Why Study Abroad?: Why Study Abroad?

Why Study Abroad?

The linguistic

There is no better and more effective way to learn a language than to be immersed in a culture that speaks the language you are learning. Students, especially those staying with a host family, are surrounded by the language on a daily basis and are seeing and hearing it in the proper cultural context. Language learning happens most quickly under these circumstances.

The academic/intellectual

Students develop skills in problem solving and with foreign languages; they gain geographical and historical knowledge; they're exposed to people who process information differently than they do.

The professional

Students can make professional contacts, gain a sense of direction for their future career, gain a sense of responsibility in working on a project, benefit from the close mentoring of a faculty member.

The personal

Students gain an appreciation of what we have in the U.S.; they develop confidence, a strengthened sense of personal identity, flexibility, and creativity. Students learn to rely on themselves and become more independent.

The inter-cultural

Students increase their interest in other cultures, become less ethnocentric, as they become more aware of cultural differences, develop language skills within a cultural context, become more culturally sensitive and accepting.