Study Abroad

Travelling abroad is the best to enjoy the food, beautiful spots and shopping. In these activities, have you ever thought about what were the reasons to have such buildings, local food and traditional handiworks? Do you want to know more about their culture, history and society? Study abroad is the best way to help you.

Index

Difference between travelling abroad and studying abroad.
Why should we go study abroad?
Preparations for study abroad.
Challenges of study abroad.
What I learn from study abroad.

Index

Difference between travelling abroad and studying abroad.

Both of them mean going oversea. However, the period and the experienced are different. Usually studying abroad is longer which may last for a month to 4 years. Mostly happened in the university are the summer program and one-year exchange program. I have participated in the one-year exchange program during high school and studying oversea now. Also, almost every year I travel abroad with my parents because they love it. Therefore, I will use my experience to talk about it.

Why should we go study abroad?

Reasons to go study abroad are making friends, experience something different and learn the local language.

To experience something differences from the others, study abroad is a good choice to achieve it. It is because everyone owns their unique experiences in study abroad. Your schedule is not being planned before the study abroad. It is free to go anywhere. You do not need to focus on the famous spots. A little local café can still be your best experience.

Making friends from other countries is fun. You will have a lot of things to talk. It can widen your horizons that you can learn different cultures and having more opportunities to experience something you cannot in travelling abroad. Also, it is helpful to learn the local language too.

To learn the language, you must need to know their culture and society. Just like Japanese got different expressions when you are talking to your Boss, peer and younger generations. Therefore, nothing is better than learning from locals. You can expert in those you used in daily. You will have pressure to learn better because of the language barrier.

Preparations for study abroad.

The most important preparation is your mental. You are leaving the town, family and friends you familiar with. You are free now but thinking on the other side, you need to solve the problem by yourselves. You are new there. If you cannot express yourselves well, the following days will be tough.

The other minors are ready an online bank account, some important phrases of the local language, have a brief understanding on the local culture and people.

Challenges of study abroad.

Study abroad is so much fun, but you cannot dismiss the problem between you and the locals. In my case, the first difficulties I got is the culture shock. For example, I had stayed in a host family which their religion is Buddhism whether I am a Christian. There are many rules in our religion. For example, we cannot pray to other gods. Therefore, my host will think that ‘Why I came here but didn’t ever want to try to accept their culture.’, Causing them feeling unhappy. The religion problem was very difficult to have a balance between us.

Religion difference is not the only problem in culture shock. There’s also a lot of unwritten rules in the society. If I had not be blamed by someone, I did not know I had made a mistake.

The second difficulties are the languages. Before I went to study abroad, I did not go to the language school. I only learn the most basic phrases for daily life. In fact, I only can use English to communicate with them, but they are not good at English. So, ‘English perfect= no need to afraid of the language barrier’ is a wrong impression. However, thinking of it in an opposite way, it is also the best chance for me to study since I have difficulties on using English with them, I would not rely on English. The pressure causes me to improve my listening and speaking very well.

What I learn from study abroad.

To conclude with my experience, I learn to become more flexible and independent from study abroad. Not everything will go as smoothly as you thought. Sometimes I only can solve the problem on my own, I become tougher and more tenacious. Also, I learned the skills of making friends which are keep your smile and being curious on everything. Therefore, I met a lot of friends, not only the locals, and also many foreign students who came to study abroad.

I hope my experience can help those who still thinking of going abroad to study to strengthen your determination and I recommend those who are not sure their future to study abroad too because you will find your value during the study abroad.