Aprovecharse

Last week, a Southampton University facebook group was created called “year abroad tips: how to make the most out of your year abroad” which has been designed for people to share resources and ideas of how to make the most of our time left in our foreign lands. Some people obviously feel like they’re not taking advantage of their year abroad as much as they should be and, while I would never claim that I’m having a much better experience than everyone else, my year hasn’t been too bad so far, so here are my own tips on how to make the most out of your year abroad.

1. Live with British people or have a close group of British friends. This may be quite a controversial one as it goes against everything you’re told at university, but, personally, I love living with someone else that speaks my language and shares my culture. After a long, tiring day listening and speaking Spanish I enjoy coming back to talk about my day in English and know that I will be properly understood, and have someone who can relate to my experiences. I think the majority of the time this has stopped be from getting homesick. Being a language assistant you don’t have the whole Erasmus network through which you can meet lots of other people your age, therefore I’ve found living with someone English who’s my age and doing exactly what I’m doing has introduced me to lots of other people and activities. Don’t worry though I do also live with a Bolivian who speaks no English at all so I get plenty of Spanish practice at home as well. Best of both worlds.

2. Say yes to everything (within reason). This is such a cliché but it genuinely introduces you to so many more opportunities. Saying yes this week has led me to buy Justin Bieber and Rihanna concerts for when they play in Bilbao, agree to rent a car with some friends to drive to France next weekend, and plan a trip to Cadíz for their annual carnival. These are the things I’ll remember about my year abroad, rather than the times I stayed in and did nothing.

3.  Following on from my previous point, accept that this year will probably be a very expensive year, and embrace it. After two years of properly living like a poor student I have decided this year to live by the motto money is no object. As a language assistant I’m not exactly struggling as I'm given a salary, Erasmus grant, and student loan. So why not blow it all and have the most unforgettable year this year? 

4. Get out there. I realise that this is easier said than done but even if you do something as simple as go to a bar once you will be more exposed to the language, and people who could become potential friends. Most Thursday’s my friends and I go to an open mic night at the same bar. We’ve started becoming acquainted with the locals there, and we even go out with them afterwards now. If you stay in your room there is no possible way that you will be improving your spoken language.

5. Stop worrying about if you’re doing enough to improve your language on your year abroad. If I actually took the time to dissect my language learning maybe I’d start thinking that my Spanish isn’t good enough, and panic. But I don’t. There are days when I speak a lot more Spanish than others, but this doesn’t worry me. When you see people who don’t study languages you’ll always get the dreaded question of ‘are you fluent yet?’ And while you may not be quite fluent just yet, 9 times out of 10 you’re doing a lot better than you think you are.

These are just a few tips from my own personal experience. I’m not going to sit here and say don’t watch English television, and try not to speak to people from home very often because I am 100% guilty of doing both of these things. As long as you attempt to integrate into the other culture as much as you fall back on your own you’ll be fine.