<p>Hello all.</p>
<p>I am a sophomore at a college in Virginia and am planning on studying abroad next semester. I have two great options to choose from and because of this I am having a ridiculously difficult deciding between the two. I can either go to Perugia, Italy, and take Italian language & culture immersion courses. I am already at a high-intermediate level so I am hoping after a few months there I would be able to become fluent. It would definitely be a culturally rich experience. My other option would be to study at the University of Manchester in England. Here, I would be able to take classes relevant to my Business degree and have more of an authentic university experience rather than attending a study abroad institute. The downside, of course, would be that I wouldn't learn a new language. I also just took a 3 week course in England over the summer. I love it there, but is it best to try something new?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>It is not worth going to Italy unless your Italian is at a CEFR B2 standard. If you have not reached that level then you will not improve much by being in Italy, you’d be better off going to Manchester and taking Italian classes at their very good student language centre.</p>
<p>Assuming you go to Italy, will you be attending the University for Foreigners Perugia? I have heard very bad things about that place from friends who study Italian; if you went there you would not learn very much at all. On the other hand, if you lived with Italians and attended an Italian university where the classes are taught in Italian, your language will improve a lot.</p>
<p>CEFR = Common European Framework of Reference for Languages</p>
<p>I know naff all about Perugia, but I am a student at the University of Manchester. </p>
<p>Manchester has a special department which allows you to take foreign languages as part of your degree, regardless of what your actual degree is [Language</a> Courses (The University of Manchester)](<a href=“University Centre for Academic English - The University of Manchester”>University Centre for Academic English - The University of Manchester)</p>
<p>There’s also an Italian society, which is made up of Italian students, so you would be able to join that and speak some conversational Italian [University</a> of Manchester Students’ Union](<a href=“http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/groups/italian-society]University”>http://manchesterstudentsunion.com/groups/italian-society) </p>
<p>Manchester is a great place to live, study and work, and it has an excellent reputation as an academic institution.</p>
<p>Personally, I would go to Italy. I think since you have already went to England, you should experience something new. I do agree with Dionysus, I think you need some Italian at the very least if you were to go to Italy. I was just there in May and absolutely loved it. I was so surprised on how much I learned by just listening to people on the elevator, train, by the pool, etc. I also learned some while I was in a taxi with a driver that knew no English, so a combination of my Italian and Spanish came in handy.</p>
<p>I am personally struggling where to go as well. I don’t know where to decide on! It’s a hard thing to do, that’s for sure.</p>