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Best Country to Study in?

  Tags: Living abroad
 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center Post Reply
Oheao
Diglot
Newbie
Canada
Joined 4169 days ago

31 posts - 33 votes
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: German, Mandarin, Greek

 
 Message 1 of 4
02 March 2014 at 5:53am | IP Logged 
I am wondering which one of these countries has the best university programs for
foreigners to learn their language and take classes. I guess I would like an order,
however I realize that that could be difficult. These are what I'm debating between:

France
Germany
Spain
Greece
Russia
China
Japan
South Korea

I am currently learning French, German, Spanish, Greek and Mandarin Chinese. I added
Russia, Japan and South Korea because I'm very interested in them, especially Japan,
which I will definitely try to learn. I probably won't have enough time for Russian and
Korean, but I guess that I'll find out.

French is by far my best out of these foreign languages, with German coming after.
Chinese, Spanish and Greek are pretty basic.
1 person has voted this message useful



Michel1020
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Belgium
Joined 5018 days ago

365 posts - 559 votes 
Speaks: French*, English, Spanish, Dutch

 
 Message 2 of 4
02 March 2014 at 11:59am | IP Logged 
Do they have such a program ? Are you not supposed to know the language ?

Following courses in the target language is a great way to learn (there are more and more courses available online and often for free). Beside this I doubt university to be the best place to learn foreign languages. In my opinion they are even worst than other classes. For one thing most of the time university classes do have a lot more students. Second point those university people always want to go so deep. They probably will teach you etymology of each and every word or ask you to write a study about covariance between syllabic shapes and their evolution in time both in the past and the future. You don't understand what I am talking about ? Don't worry I don't understand myself either. The point is they will teach you interesting things but you don't need those things to learn to understand and to be understood.

You should go to the language you are interested in and by the way if you were not able to figure this out yourself - I am sorry but you probably are not ready for university.

What are the chance you get a serious answer to such a question ? First you need a person who knows all those languages - quite possible here. This person also has to know the language program for foreigners in all your countries. If by any chance you reach the one who fit. How does one decide which program is better ?
3 persons have voted this message useful



luke
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 7206 days ago

3133 posts - 4351 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Esperanto, French

 
 Message 3 of 4
02 March 2014 at 12:05pm | IP Logged 
Michel1020 wrote:
Following courses in the target language is a great way to learn (there are more and more courses available online and often for free).


The best country to learn foreign languages is whatever one you are in right now.
5 persons have voted this message useful



yantai_scot
Senior Member
United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4803 days ago

157 posts - 214 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German

 
 Message 4 of 4
03 March 2014 at 1:53am | IP Logged 
Oheao, if you're just thinking about universities I'm guessing you're maybe 16? If so,
it's okay not to know what you want to study. Especially if your interests are wide and
varied. And I'm guessing you don't necessarily know too much about the options for
studying languages in Canada. If you want to study in French, then you have plenty of
Francophone options on your doorstep.

You can do a degree in a brand new language. In the UK this is called 'ab initio'. You
don't need to have experience of that language but unis will look for a high grade in a
school language(s) plus interest in the culture of that new language.

You can often take a degree in 2 languages e.g. French and Spanish etc. It's normal to
spend time overseas to improve your fluency. Your university will arrange this for you
when the time comes.

I'm sure many people here will caution you against 'just' studying languages. You're
generally better to have acquire a skill set e.g. business, science, art and have your
language in addition to that. Or you could look into areas allied to language e.g.
linguistics or Speech and Language Therapy/Pathology.

Hop on over to College Confidential   
They have excellent forums on studying
abroad as well as about college life in general. Make sure you've fully investigated
your home options before heading off abroad. After all, whose's paying for the airfare,
tuition, living costs, books, medical insurance when you're over there? There's
generally no scholarships for foreign students who come from a 1st world country and
loans from your home government to go abroad will be unlikely.

Perhaps, just perhaps, you need to first focus on getting into university. Make sure
that you're putting 100% into all your school classes and getting the highest marks you
can. Also, if you want to demonstrate your ability in languages to colleges, a high
ability in 2 languages is always going to impress more than basic in 8. It shows focus
and self-discipline. 8 sounds like you've fallen in love with the idea of being a
polyglot rather than the love of the culture of those 8 languages.

Unless you're some language genius, I'd focus on your school subjects plus one language
for 'fun' until you're at college.

Good luck and enjoy all the research.

Edited by yantai_scot on 03 March 2014 at 1:54am



3 persons have voted this message useful



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