Second year vs. Third year abroad

Hey there,

I've got four offers for Linguistics and Japanese, at SOAS, Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle. I'm not considering SOAS. One of the influencing factors is the year abroad: at Leeds, I go to Japan in the 2nd year, as opposed to the 3rd year for the other three unis.

At first I thought this a terrible option, but at Leeds they reasoned that doing a 2nd year abroad develops your language skills far more quickly. A Sheffield student pointed out that the 3rd year abroad gives you an extra year to prepare for living in a radically different culture.

I'd like to hear your opinions. Which do you think is better and why? Has anyone gone on a 2nd year abroad, or a 3rd year abroad?

Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

Bambirina

Original post by Ruminidas

I'm a 1st year student doing Business&management and Japanese at the University of Manchester and I had offer from Leeds and SOAS as well.

From what I know, Manchester and Leeds are both great for Japanese.
I personally went on a gap year and I have been moving from country to country for about 3 years so Manchester was kind of an obvious choice to me. I really wanted to stay in the same place for 2 years, get used to it, build a life, be stable, etc.. Then go on my year abroad.
I understand that Leeds thinks that going abroad in 2nd year develops your skills more quickly but it's not necessarily true. It depends on people I think.
I'm personally glad I'll have a pretty strong Japanese background before I go to Japan for a whole year. I went on my gap year to China after getting the French equivalent of an A* at A-level Chinese and I am really glad I had strong basis when I arrived. I was already pretty confident when I arrived and I feel like the language "clicked" early for me.

Otherwise, I also chose Manchester because I preferred the course and the city.

Good luck with your choices :smile:

and congrats on the offers!

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Reply 2

Katie_p

Hi!

I'm currently on my third year abroad in Germany, and I'm really glad it's in my 3rd year, not my 2nd. My grades this year count, so I've had an extra year or academic study which can only be helpful, even in a different culture. My language probably isn't much different to how it would have been last year, but I'm mentally much better prepared.
I probably wouldn't have gone to Uni at all if my second, rather than third, year had been abroad. As it is, I almost didn't start my first year anyway. I think having 2 years of your "normal" Uni before going away just gives you a lot more time to mentally prepare yourself for the change :smile:

Having said that, if you're a confident person and don't have any worries about going to Uni in the first place, you may find 2nd year is fine.

Reply 3

Glenn,

I am a 1st year (starting september) Japanese student at Sheffield and my friend is now in his 2nd year for korean there which is the year abroad for korean at Sheffield (and most unis weirdly).

I personally feel like i want the most Japanese i can absorb before i go to Japan cus it would be far more fulfilling and rewarding with the extra communication skills both to travel and have fun as well as an amazing point to jump from when u hear all these new words and hear the language constantly every day and get pretty much constant real practice.

My friend seems to have trouble passing a few modules out in korea at the moment and he doesnt feel like he can have a proper conversation really. Im aware it depends on the person and language ability BUT i dont feel a years worth of class at a uni is enough to just fling urself into that culture and expect to be able to chat away comfortably. So i think on a 3rd year abroad if u were to compare to the 2nd year abroad guys, they would seem more confident and independant and less worried or confused i feel by reading or talking in that language. I am sorry i realise i have said this in such a long winded way but i had done half a year of Japanese before dropping out due to illness, and ive been to japan twice so im kinda halway to a 2nd year abroad when i went. I would say 3rd year is better definitely, and u dont have to be too depressed when you come home cus its only one more year here and u can go back and get a job with ur degree then

Reply 4

sophia5892

Original post by Ruminidas

I study French, German and Japanese at Newcastle so I did my full third year at uni in Japan. No way would I have want to go to Japan in 2nd year - I was terrified/insecure enough speaking Japanese after 2 years of studying. And Japan is a challenging place to adjust to - especially when you're not very fluent.
I think if I'd have gone after just one year I'd probably have ended up dropping out early and doing the rest of my year in Europe :tongue:

Sorry if that seems a bit extreme! But the better your language skills the easier the Year Abroad will be.

