Erasmus University Exchange Scheme

Neb

Neb

Neb

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5 Dec 2004
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254
Hi

I have the opportunity to take part in the erasmus scheme, spending a year in France studying for the final year of my degree. The problem is, my French is only to A level standard, and the marks in this year do count towards my degree.

So I'm looking for advice from anyone who has been an erasmus student, and has had to overcome the language barrier in order to study for their degree. Did you have to do projects and exams in a different language, and how did it go? Is it worth risking getting a worse classification of degree in order to learn another language?

Thanks very much.
 
I would have thought you would be taught in English.

Mate of mine went to Sweden for his, he has never been there or spoken the language in his life and was taught in English and had no problems while over there.
 
I went on an Erasmus exchange to Finland but the classes were all taught in English so there was no language problem - at least in that regard. However is France your only option here? Your university should be able to arrange for an Erasmus exchange with any other university in the scheme I believe - however if they aren't the usual partner institutions then it will probably require you to do more research and setting up than otherwise.

I can't really advise on the French university system but it pays to be aware that it may differ fairly significantly from your home university - in Finland for instance you can negotiate with the lecturers about what credit you have/should get, you can take exams at almost any time as you decide when you are ready, some classes are ludicrously easy and worth lots of marks while some are much harder and worth almost nothing.

With all that said it was a fantastic experience for me and I made some very good friends, I was however somewhat fortunate in that it didn't count towards my degree beyond having to make sure I gained enough credits during my time there.
 
Go. Definitely go. Best year ever.

The French are very strict, technical and mark quite harshly*. Your grade might not be as good as it could be in the UK but your project is a real chance to shine. Make sure you get on well with your supervisor and work hard on it. Get to know a few French students in each of your classes and I'm sure they'll be willing to help you study.

You will not regret the year even if you end up with a lower grade than you otherwise would. It will probably be one of the best years of your life - you'll end up fully bilingual and you'll have made some great friends. A few years on and I still have reunions and meet people pretty much any time I go on holiday in Europe. I've visited Erasmus friends in Greece, Austria, Portugal, Spain and had a load of friends come to London.

So, just to reiterate, go!


* I did mine in Spain, not France. This is what those who went to France told me!
 
You'll need to check with your department - I tried to do a year out in France as part of my Engineering degree, but was rejected by the international co-ordinator of my department because I "didn't take French as an elective course, and therefore wouldn't be able to complete the modules in French." She wouldn't accept that growing up, and going to school in France would make it slightly easier for me! :p
 
I studied at the Université de Savoie on Erasmus in my third year of uni, prior to that I had taken French A-Level and taken 1 module (2-3 hrs/wk) at a slightly higher level of difficulty in year 1 and 2 of uni.

In france most of what I studied was taught in french - taking classes in Economics, Business, french translation, french grammar, french culture. There were some classes specifically for Erasmus students, taught and assessed at that expected level.
Classes in business and economics I covered some material that I had previously studied in my 1st and 2nd years of uni, but obviously in french, this meant it was at least a bit easier to pick up. Similarly you find lectures taught with powerpoint slides easier to manage as you can get hold of the vocab without having to listen and scribble down notes frantically.

I'd thoroughly recommend the year for both its academic advantage, great thing to talk about in job/internships interviews, to put on your CV, and of course a fantastic experience and great chance to meet loads of people.
 
DO IT. Seriously, if there's any advice I can give anybody thinking about doing an Erasmus programme, it's just to do it.
It's brilliant fun both on the academic side and the social side.
It does look good on your CV as you've actually done something different and bothered to go abroad for a while.

However, whether your French is good enough for Engineering courses at a French university is another matter. In your case, the grades count. If you're not confident in your abilities then you might struggle. Having said that, if you're good at languages and can pick it up quickly then just living in France will mean that in a few months you should be speaking French very well.
If you're going for a full year then I'd have thought that you shouldn't have any problems come exam time.
 
semi-pro waster said:
I went on an Erasmus exchange to Finland
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Which uni did you go to? I went and played Kyykka at the TU-Tampere a few times, was great fun.

As for Erasmus - DO IT. I did mine in Darmstadt, Germany and it was absolutely awesome. Normally they give you a 1 month language course at the start of the year to get your language level up.
 
sammo62 said:
Which uni did you go to? I went and played Kyykka at the TU-Tampere a few times, was great fun.
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I went to the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi - right in the far North and about as close as you can get to being on the Arctic Circle and study. Absolutely brilliant fun, in some ways I wish it could have been for the full academic year rather than just 3 months or so but I think my liver is grateful it wasn't much longer.
 
I did it in Prague, pretty much everyone spoke English.

However, from what we heard from the students in my year that went to Paris, all their lectures/class's were entirely in French. Learn it or go somewhere else is my advice.
 
i went to toronto to do a year study exchange with uni. loved it far better than the uni over here.

i didnt have the language to deal with though. i wouldnt like to face the challenge of learning new concepts in a new langauge however. can you not find anywhere english speaking?
 
semi-pro waster said:
I went to the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi - right in the far North and about as close as you can get to being on the Arctic Circle and study. Absolutely brilliant fun, in some ways I wish it could have been for the full academic year rather than just 3 months or so but I think my liver is grateful it wasn't much longer.
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University of Tromsø is the world most northern University at 69 degrees N..

Did you go for the spring or winter semester? It's bloody depressing in winter!
Rovaniemi is a nice little town though and yes I suspect your liver might have failed had you stayed for longer..
 
mjt said:
University of Tromsø is the world most northern University at 69 degrees N..

Did you go for the spring or winter semester? It's bloody depressing in winter!
Rovaniemi is a nice little town though and yes I suspect your liver might have failed had you stayed for longer..
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If you're being a bit tricky you could argue that the UNIS in Svalbard tops Tromsø for Northerness although I've got to admit I'd never heard of it until I started looking but it's fair to say they're all very far North and plenty cold enough.

I went along for the winter semester so September to December - oddly the dark days didn't bother me much and since I like the cold that wasn't much of a problem except when you had to go back inside and immediately get par-boiled in what you are wearing. Rovaniemi is a nice little place but aside from the arctic safaris or frisbee golf (which has started since I was there) there's not too much to do apart from drink so it helps if you're ok with that.
 
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