Imagine spending a semester in Italy. You could park it by the pool, shop in open markets and meet friends from across...America? That would be a waste!
John Rogers is a study abroad advisor at the University of Iowa. He says students should resist the temptation to speak English while studying abroad.
“It’s really important to avoid excessive contact with Americans,” says Rogers. “If you spend a lot of time with Americans, it means you’re speaking English and not the target language. You’re cheating yourself out of a great experience.”
European universities are filled with American students cheating themselves out of the best study abroad experience. Alison Pepper, a senior at New York University, worried she would practice more English than Spanish during her semester in Madrid, so she chose to live with a host family rather than in student housing. “I did that mainly to avoid the ‘speaking English with American students’ trap,” Pepper says.
That trap can mean students who study abroad come back with little language skills and a scrapbook filled with English-speaking friends and adventures.
Students serious about speaking a second language need to distance themselves from other English speakers.
Fellow Americans aren’t the only ones who will want to gab in English. Natives looking to practice their language skills might try to switch conversations to English. Others might see a student struggle with the language and try to help in English. Rogers says students shouldn’t let the natives turn a learning experience into an English lesson.
“I would suggest making up a little script. The script can say, ‘Please help me learn your language now,’” he says. “It puts people on alert that the reason for you being in the country is to learn.”
Learning a language means getting past your shyness. DePaul University student Sarah Enloe says she felt shy about using her Italian with Romans. But the Romans weren’t shy about trying to practice their English. Chatty men at her bus stop were quick to start speaking with the foreign student.
“The Romans would begin conversations with me in Italian. When they found out I was American, they would speak to me in English,” she says. “I kept speaking to them in Italian while they spoke to me in English.”
Speaking the native language with locals can be intimidating, especially for beginners prone to mistakes. “It’s really important to relinquish all fear about screwing up or ‘sounding American’ and just roll with it,” says Pepper.
Practicing with the natives means more chances to pick up the local phrases. “The more you interact with the natives, the more practice you’ll get with the language and the better you will become,” says Rogers.
The more you practice, the more you might be corrected. Americans tend to avoid correcting a person who is trying to learn English and making mistakes. But many other cultures think nothing of a quick correction. Some students appreciate the help, but others might feel defensive.
Pepper says she was grateful—not offended—for the extra help. “I actually asked my [host] to correct me because I knew my verb tenses were a little off,” she says.
Making mistakes can be part of a broader lesson for students studying abroad. “Isn’t that why people go abroad—to challenge themselves, make some mistakes and learn about yourself in the process of it all?
That’s why I went,” says Pepper.
Reasons for studying abroad can range from the challenge to the credit. Enloe chose Italy because it allowed her to earn a year’s worth of credit in just one quarter. Outside of class, she practiced Italian with her host and picked up local slang at the movies. “I went to see American movies that had Italian subtitles,” she says. “I could see the Italian equivalent of American phrases.”
Like Enloe, Pepper befriended other Americans but says her group worked to keep English out of their conversations. “We would go out for dinner and say ‘OK, for the next 30 minutes, we are only going to speak in Spanish,’” she says.
Studying in a program with few English speakers can also help you focus on the language. Spanish students might find fewer Americans in countries like Chile or Costa Rica. German language students can opt for Austria or parts of Switzerland instead of Germany. And if you study a language like Japanese or Russian, you’ll find even fewer English traps in study abroad programs.
Students determined to learn a foreign language should meet early with the study abroad office at college, says Rogers.
Going abroad for as long as possible can also help your second language success. “The more time a person spends abroad, the more they learn,” says Rogers.
Success doesn’t translate to perfection. Rogers says there is a strong difference between fluency and proficiency. Fluency calls for flawlessness and is extremely difficult to master.
“A lot of people say they want to become fluent in one semester. That’s not realistic,” says Rogers. “What you can do is get a lot better and learn about the culture.”
Name: Oscar Gonzalez
Age: 21
Education: Senior at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas
Major: Sociology, Spanish and international studies
Before I left for Spain last summer, a professor said, “You’re going to come back, and you’re never going to be the same again. You’re going to want to go back.”
I know now that’s true. If some day I have enough money, I want to make the trip back.
I studied at the Estudio Sampere in Madrid for five weeks and earned six credit hours in Spanish culture and Spanish history.
Spain’s history dates so far back, it’s incredible. We saw San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Toledo, Seville, Cordoba, Barcelona, Segovia and an island in the Mediterranean. We visited museums, walked through towns, saw historical sights and shopped. I was especially impressed by the residence of King Felipe II in Escorial that had a huge courtyard and a church so close to his living quarters that he never had to go down to mass—he could listen from up in his room.
Studying abroad was a life-changing experience. I was in a place where they did not speak English. Students would be stupid not to take advantage of studying abroad. It’s an inexpensive trip considering you get credit hours, you live there, you breathe there, you go out.
And you’re not going to sleep much.
Name: Nicole Riley
Age: 21
Education: Senior at the University of Pennsylvania
I am graduating in just a few months from the University of Pennsylvania, and everywhere I go, I get asked the same question: “What impacted you the most these last four years?” The experience that had the biggest impact on my life was my semester in Lyon, France.
My classes were at the Université Lumière Lyon II and were taught by French teachers who were not about to slow down their lesson plans to accommodate an American. My classes were immersive, but nothing compared to my living arrangements.
I didn’t live in a dorm or apartment with other students studying abroad; I stayed in a French home with a French family. A family that could correct my pronunciation mistakes. A family that in one month could teach me more than a lifetime of classes would.
I was, for all intents and purposes, a French citizen. I soon found my favorite restaurants and stores. I had local hangouts. I had friends and neighbors. I was completely immersed in French culture.
You’d be surprised at how many people are startled when I say Lyon had the biggest impact on my education. Four months in France having more impact than four years at an Ivy League school seems phenomenal to them. But it was one of the most amazing adventures of my life!
THE COUNTRIES THAT HOST THE MOST AMERICAN STUDENTS:
- United Kingdom
- Italy
- Spain
- France
- Australia
- Mexico
- Germany
- China
- Ireland
- Costa Rica
- Japan
- Austria
- New Zealand
- Czech Republic
- Greece
- Chile
- South Africa
- Argentina
- Brazil
- India
Which Majors Study Abroad?
In 2002/03, the leading majors of Americans studying abroad were:
Social science (21%)
Business and management (18%)
Humanities (13%)
Fine or applied arts (9%)
Foreign languages (8%)
Physical sciences (7%)
Education (4%)
Health sciences (4%)
Engineering (3%)
Math or computer science (2%)
Article reprinted with permission from Next Step Magazine.