If you have any q's about Japanese at Newcastle please get in touch - on here, or PM or on my dedicated advice thread :tongue:

And good luck making your mind up :smile:

Reply 5

Mynotoar

Thanks for all your feedback guys. What you're all saying echoes what I think I was thinking anyway: a year isn't long enough to prepare to go to Japan. I do want those two years not just to prepare for living in a foreign country, but to adjust to uni life in England. I don't think I can really go to Leeds and feel comfortable in my first year knowing I've only got that long to prepare for a life-changing experience. I'm not that self-assured.

Reply 6

Mynotoar

Original post by Anatheme

People tend to see immersion as the magical solution to learning a language quickly. The truth is that it's not. While it's a very important step, it should be well-prepared and not everyone will get the same experience out of it.

It's been mentioned previously, but going abroad in your third year means you're better prepared. You've obviously had more classes and you've had more time to get to know your classmates, but it also has greater linguistic implications. By spending two years in the UK studying the language formally, you will have a rather theoretical understanding of how it works, and the great thing about this is that you will get used to patterns in the language that are gonna be incredibly useful to know when you go to the country and practice your language.

Because you know how it works and what to expect, you spend far less time wondering what a construction or a word can mean, and it's much easier to work out the meaning without doing extra work on the side. In turn, you internalise the process much better and retain the new construction or word more easily. This is something that is more complicated for people who go abroad in their second year. That said, I'm not saying they don't learn anything, just that they tend to learn it a bit more slowly because they have less background than third year students.

When I went abroad in my third year, we were in class with a bunch of students from other universities (Edinburgh, SOAS, Exeter), and the students from Exeter were in their second year. They were a lovely bunch, but it was evident that there was far less cohesion in their year group than there was in other unis' simply because we'd had an extra year to get to know each other. There was also a much higher concentration of them in the lower-level classes because they knew less than other students. They made great progress, obviously, but they clearly had more problems with the language than third year students did.

I know some people are eager to get out there and learn as much as possible in a country that speaks their target language, but sometimes staying home can be equally beneficial, depending on your learning style.

Thank you. I don't want to gloss over this with a superficial reply, though I'm not quite sure what to say beyond that this is very useful advice. I think there's not really much of a question now whether to go for a third year study or second year.

Reply 7

super_kawaii

I'm a 2nd year Chinese with Japanese student at Sheffield so I'm currently on my year abroad in Nanjing, China. In my opinion, going a year later won't help you with terms of culture shock-you'll get this no matter how long you've been studying the language. You'll never really learn or understand the culture until you live there.

One of my close friends is a 3rd year Japanese students at Sheffield so is currently on his year abroad in Japan. He's had exactly the same worries as you-at first he really struggled with talking to natives, as actually having to survive in a foreign country is actually a lot more intimidating than you'd think.

Whichever year you go on your year abroad, you will struggle at first, but the best thing you can do is really study hard while you're in the UK and also while you're abroad. Also, when you're abroad, use the language as much as possible-that's what you're out there for, and your language will not get better if you don't use it with native speakers. Make friends with native speakers and ask them to correct you. Going to the far east, you'll have lots of requests from native students wanting to improve their English and who will be willing to help you with your Japanese.

Reply 8

Zelda91

I studied Chinese at Edinburgh university and went on my year abroad in my 3rd year. Personally, I'm glad we went in our 3rd year because by the end of our first year we had learnt almost nothing in my opinion! Going in our 3rd year also allowed most of us to become comfortable with day-to-day communication in about 3 months, and focus on fluency and getting our levels really high for the rest of the year, rather than worrying about having shaky basics. However, some people who went in their second year from different universities (and sometimes from different countries) were much further along than us, esp in speaking which is obviously crucial when moving abroad.

The main point here is: Chinese is not Japanese, Edinburgh uni is not Leeds uni.

I would say read lots and lots of reviews/blogs about people's years abroad specifically relating to your university and course choices as this is really the only true way to tell. Maybe try and get in contact with people who have just come back - see whether or not they would recommend their route, not everybody does! Another factor is whether or not you've learnt the language before - having a grounding before university could have an impact on which course is best for you.

Hope I've helped :smile: