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Year abroad @ Department of European Languages
Aberystwyth University
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Dedicated members of staff give our students all the help they need to make the year abroad an enjoyable and successful experience. Every year most of our students returning from the year abroad tell us that this has been their best year at university. All our students spend their third year of university study in a country or countries where the student’s studied languages are spoken and, in theory, they can apply to go to any part of the world where the language of study is spoken. In the case of French, for example, a student is not restricted to France, but can go to Belgium, Switzerland, Canada or the French Pacific. Students of Spanish can spend a year in Spain or virtually anywhere in Latin America. |
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| Indeed, in past years, we have sent several students to Patagonia, a region which has a close connection with Wales. |
The following is an excerpt from the "official description" of our tutorial and pastoral care system:
In the particular case of the year abroad, the Department has procedures which are aimed at improving its pastoral care provision. A questionnaire is given to all students before they leave Aberystwyth, one of the purposes of which is to elicit information about students' progress, health and happiness during their time abroad. It is our belief that many problems experienced by students whilst abroad could be solved, or at least, alleviated, if we were aware of them and could take appropriate action. The problems are often not in themselves major, but may seem so from the perspective of a student without support in a foreign country. Support and assistance from the Department might take the form of (for example) alerting schools to difficulties encountered by students working as language assistants, interceding with foreign universities, or simply offering advice on administrative and financial problems. At the same time, we recognize that an important component of the year abroad is precisely the excitement that comes from independence and freedom from supervision and immersion in a foreign culture; that our ability to take action at a distance is in any case limited; and that our energies are most effectively devoted to the preparation (linguistic and practical) of students for the year abroad. The questionnaire also invites comments on how we might improve this preparation process, it will enable us to monitor to some extent how effective different ways of spending the year are from the point of view of what students learn. Students are of course encouraged, before they go abroad, to contact the Department if they do run into problems. It goes without saying that in real emergencies the Head of Department will not hesitate to take such action as is needed.
Mr Kader Izri (Departmental year abroad & French tutor)
Mr A Mangold (German);
Mr A Vincentelli (Italian);
Mr M Richards (Spanish).
European Languages Undergraduate Information
Postal address: Department of European Languages, Hugh Owen Building. Penglais, Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3DY. Wales, UK. Telephone number: +44 (0) 1970 622552 / 622555. E-mail: eurolangs@aber.ac.uk Fax: +44 (0) 1970 622553
Experiences of the Year Abroad: What past students say |
