Year Abroad stress!

Former Member

Hi, I'm studying French and Italian and next September it's my year abroad. I'm thinking of spending the academic year in Italy in Uni and then the summer in France, but I have no idea how or where to find work placements in France and my Department is really unhelpful.

I was wondering if anyone has been to France in any similar situations and if you have any tips on how/where to find a summer job, the best places to go, if language schools are a good option, what your experiences are?

I'm stressing out about what I'll be doing cuz I should be deciding by January/February and I still haven't even chosen the places am gonna go to, so this is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

Former Member

Only advice I can give is my friend took a gap year after doing A levels to go to France and find work. He worked in a cafe opposite the mulin rouge, picked up the language and colloquialisms and he now does a degree in French. He lived in a small rented apartment with some strangers he met on a website. Says it was the best experience of his life!

Former Member

i lived in france for a year! but i was a student.

you need to decide what part of france you'd like to move to. then you could go on websites and look for internships or 'stages'. you could also sign up with a french recruitment agency who would also find you work.
you should also make sure that you have made a french CV and covering letter 'lettre de motivation'. the french have a certain way of doing these so have a google for websites to help you with them.

Former Member

everwonderwhy wrote:

well getting a job in france could prove difficult for a lot of people due to language barriers.

The original poster is doing a degree in it though so it shouldn't be a problem.

Kimono

My experience might be of interest: I studied Hispanic Studies and spent my entire year abroad in Andalusia, Spain. At first I volunteered as a language assistant in a school in a coastal town but I wasn't particularly happy doing that (because the school was rubbish - nice kids, clueless teachers) so I moved to Granada where I basically hung out, went to a few lectures at the university there and concentrated on my dissertation. Making friends is definitely the best way to improve your language skills!

I preferred to write a dissertation (simply because I couldn't face the prospect of doing exams at a Spanish uni, but to be honest a lot of my mates couldnt face the prospect of writing a 7000-word project...) and the subject of it meant I had to live in Andalusia so I could be near the libraries and research sources I needed. I attended lectures at the uni just to improve my Spanish but I didn't enrol for exams. Some of my 2-language friends (like you) studied at a uni and if the exam results were bad they decided to write a dissertation when they were in their second country. Maybe your uni is just as flexible? Also, find out if there are any French unis that run special summer courses you might be able to enrol on.

Anyway, before I ramble on anymore, speak go to The British Council to find out about paid language assistant jobs abroad. Good luck!

Former Member

Kimono, did you live in halls in Granada or find your own accomodation? I'm heading out there for my year in September, canni wait! How did you find being a student? Everyone on my course except me is being a language assistant, making me a bit wary of the whole student life thing! Did you make many Spanish friends, or stick with other ERASMUS students? Any tips?!

Kimono

I found my own flat - while this sounds incredibly scary, Granada is a really friendly student city with every lampost, phone box and uni notice board plastered with homemade adverts for flats and flatmates. That's how every foreign student I knew found their flat. The first phone call you make might be a bit nerve wracking but believe me, after a while you get used to ringing around and viewing flats.

I did indeed make some Spanish friends - I was lucky to meet most through English friends who had already met them before I moved there as well as friends of my flatmates. However the most chatty and friendly people tended to be the shop assistants who saw me every other day in the Spar, plus a few club DJs I got familiar with... I also made friends with a Venezuelan girl while we were slightly inebriated in a bar, both moaning about how we needed to make more Spanish friends. We swapped phone numbers and stayed in touch! I also found that there were plenty of young Spanish people who wanted to practice their English as much as I wanted to speak Spanish, so I found myself having lots of weird bilingual conversations.

Life in general in Granada is pretty easy-going, but uni life there isn't as sociable as it is in the UK and I found myself making friends easily through the non-student circles. I'm afraid I don't know anyone who lived in halls so I don't know what they're like. Buena suerte!