MFL year abroad, work or study?

[Gobimanchurian]

DD is studying combined degree with Spanish, so 4 years with a year abroad.

Since Brexit I hear working is tough to arrange but study is much easier and more common, however we're worried about money - accommodation, living, travel. Do you still pay the UK Uni? And also the Spanish Uni? Do you still get a maintenance loan?

Anyone with any advice on how to get relevant suitable work? Or navigate the financial backdrop?

Hi, OP -

You pay UK fees only, nothing to the other uni. Most universities offer a substantial discount; we offer 85%. Students remain eligible for the maintenance loan. It can go up but in the real world sadly it seems to go down more often.

Studying in one’s second language can be a real challenge. It will make or break you! DD needs to try to figure out which camp she will belong to. Can her personal tutor help?

Good luck to DD and your family with all of this

I have a dc doing a joint degree with languages, also a dn, and I did one myself 4 million years ago, back in my day we weren't properly in the EU (back full circle now) and finding a proper job - say in a shop or office - in the country I went to would have been very tough if not impossible.

I would always prioritise work over study, I taught English as a foreign language assistant in a secondary school, which my uni participated in. it was badly paid and chaotic and I had no training at all - not a great experience being dumpedin fornt of a class of 40 kids basically your age and told to improvise but I struggled through (luckily the school was closed for long periods for strikes and building maintenance). I also taught in various private language schools and to individuals and made just about enough monry to survive (I got no grant and my Dad wouldn't pay for subsistence fot hat year). I made friends with some of my students, which helped me integrate slightly, although I never really fitted in. It was a struggle but it was also the making of me, I came back having grown up so much in terms of knwoing I could cope. No internet then to make discovery of any kind of resource easier. I dont know if the English assistant scheme still exists and if it does I hope it's better run than now but that would be one option.

The reason I say work not study is I had friends in this city who went to the unviersity and they just drifted. In the country I was in the universities were a shambles, absolutley no one was keeping an eye on students individually, no work to submit, so you were attending pointless lectures in a foreign language that really wouldn't boost your studies in any way. No real way of making friends, you just had to hang around the buildings looking hopeful and it iddn't work. So those people just hung out with each other and also ended up teaching English too. The girl I shared a flat with went a bit loopy with loneliness. Dn did this much more recently in another country, also found the complete lack of structure very hard to deal with and basically ended up having a nervous breakdown, though luckily she only did six months there, then went to another country where she hung out with Brits and had fun.

Sorry to sound so negative and not to be able to give you up-to-date practical advice but I hope someone will be along with that soon. All I can say is i imagine the demand for native English teachers is still huge and that ime is the best way of finding paid work.

My DD was an English Language Assistant in two German schools during her year abroad. She got her jobs via the British Council scheme. She had a little trouble finding accommodation but the teachers at her schools helped considerably. They were so grateful to have an English assistant! No-one had applied to their schools for years so it is worth picking an unpopular area as then your DD will be popular. My DD still visits her German friends and she had a great time. She saved a fair bit of money as she was paid while working. Uni fees for that year were considerably discounted. Google British Council Teach Abroad.

The British Council Teaching Assistant jobs are probably the easiest way still to work while abroad post Brexit.

There are lots of threads on here though about universities being less helpful than the student had anticipated regarding accommodation etc so do your homework first.

Studying may be easier ultimately as invariably schools/universities abroad provide accommodation.

I studied in Spain and Belgium a million years ago and lived in the school/uni accommodation respectively.

The uni dept should be providing possibilities and help in applying from the beginning of the second year (if it's a third year out) DD will have a year out 24-25 and has her first meeting with the placement/studies people on 16th October.

Good luck, it's a fabulous and life changing opportunity!

I'd agree if you go down this route pick a school in an unpopular area, they will be pleased to see you and there will be fewer foreigners to hang out with so you're more likely to make local friends. I hope it is better run than back in my day

British Council assistantship is probably the way to go if her uni participates. The opposite approach to trying to go to the middle of nowhere is to think of convincing reasons why she needs to be near a university town (e.g. she can say she wants to take some classes there at the same time). That's if she wants to meet more people her age and go out and stuff. If she's currently in her second year there should be meetings organised soon with more information about all the options, including financial aspects.

