Before we start our working carrier we want to get the best education, many useful skills and languages knowledge. Although, there are many good universities in home country and languages schools, students often decide to go abroad to study, no matter if it's university or language course. There are many reasons of that. There is common believe that schools in other countries are better than in home country or that we can get an education which is better valued by future employers or it is much easier to learn foreign language when you stay in native country for that language. So, many people study out of the country because of a number of its pros.
First, we can develop real competitive advantages over students who never venture abroad to study such as improved foreign language skills, a more international perspective, greater tolerance for other opinions, ability to think more originally and to see more than one perspective on an issue, greater self-reliance and self-confidence, more comfort with complex situations, the ability to better cope with ambiguous information and greater flexibility.
There are also profession advantages because an international experience benefits those seeking careers in almost any field. In fact, employers recognize skills that are acquired worldwide. Study abroad identifies us as informed, confident, self-sufficient and able to learn quickly and adapt to changing conditions. In job interviews, we can discuss how our foreign experience made us more independent, responsible, organized and innovative.
Other benefit we get of studying abroad is that friendships and contacts we develop abroad allow us to understand views other than our own. These friendships, both with locals and students from all programs, can serve as future networking opportunities. We can make a difference in everyday lives. Some study abroad courses offer social and community outreach programs. For example, we might have the opportunity to teach refugees or the underprivileged to read and write which is very useful for linguistic students to can use and train gained language knowledge.
Studying abroad has not only advantages and it isn't always a pleasure. We might have to face some problems while living abroad and see many of disadvantages of staying in a foreign country. For example, it doesn't mean we will learn other languages magically. Of course living abroad will help us to understand the language better, but if we don't talk, we won't improve. That is why we need to pay attention and study, but be reassured because we live in that country it should make study easier and faster.
Even if our society is more and more communicative and even if we are closer to our family and friends thanks to Skype, msn, Facebook and others, it still does not mean it is any easier to study abroad half way round the world. There aren't any relatives close to us in that place and it makes us feel alone and sad sometimes. At the beginning, culture shock won't help us to feel integrated: we might need an 'adjustment period'. We should create new habits, discover the place we are going to live, meet people for example. It may be hard sometimes. We might feel excluded in the country where we are and not have the social network yet that can give us support and strength.
First step in a new country and everything seems weird. Differences can be huge between Europe and Asia or small between France and Belgium. Standard of living can be different: more poor people in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe or we cannot expect the same way of life in India than in United States. We will have to face other behaviors, and some can make us feel uncomfortable if we are not used to them: in United State people are going to speak easily with you in the bus, whereas in Europe, for example - Paris, if we talk to a stranger we will probably get an angry look or might even scare people away. Some differences are obvious others are more subtle. We can name that cultural obstacle. Moreover the food is different, we will have lot of difficulties to find local French cheese in US, or local Italian wine etc. if the culture is different, the food will be too, certainly. Getting used to these cultural differences can be a real disadvantage for our study abroad experience.
Studying costs can be another big disadvantage. It can be really expensive. First, it will depend on our major and university or school we choose, and then it will depend on the country, the city and the place where we want to live (big house or small room?). Moreover most countries do not allow foreign student to work, so we need to have money before we arrive in the country or have someone from home supporting us.
For some countries or universities our study abroad credits might not count towards our degree, which of course means our study time will increase, costs will go up and we might be longer dependent on our parents. These are major disadvantages of studying abroad. Before we leave and join the next study abroad program, we have to consider if we can add one more year to our studies. Is it useless? High school students who take part in exchange programs abroad often say that they have already studied what they are taught abroad or that the class is too difficult because nothing is done to support their special needs. Moreover some say they are excluded, a kind of racism or sometimes they are a star at school. But in both case it can be really hard to live.
When we are going to study abroad we only think about the time we are going to spend away. But we forgot that one day we will have to come back to our beloved home country. It can be as hard to live in another country as to come back to our own. It is called reverse culture shock. But there might be even more disadvantages of studying abroad connected to love.
The next problem is moms can be really possessive. They might nag us if we will receive e-mails with hundreds of question and if we do not answer as fast as she wants, retaliation could be horrible. They may create their own Facebook accounts in the aim to know everything we don't want to share with them. Each time we will be on Skype, they will call us. As if our life was theirs. We will need to establish rules.
As far as I am concerned I think study abroad is a great opportunity and experience. I can't say if there are more advantages or disadvantages because I've never been studying abroad. I've lived for a while in United States and I liked it. I got an idea what is English for. I have friends all over the world and I can keep in touch with them, moreover, I can make friends wherever I go and I don't feel lost or helpless if there's nobody familiar to me.
