The process of planning my year abroad

Hey! I’m Catherine and I have just finished my second year at York studying Spanish and Italian, and will be going on a year abroad in my third year.

While making my choice of which course I wanted to do at University was the first time I considered whether or not I’d like to do a year abroad. One of my older friends from home was currently away on her year abroad in Germany and seeing her Instagram posts really helped to make my mind up. The picturesque scenes and seeing the fun that she was having was very appealing to me and after having spoken to my parents, I realised that it would be a good choice for me. Living abroad independently as well as immersing myself in a culture where the languages I’m studying are spoken seemed like a no-brainer given the skills I’d be developing while enjoying myself so much!

During my second year of my Spanish and Italian course, we had to start considering our options for our year abroad. Which country did we want to go to (for languages spoken in multiple countries)? Do we want to work or study? What factors are important for us?, e.g. distance from home and money.

Throughout my two years in York, I enjoyed having the ability to visit my family at home. For me, it’s a 1.5 hour drive to get back home which made it seem more appealing for me to go to Spain rather than Latin America, which would make it easier for me to visit home, or for friends and family to visit me while I’m away.

In addition to this, I knew I’d like to experience working and studying abroad. I ultimately chose to work in Spain given it is my stronger language and thought it would be easier to communicate in a work environment in a language I’m much more comfortable speaking. At this point in time (at the end of second year), I realise that isn’t such a big deal as my level of Italian has come on so much throughout second year but I’m still very happy with my choices.

Throughout the process of making these decisions, I found it really helpful to talk to the people around me including my supervisor, tutors, course mates and of course my family. I got a lot of great advice from everyone I spoke to and it really helped me in making choices in what I wanted to do. Through all of this, I decided to work in a Bilingual School in Spain and go to university in Italy. 

It’s now less than a month until I go to Spain and I’m feeling very excited and also quite nervous. Having just gotten back from a family holiday, I now need to start packing and deciding what to take. Before I do this, I plan to look up what the weather will be like as I’ve heard from other students that Spain does get quite cold towards Christmas, which came as quite a surprise to me!

Plaza de la Leña, Pontevedra

The university I’m attending in Italy

I hope this blog post helps demonstrate my thought process through the choices I made when deciding on my year abroad plans and I’m sure you will be able to see what I’m up to when I’m abroad with future blog posts!

Voulez-vous swiper avec moi ?

This article was written by Rebecca Wilson, published on 24th October 2022.

The do’s and don’ts of swiping right à l’étranger

It goes without saying (but Taylor Swift says it very well) that things can get lost in translation. As I began my swiping journey after moving to Reims I picked up some fun things that happen when you try to use apps to make new friends or find the love of your life in a foreign city. Here are some fun things I found as a hot girl abroad. 

Read more: Voulez-vous swiper avec moi ?

Finding your own Work Placement in Germany

This article was written by Keely Blanchard , published on 7th June 2021. 

Hi! I’m Keely, and I did my year abroad in the 2019/20 academic year. I spent half of it studying at university in Madrid and the other half in Dresden on a work placement, above is a picture I took on a trip to “Saxony Switzerland” a national park on the outskirts of Dresden. The work placement was an internship at a museum and I found it myself (i.e. nobody from York had been before and it wasn’t one advertised via the department). I thought I’d write this blog post to give some advice about what to consider when looking for a placement and how to go about finding something!

Top 10 Classroom Activities as an English Language Assistant

This article was written by Leah Thomas-Winkworth, published on 8th April 2021. 

When I began my time as an English Language Assistant in Spain, I had a few games and activities in mind that I could do with the classes that I had done in primary and secondary school. However, as time went on I wanted to try some new games and activities, but I couldn’t always think of something inventive or exciting to do – some days you just lack a bit of imagination! On my weekends, I would search and scour google for some ideas, some of which became ver popular with my students. So I have come up with a list of of my top 10 most successful games and activities that I tried with my Primary school classes, in case you need a few ideas too.

Working as an English Assistant at an Engineering School in Amiens

This article was written by Ailsa Nice, published on 15th December 2020.

When I applied for and then accepted the position of English assistant at ESIEE-Amiens, a small engineering university in Amiens, I didn’t quite know what to expect. Amiens, the capital of the Somme department in the North, is certainly not the most well known city in France, and working at a university which only teaches engineering would be an entirely new experience. Thankfully, despite challenges due to Covid-19, my experience has been positive.

Decision Time…

This article was written by Jess Jones, published on 15th December 2020. 

It is December and I am faced with the first of many decisions regarding my year abroad next year: how to spend my year. My options are one of three, British Council teaching assistant, Internship, or University placement and each come with a long list of pros and cons. After many hours of deliberation, I think I have decided to do a uni placement for the year and I thought it could prove helpful to share my thoughts on each option.