Year Abroads for language degrees

It's easy to fall into the safety net of living with someone English. My advice, don't do it. Even if it's cheaper, you won't get as much from your YA.

Reply 2

OP

aargh, don't say that! she might get a french housemate to live with us too.. although that's just a maybe...

Reply 3

jozza

I wouldn't do it personally. I was a language assistant in germany until last week, and although i live with german people, and speak german most of the time, i still feel my german hasn't improved enough because most of my friends are english.
For the first month i was here, I lived with someone who refused to speak german to me. I may as well have been in England, it didn't help me at all.

Reply 4

OP

oh dear, it's not looking good. any more opinions off anyone?

Reply 5

midnight

I'm going to be living with an english person on my year abroad. We're going to different unis when we're in france so we'll be speaking/listening to french all day, she's pretty keen on speaking french as much as possible in the evenings and she's the kind of person who will actually do that. If you really want to improve your french then you'll have to put in more effort if you're living with an english person. I guess it also depends what your alternative is. Would you be living on your own if you didn't live with this friend? If so then i guess you may as well live with her because you'll at least have someone to talk to rather than risking the possiblity of being lonely when you're there.

Reply 6

OP

thanks midnight. i don't know what the alternatives are if i dont live with her until i get there - i would book into a hostel and start searching, on french websites that advertise spare rooms etc, or sometimes the school help you out, so i could end up living with a teacher. or i could get a room or a flat in a block of flats or something. i was thinking though, if i get a flat or a room in a block then whats to say there wont be another english person living next door or something? you never know.

Reply 7

princessa

i dont know, living it right now (as in as we speak!) looking for somewhere to live abroad can truly be a nightmare so you may want to snap up anything that comes along! living with another english person, you would both have to be disciplined and make the effort to speakfrench and meet french people, but you definitely can and will improve your french anyway. if you have the chance to live with french people do, but it is difficult to find a place, especially if you are going to a smaller town, or are going short term. and you definitely dont want to live alone. i lived with french people but i was lucky, i found a nice flat with nice french people by a complete fluke. i know loads of people who are living with people of the same nationality and their language is still improving. i knew two german girls who although lived together and made a point of always speaking to eachother and other people in french. in an ideal world it would be all about living with natives and having hundreds of native friends but in reality its very difficult, especially when you first get there and are just starting out and finding your feet. so if you can have a good base of a flat with someone you know, who can possibly help you out with teething problems while you are there etc, would help avoid a lot of stress. but you would have to really make the effort to speak french and go out and meet french speakers.

Reply 8

eleri

5

Living by yourself can be incredibly difficult. It obviously depends a lot on your personality, but when I did my year abroad last year, I really struggled with the loneliness. Bear in mind that as a language assistant you'll only be working for twelve hours a week - even with preparation for classes taken into consideration, that still leaves a LOT of spare time. If you're the kind of person who likes to have company, like me, all that spare time becomes very difficult to fill. And because I was feeling low as a result of that, I became quite self-indulgent and ended up watching a lot of DVDs in English, and reading English books, when I could've been doing that in French if I was feeling happier.

I would've chosen living with an English speaker over living alone any day, because being happy is more important than a degree to me.

Reply 9

OP

thanks, i really value everyone's opinons. I have decided to go for it unless my personal tutor really strongly advises me against it. I dont want to be lonely, or unhappy, and if i am and i have turned down this opportunity, i will truly be hating myself. I would never live alone, but its just a question of the numerous other options there would be if i didnt live with my friend, all of which might not work out.

Reply 10

OP

Just thought I;d let people who were interested know that I decided not to do it in the end. I decided I didnt want to be in a rural village with a shared car as my only form of transport, along wiht the factthat because its so isolated I would have no choice but to spend hte majority of my free time with my English housemate. i think it was a wise move in the end.

Reply 11

Jenna999

Just thought I;d let people who were interested know that I decided not to do it in the end. I decided I didnt want to be in a rural village with a shared car as my only form of transport, along wiht the factthat because its so isolated I would have no choice but to spend hte majority of my free time with my English housemate. i think it was a wise move in the end.

Cool, glad you came to a decision, I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay in France. :smile:

I found out yesterday I'm going on an ERASMUS exchange to Limoges Uni next year! YAY!

Reply 12

Becca

Cool, glad you came to a decision, I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay in France. :smile:

I found out yesterday I'm going on an ERASMUS exchange to Limoges Uni next year! YAY!

score!! le limousin is total prettiness, saw it on one of those get-me-a-house-away-from-england programmes on the TV :biggrin:

Reply 13

mr jim

score!! le limousin is total prettiness, saw it on one of those get-me-a-house-away-from-england programmes on the TV :biggrin:

I KNOW! So pleased! It just makes everything so much more.......certain! Now I can actually tell people what I'm doing when they ask me! :biggrin:

Also, I got chosed for ERASMUS ahead of a load of other people! I'm so lucky! :smile:

Reply 14

Becca

I KNOW! So pleased! It just makes everything so much more.......certain! Now I can actually tell people what I'm doing when they ask me! :biggrin:

Also, I got chosed for ERASMUS ahead of a load of other people! I'm so lucky! :smile:

whoop! you're so gonna have hypercool fun :cool:

*jealous*

Reply 15

mr jim

whoop! you're so gonna have hypercool fun :cool:

*jealous*

I hope so

and you'll be going on one in just over 2 years' time too!

Reply 16

Becca

I hope so

and you'll be going on one in just over 2 years' time too!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

*uberqueen within bursts free and runs round the room shrieking and clapping hands*

yeah...it'll be cool... :cool:

Reply 17

I'm scared

:afraid:

I also really like that smilie! :redface:

Reply 18

Becca

I'm scared

:afraid:

I also really like that smilie! :redface:

oh haweh you'll be fiiiiine. stiff upper lip and all that.
have you gotta find accomodation now?

(P.S. have you seen l'auberge espagnole?? classic erasmus year film...might be the only erasmus year film as well...bof)

Reply 19