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So, study abroad. Worth it?


plansrme
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My daughter who has not actually graduated high school yet but is full-time DE student where she will attend as a real student in the fall, came home last night all excited about studying abroad in China this summer.  This is a nine-week session, three weeks each at three different universities.  Classes are taught by the university's faculty and are substantially (and for credit purposes) duplicates of classes she would take on campus.  Students can attend, basically for free, four or five hours of language classes a week.  Tuition for the classwork is free; room and board and, of course, the flight over and back, are not.

 

My daughter studied Chinese for years but has not in the last couple of years.  She has heard through the grapevine that Ph.D. programs in math, which is where she is 100% convinced that she is headed, look favorably upon an American student's being fluent in Chinese, Russian or German (there may have been another language in there that I don't remember), so she finally has an incentive to improve her Chinese.  Plus, and this is a huge bonus to her way of thinking, it would get her out of our house for the entire summer.  Our cost would be around $6,000.

 

Assuming that we can afford it but, like anyone, would prefer not to waste $6,000, is it worth it?  What have your students, neighbors or acquaintances thought about similar experiences?

 

 

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My son's experience studying abroad was VERY mixed, but he went for an entire year. It totally derailed him academically (he realized that he wanted to switch majors before he went but Oxford doesn't let you change your tutorials once you sign up, so he had to stick with his original plan).

 

Since your dd's program would only be for 9 weeks and would be during the summer, I can think of NO academic negatives and lots of positives, both academic and in terms of employment. My kids have had both grad programs and employers act VERY happy that they had spent time abroad (one academic, one for an internship), though whether it is because of their broadening their horizons or just as an indicator of independence I don't know.

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 My kids have had both grad programs and employers act VERY happy that they had spent time abroad (one academic, one for an internship), though whether it is because of their broadening their horizons or just as an indicator of independence I don't know.

 

This is really helpful.  My experience with study abroad programs is only from law school, when that's what you did if you had (1) lots of money and (2) no summer clerkship.  Then when I was an attorney, and we interviewed law students, everyone (in my firm anyway) saw a study abroad summer on a resume and went, "Pffft." That was probably unfair even at the time and even in that context--I had no money but went to school with a bunch of kids who did, and that no doubt colored my impression.  So, all that is to say that I appreciate an ever-so-slightly more current experience.  

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I cannot answer you, but I regret that I could not study abroad. I was supposed to go to the Middle East, but the Gulf War broke out so the trip was cancelled. There are very few things I regret in my life; this is one. 

 

Good to know--thanks.  Gulf War, huh?  Good reason not to go, but I can imagine how disappointing that was.

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An experience in a  foreign country is definitely worth it, and I would hope that everybody gets that chance to broaden their horizons by being immersed in a different culture and learning another language.

 

I did not study abroad, but did a three months summer internship in Russia as an undergrad, a two months research stay in the US in grad school, and two years as a post doc in the US (I am from Germany, so US was "abroad" for me). I learned so much from just being in a different country!

 

What pp mentioned about getting off track academically is worth considering; it can still be worth that price. For a short term summer stay, this would not be a consideration.

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Is she going with a big group of Americans?  The reason that I ask is that there are language students who come to my local town in the summer, and whenever there are groups that come from the same place, they tend to stick together.  That means that they are not getting an immersion experience, as they are only speaking English in class and, a bit, in shops, etc.  I think it's always worthwhile to spend a good amount of time in a foreign country, but one shouldn't have expectations that are too high as far as language learning is concerned.  

 

Another thought: when my husband took Chinese classes at a Chinese university ten years ago, the quality of the teaching was really, really variable: Chinese universities at that time did not in any way think of the students as clients whose fees needed to be justified by good teaching.  It would be worth your child talking to people who have been in previous years.

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Is she going with a big group of Americans?  The reason that I ask is that there are language students who come to my local town in the summer, and whenever there are groups that come from the same place, they tend to stick together.  That means that they are not getting an immersion experience, as they are only speaking Chinese in class and, a bit, in shops, etc.  I think it's always worthwhile to spend a good amount of time in a foreign country, but one shouldn't have expectations that are too high as far as language learning is concerned.  

 

 

 

What Laura said...  DD spent a semester in Germany this past spring.  She did find a group of Americans and they did spend copious amounts of time together.  She also found a university in Germany that taught at least some classes in English.  BUT she still had to make it on the economy - speaking German in stores and restaurants.  She really looked down on those who didn't even try.  DD is an international affairs major so it was required for her to study abroad for a semester.  I can't say yet if it helped her or not.  She is a junior this year.

 

Oh and when we went over to visit her, ds who had one semester of high school German (to dd's 4 years in high school and 3 semesters in college), tried to speak more German than dd.  He came home the master of 3 word sentences.  :-)

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Studies abroad for a semester, met my husband, and moved to Switzerland.  So... watch out!  :-)

 

In all seriousness though, if my French knowledge was, say, X after 6 years of study in classes, my French language knowledge was 2X after a semester abroad.  I was in a full immersion program, which makes a huge difference.  