However, it didn't help me to find a better job or start a great career, but it helped me to feel more confident about my future.
First, we can develop real competitive advantages over students who never venture abroad to study such as improved foreign language skills, a more international perspective, greater tolerance for other opinions, ability to think more originally and to see more than one perspective on an issue, greater self-reliance and self-confidence, more comfort with complex situations, the ability to better cope with ambiguous information and greater flexibility.
There are also profession advantages because an international experience benefits those seeking careers in almost any field. In fact, employers recognize skills that are acquired worldwide. Study abroad identifies us as informed, confident, self-sufficient and able to learn quickly and adapt to changing conditions. In job interviews, we can discuss how our foreign experience made us more independent, responsible, organized and innovative.
Other benefit we get of studying abroad is that friendships and contacts we develop abroad allow us to understand views other than our own. These friendships, both with locals and students from all programs, can serve as future networking opportunities. We can make a difference in everyday lives. Some study abroad courses offer social and community outreach programs. For example, we might have the opportunity to teach refugees or the underprivileged to read and write which is very useful for linguistic students to can use and train gained language knowledge.
Studying abroad has not only advantages and it isn't always a pleasure. We might have to face some problems while living abroad and see many of disadvantages of staying in a foreign country. For example, it doesn't mean we will learn other languages magically. Of course living abroad will help us to understand the language better, but if we don't talk, we won't improve. That is why we need to pay attention and study, but be reassured because we live in that country it should make study easier and faster.
Even if our society is more and more communicative and even if we are closer to our family and friends thanks to Skype, msn, Facebook and others, it still does not mean it is any easier to study abroad half way round the world. There aren't any relatives close to us in that place and it makes us feel alone and sad sometimes. At the beginning, culture shock won't help us to feel integrated: we might need an 'adjustment period'. We should create new habits, discover the place we are going to live, meet people for example. It may be hard sometimes. We might feel excluded in the country where we are and not have the social network yet that can give us support and strength.
First step in a new country and everything seems weird. Differences can be huge between Europe and Asia or small between France and Belgium. Standard of living can be different: more poor people in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe or we cannot expect the same way of life in India than in United States. We will have to face other behaviors, and some can make us feel uncomfortable if we are not used to them: in United State people are going to speak easily with you in the bus, whereas in Europe, for example - Paris, if we talk to a stranger we will probably get an angry look or might even scare people away. Some differences are obvious others are more subtle. We can name that cultural obstacle. Moreover the food is different, we will have lot of difficulties to find local French cheese in US, or local Italian wine etc. if the culture is different, the food will be too, certainly. Getting used to these cultural differences can be a real disadvantage for our study abroad experience.
Studying costs can be another big disadvantage. It can be really expensive. First, it will depend on our major and university or school we choose, and then it will depend on the country, the city and the place where we want to live (big house or small room?). Moreover most countries do not allow foreign student to work, so we need to have money before we arrive in the country or have someone from home supporting us.
For some countries or universities our study abroad credits might not count towards our degree, which of course means our study time will increase, costs will go up and we might be longer dependent on our parents. These are major disadvantages of studying abroad. Before we leave and join the next study abroad program, we have to consider if we can add one more year to our studies. Is it useless? High school students who take part in exchange programs abroad often say that they have already studied what they are taught abroad or that the class is too difficult because nothing is done to support their special needs. Moreover some say they are excluded, a kind of racism or sometimes they are a star at school. But in both case it can be really hard to live.
When we are going to study abroad we only think about the time we are going to spend away. But we forgot that one day we will have to come back to our beloved home country. It can be as hard to live in another country as to come back to our own. It is called reverse culture shock. But there might be even more disadvantages of studying abroad connected to love.
The next problem is moms can be really possessive. They might nag us if we will receive e-mails with hundreds of question and if we do not answer as fast as she wants, retaliation could be horrible. They may create their own Facebook accounts in the aim to know everything we don't want to share with them. Each time we will be on Skype, they will call us. As if our life was theirs. We will need to establish rules.
As far as I am concerned I think study abroad is a great opportunity and experience. I can't say if there are more advantages or disadvantages because I've never been studying abroad. I've lived for a while in United States and I liked it. I got an idea what is English for. I have friends all over the world and I can keep in touch with them, moreover, I can make friends wherever I go and I don't feel lost or helpless if there's nobody familiar to me.
However, it didn't help me to find a better job or start a great career, but it helped me to feel more confident about my future.