Study. Learning to study at the level of similar aged native speakers is so good for language skills.

My degree was in the Erasmus days but the improvement in my French from week 1 where I could barely understand the lecturer (was speaking fast to break the French students' wish to take dictation rather than notes) to week 4 and beyond where we were all coping well was massive.

Main thing is to make sure the class options are interesting and relevant. My choices were fixed (law with French rather than straight MFL) and a mix of first and second year subjects with a mix of oral and written exams which was good experience.

I felt that the law/french students who had to study law on their year abroad were more fluent that the business/french students who worked in France for the same period - which given near identical entry requirements would suggest study pushes your grammar, vocab and writing skills more than working unless in a very specialised role. I'm unconvinced of the value of teaching English in a foreign country to learn that country's language. Other than as a means of getting money.

Does the study visa allow working? I did my year abroad many years ago in Russia, but our student visas allowed a certain number of hours work each week. So most of us got part time jobs around our studies (teaching english, tutoring, translating etc) and that was enough to top up our loans for "fun" money. Plus you got the best of both worlds.

@Gobimanchurian Im not up to date on visas, however study abroad is fantastic. Work can be extremely difficult to find. Due to unemployment in Spain, it was never easy! DDs uni would not accept any old job either. So going to a uni is much easier these days. Or do teaching assistant with British Council and accept you might be in the middle of nowhere with no one your own age around. As happened to DDs friends.

Your DDs uni should have all the info on their study abroad pages. So what a student might get financially and where they can study. DD chose the highest ranked unis they listed. She absolutely did not drift and made great use of the opportunity to learn a new subjects and make friends, which she still has. Studying enhanced her cv.

The maintenance loan goes down if you work. For obvious reasons. If you study it tends to go up. Look for the detail. DD had a friend who studied in Madrid and it was great. It’s such an opportunity to meet other students from many places and travel a bit.

Your home uni doesn’t get you accommodation abroad. Some unis abroad have halls you apply to. Look at the web sites of the Spanish unis for info. Apply early!!! Or, sort out accommodation via spare room pages and definitely talk to others who have been. What worked for them? DD went to two unis. Very different! So when you are back here, you can tackle anything and your uk uni will seem very organised!

I also taught English as a foreign language on my year abroad many years ago. It was a non EU country, and I do remember a bit of hassle with the visa, but it was fine in the end.
An established scheme like the British Council should help you to get a visa. They operate in non-EU countries too, where their visa procedures won’t have changed (might she fancy South America?)

Like a pp, I found it was the making of me, though very hard at the time.
I worked in a city and there was a network of a few other English teachers that I socialised with - though I know you often get placed in more rural areas, and it can be a bit lonely. I didn’t earn much, but it covered my accommodation and food.

If I was advising my child, and could afford it, I would advise a summer school or short intensive language course, then teaching English with the British Council.

I did a two language degree so I split my year between two countries. I worked in the first one as an English teaching assistant (privately arranged, not British council) My language really didn’t improve that much, I ended up socialising with other foreigners anyway and although I may have gained some life experiences (being hospitalised with malaria was interesting), it didn’t do much for the real goal of the year abroad of attaining near fluency.

In the other semester I went to a university. I was disciplined enough not to take the English medium courses and studied in the host country’s language. As I knew English proficiency was an entry requirement for the uni I also opted to live off campus with a local family. My language was amazing when I returned. I think even if I had lived in campus it would have been as I found out just because the students CAN speak English, they still tend to use their own language when socialising unless with foreign students who don’t speak it. Because I do, they didn’t speak English with me unless I asked them to.

@Phos My DDs home uni approved the courses abroad. They had to do some translation. No English medium courses would ever be approved. All were taught in target language and examined in it. DD didn’t go to a campus uni but had uni accommodation at one of them: several tram stops away. At the other one, she looked at adverts in advance, contacted landlords, made appointments to view, stayed in a hotel for a couple of days whilst viewing, then chose one and moved in.

Yes well in my case they would have. I chose the non English ones to challenge myself. This is a very niche subject. I also took courses at a local language school which was mandatory.

But presumably others took classes in English? That’s bizarre. What’s the point in doing that?