Spanish Universities

[Calmmumnot]

Has anyone looked at universities in Spain? My DS is keen to study there combining politics or IR and Spanish. Would really appreciate any insights. Also, any summer camps/schools recommended? Thanks

Yes it's a private hall run by one of the big international companies.

It looks great and ideal for dc but obviously they only have a basic allocation of that uni right now and need to get visas, formal confirmation etc. The accomodation company will refund most of the deposit though if a student ends up not going to that city and provides evidence so we don't have much to lose.

If it’s in Barcelona, book it yesterday. Probably similar for other big cities.

I don't think it is that STEM students run away from MFL. The problem, I think, is that MFL is treated as an academic subject and that the pace of learning is so slow. Syllabi seem designed by MFL graduates with the aim of producing more MFL graduates.

Dutch, Scandinavians and others are less bothered by this. They will learn English to use it. They are lucky in that there is lots of scope for exposure, but the trick is to start early with speaking and listening as the focus. And then to find cool things to do in the language. DD, say, was lucky as there were lots of French speakers (from the Lycee CDG) taking part in her main extra curricular, so she had lots of exposure. Her French teacher was shocked by her accent and her fluency in Parisian slang but it got her through the oral. Then during her ski season the chalet owner chose to use her as their interpreter over those with A level.

From your posts on this I assume you took the academic route. I hope you can agree it is different and leaves you will different skills.

I was under the impression that to go to a Spanish university, you have to pass the entrance exam (called Selectividad) and your results of selectividad tell you where you can go to uni - has that changed? The exam was tough - Soanish students spent time after their baccalaureat (A Levels) studying for it.

@Needmoresleep I didn’t but DD1 did. I think Brits don’t engage sufficiently in learning MFLs full stop. My overall point is that doing a MFL degree is about much wider learning but that doesn’t rule out others learning for work purposes. Many universities are trying to push this as MFL students dry up. We see MFLs as hard. Nearly everyone else learns English so it’s well taught. Here MFL teaching is a lottery and it could go at a faster pace but many dc don’t put the effort in. However the pace enabled DD to do much more than the syllabus which proved useful. MFLs require a good memory but they are not seen as a requirement by many schools and are sidelined. That’s not the same abroad where teaching is seen as far more important.

I thought your daughter was in her 30s. MFL presumably has changed a lot in the meantime, as have employer preferences.

But confirm, we are talking about two different things. Language acquisition and language study.

Lots of people speak a second language. Probably the majority of the world. Having this is seen as valuable. Unfortunately our education system is focussed on language study.

Do you yourself speak a second language? If not I think your comment but many dc don’t put the effort in is unfair. Its relatively easy for a gifted linguist to do well but tough for those less able, and the pace is so slow to make it feel pointless. If young people understood that having that second language is useful if you want to go into finance or all sorts of science etc (eg work for a French engineering company) and that it is worth picking up early and keeping it up, we would have very different outcomes. If they were shown how to learn in the way intensive commercial language centres teach, they would be encouraged by progress. Yes you can absolutely get to a good level of fluency with three months intense study and six months in the country. MN is always full of needing to spend years written by people who I suspect are monolingual. Many Europeans would laugh. They realise they need English so get on with it, start learning and start using the language. (Ukrainians are often a good example.) It is also much much easier when you are young.

Most uk students don’t get near spending a period in another country. MFLs are sidelined at many schools and are not seen as exciting. Of course being able to converse in another MFL is a useful skill. DDs MFL degree requirements have not changed in any obvious way. It’s an academic degree as it always was. If MFL dumbs down grads are not well prepared for other areas of work and it just becomes MFL training where there are fewer jobs.

I’d be worried about a DC studying in a country where he has no family links/support network and most students are living with their parents. I think it’s highly risky. I also think from an employability point of view he’d probably be better off studying at a UK university. He could do the Study Abroad scheme where you spend a year at an overseas university between year 2 and 3. My DS did this. It’s no longer part of Erasmus but there are Turing grants available to help with living costs. The grades you get in your overseas year don’t count towards your overall degree so academically it was a bit of an easy ride but good for the experience of living overseas.

You don't need to spend time abroad. There is the internet and huge overseas communities in the UK. Simply put something on your local community facebook group saying you would like to swap English conversation for Spanish and you will probably find someone. In DDs year at school they had 18 French English bilinguals and plenty who spoke other languages.

DD picked up French in London by hanging out with Lycee kids, though we deliberately went on holiday to France as my husband needed to be able to read French for work.

I had a Nigerian colleague who spoke good Spanish. She had grown up in Southwark and many of her school friends were Colombian.

I once mentored a Vietnamese kid from a local estate. Her own parents paid very little attention to her education (she was not a boy!) but did send her from a young age to a community Mandarin school. Having Chinese will have helped her (aged 15 - the head of year was aware she was working every evening but the family circumstance was complex and the idea of a mentor was just to provide some external support and guidance) to get a job in a local Chinese restaurant. The value of a language for employment was something they understood.

Speaking and understanding a language is a skill, a bit like riding a bike. If there is a need to learn a language (viz Ukrainians) you do. The issue is that young people in the UK don't see the point. Come 21 when they are competing against multi-lingual Europeans for jobs in international organisations it is too late.

@ChiaraRimini The counting of the third year abroad varies from course to course. DDs university expected completion of modules they set and they did count. She was not studying in English though at it was a MFL degree. Her work was completed in English. It was like a mini dissertation for each MFL. In addition if she hadn’t done the language work and translation whilst abroad, she would have struggled in y4. Her boyfriend at the time did a MEng and his year abroad counted too. It was at a grand Ecole and taught in French. It was tough.

@Calmmumnot , please check out this customized service for international campers (up to age 17) in Spain: www.campspainforkids.com, full language immersion & fun, hands-on, no lessons.