 

The price seems a bit steep to me for just 9 weeks.  I paid 10k for host family, 2 meals a day, plus tuition.  Not including flights.  And I assume COL in France is a bit higher than China, though I don't know.  Then again, that was 12 years ago...   :svengo:

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Are the classes taught in English?  I do wonder if she'll be getting more of an Americanized version of China, instead of a full immersion experience.  Especially if she will be busy taking classes and studying.  Still, it will likely be wonderful for her to experience another culture.

 

DS16 spent the summer in Japan.  It was an amazing experience (through Youth For Understanding).  

 

He and I are actually heading to China in 11 days!  We have never been there and don't know a lick of Mandarin.  Yikes.

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Thanks for the thumbs-up, everyone. My daughter especially appreciates it. She went to an information session last night and is even more fired up than she was before. She promises me she will go out of her way to practice her Chinese. Classes are M-Th, leaving all those three-day weekends for the students to be off on their own. My 15 yo is from China, so I was there for two weeks years ago. We departed from the scheduled tour several times and had nothing but positive experiences interacting with Chinese people. We were never afraid or uncomfortable. I realize China is a big place, but the thought of her traveling around China on her own or with other students does not actually worry me. And she does have enough Chinese to get by. She will not have to order a restaurant meal by pointing to pictures in a Sandra Boynton board book, for example. . ..

We are going to let her apply and should know something in three weeks. I am really excited for her!

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My oldest spent her junior year of high school as an exchange student in Turkey, and returned there during her soph year of college for another exchange through her university.  It's a fabulous opportunity for language immersion, though Laura Corin makes a great point above about the ease of staying within the group of Americans.

 

My biggest piece of advice is to make absolutely certain that your daughter understands her health insurance, and what she should do if a health problem arises.  If the organization provides a good amount of supervision, this may not be an issue, but if the students are quite independent, it can become problematic.  We found ourselves in quite the nightmarish situation last fall, when my daughter's chronic, but typically well-controlled, depression required a med adjustment.  A misunderstanding caused by language issues, and my daughter's lack of understanding of her insurance (she had two different types, both excellent) resulted in her locked in a psychiatric hospital for the indigent, which was about as primitive and traumatic as you can imagine.  Her university at home had no idea that any of this was going on, and the only reason we knew is due to a quick Facebook message she sent before she was taken. We required Embassy involvement eventually to get her out, and are still dealing with the fallout.  All of that could have been avoided had we had a better plan for dealing with health issues.

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If finances were not a concern, I would recommend doing it. I personally would love my daughter to spend some study abroad time, although I do worry about the impact on her studies in terms of credits. She is just starting her sophomore year and is still exploring majors. We are an international family, my husband is from Sri Lanka and I am from Spain. My daughter has spent time in Spain with my family and will travel as a family to Sri Lanka this December to also be immersed in the local culture with my husband's family. It's hard to afford very necessary family visits plus college and study abroad.

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My oldest spent her junior year of high school as an exchange student in Turkey, and returned there during her soph year of college for another exchange through her university.  It's a fabulous opportunity for language immersion, though Laura Corin makes a great point above about the ease of staying within the group of Americans.

 

My biggest piece of advice is to make absolutely certain that your daughter understands her health insurance, and what she should do if a health problem arises.  If the organization provides a good amount of supervision, this may not be an issue, but if the students are quite independent, it can become problematic.  We found ourselves in quite the nightmarish situation last fall, when my daughter's chronic, but typically well-controlled, depression required a med adjustment.  A misunderstanding caused by language issues, and my daughter's lack of understanding of her insurance (she had two different types, both excellent) resulted in her locked in a psychiatric hospital for the indigent, which was about as primitive and traumatic as you can imagine.  Her university at home had no idea that any of this was going on, and the only reason we knew is due to a quick Facebook message she sent before she was taken. We required Embassy involvement eventually to get her out, and are still dealing with the fallout.  All of that could have been avoided had we had a better plan for dealing with health issues.

 

Oh my goodness, how horrifying!  Thanks for the advice, though.  She was telling me that the university pays a Chinese man to, essentially, do nothing but answer phone calls from the students 24/7.  The stories they told were of getting lost and not being able to communicate with the taxi driver (who doesn't carry a card from their home base address while in a foreign country???  but I digress. . .) and of calling the guy and handing the phone to the taxi driver.  But, of course, I was thinking of all sorts of less-funny situations in which an in-country handler could be helpful.  Thank goodness you were eventually able to connect with your daughter.  I can't imagine how scary that must have been.

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It took me a while to fully comprehend what was occurring, as the Facebook message was essentially a doctor's name and number, and the doctor spoke primarily Turkish.  I'm not one to panic so much, so it was a few days before I understood I needed to go over.  My husband's passport was too close to the expiration date, so the job became mine.  It was truly surreal on a number of levels. 

 

It sounds like her program has a decent plan for emergencies, but definitely make sure that she understands the specifics of her health care.  A phone that can send and receive texts internationally would be good too. You don't want her to do much of that with friends from home, as it defeats the purpose of the exchange, but it could be a lifesaver in an emergency.

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