the university you will probably have to do exams. There is more pressure and, if you are going to two countries, it is more challenging to settle in twice. Universities don’t all offer accommodation and you have to find it. I think university certainly suits some students better than moving from job to job and is a more structured learning experience. Also my DDs university was particular about the standard of job. No working in coffee shops for example. The object of the year isn’t just to have a good time. I thought most Erasmus years ended in June?