Italy, Russia, Germany, or France? (Study Abroad)

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello! I am currently a sophomore at a community college and next year I will be transferring to a four-year university to major in finance. I am planning on studying abroad for six months, but there are a few questions I need to ask and thought you all could help me answer them.</p>

<p>First of all, when should I go? I know that the last two years I will be mainly focusing on my major classes, that shouldn't affect anything should it? Should I study during the spring semester of my junior year or fall semester of my senior year? Which do you think would be better?</p>

<p>Now for the real question, where to go.</p>

<p>I have "narrowed" it down to the following countries. I'll ask questions as they come up.</p>

<p>ITALY</p>

<p>I would be studying in Turin, Italy. It is in the northwest corner of Italy. It's one hour west of Milan and is up in the mountains. It's gorgeous from what I can see from the photos.</p>

<p>I would take Italian classes before I left. I learn languages very quickly. I am already fluent in Spanish, so I know the romance languages will be quick to pick up. I already know some Italian, too.</p>

<p>I have been to Italy before on vacation and LOVED it. I thought the people were amazing, great food, nice weather, etc.</p>

<p>What are some pros and cons of Italy that you all can think of?</p>

<p>RUSSIA</p>

<p>I would study in Moscow. I don't know too much about this program. I do know from personal research that I love Moscow. It has beautiful architecture, amazing people, everything one could ever need, etc. It is very expensive though... But, that is totally discretional.</p>

<p>Russian would be hard to learn most likely.</p>

<p>What are some pros and cons of Moscow, Russia?</p>

<p>GERMANY</p>

<p>I would study in a small town in Germany. Nothing large like Berlin. I don't know much about Germany other than being in the Frankfurt International Airport for a layover. I've heard and been told that out of these four, Germany would be most like home here in America. But, it'd be good to experience something new, yes?</p>

<p>German. I don't know how hard it'd be. Do you all know anything about German? Difficult? Most Germans speak some English more or less, correct?</p>

<p>Food? I've been told German food isn't that great. I don't know too much about Germany.</p>

<p>FRANCE</p>

<p>Probably Paris or a smaller town. I think France would be neat. Good food, but what about the people? Can the French be rude to Americans? I don't mean to offend anyone, but that is a typical stereotype that I hear. Not too expensive, nice central location in Europe, etc.</p>

<p>French. Could pick up on it easily I'm sure. I think the French countryside is beautiful, many sights, etc.</p>

<p>Pros and cons of studying in France?</p>

<p>Oh, decisions, decisions. So, what do you all think would be a good place to study finance/business over in Europe? I definitely want to go to one of these countries, but where to go is the real question. I guess that is a very general, vague overview of the countries I would like to study in.</p>

<p>Thank you all so much for your help. I cannot wait to hear your responses! Please feel free to ask any further questions.</p>

2

<p>Moscow is not a nice city to live in. It can be fun for a few weeks, but one quickly gets tired of the people who are in general rather snobbish. Added to this, it’s very hard to practice one’s Russian in Moscow - most people will speak to you in English. St Petersburg or one of the provincial cities are much more pleasant. Russian is an extremely hard language; you won’t learn anything in a term abroad. To make the trip worthwhile start taking classes now, as many as you can.</p>

<p>Germany is nice enough; I can’t say much else because you haven’t said where you’d be going. The food is lovely. German is also a tough language, people often dismiss it as being easy because it’s similar to English but don’t underestimate it.</p>

<p>Parisians have a reputation even within France for being rude, whether it is true or not I don’t know but they certainly won’t tolerate bad French. If your French is not perfect they will revert to English in a flash. The French however are not rude at all and will often go out of their way to help you. Being fluent in Spanish is a plus but French is a much harder language, Spanish is not so similar to make learning French easy.</p>

3

<p>If I had to pick, I would pick Italy or Germany. The French don’t seem to like to work and Russian seems incredibly difficult and marginally useful.</p>

<p>Have you considered Seoul or Beijing?</p>

4

<p>MutaRiSC, what do you mean the French don’t like to work? France is a very productive country, French people are certainly not any less hard working than the British or Americans. And for your information, Russian is a very useful language – to suggest otherwise is absurd.</p>

5

<p>MutaRiSC and Dionysus58, thank you to the both of you for your replies! I appreciate what you both said. Let me address a few things and add some details.</p>

<p>Dionysus, I looked a little more into the Germany program. It would be in Dortmund, Germany or Frankfurt, Germany. I don’t know too much about either of them, other than Frankfurt is in western Germany and pretty large.</p>

<p>Do you think that studying in a large city is a good thing or a bad thing?</p>

<p>What about Italy? Do any of you guys, or anyone reading, know anything more about Italy or have any of you studied there?</p>

<p>MutaRiSC, thanks for mentioning Seoul and Beijing. I would rather not go to an Asian country at this time. I would like to focus on European markets for my career down the road and learn an additional European language along with my Spanish that I’ve already taken.</p>

<p>I’d just rather not go to Spain. A friend of mine is in Spain right now and is not really enjoying it at all. She’s spent time in Madrid and most of her time in Marbella. Everyone has also told me to be extremely cautious if I’m in Barcelona; I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about that city.</p>

<p>Another rather important aspect is more or less blending in with the people. I would say that I would probably look more or less look like all of these ethnicities, but if there would be one I don’t look overly like, it’d be Italian. When I was in Rome, I was spoken to in Italian, but when I was down in Messina, I didn’t look anything like a Sicilian. Perhaps I would blend in better up by the Swiss-Italian/Italian-French border.</p>

<p>Overall with everyone I’ve talked with, online and offline, has been very… questionable about studying in Moscow. I think the language would be very difficult to learn, yes. But, I have thought about before in the future working with international companies and offering Russian language services, if needed. I guess I don’t know. All language of all of these countries would all be a pleasure to learn.</p>

<p>Difficulty of languages: Italian (a lot like Spanish), French, German, Russian.</p>

<p>Thanks again for the replies and I look forward to reading more!</p>

<p>To anyone who’s looking, don’t hesitate to pitch in some conversation! I would love to hear what everyone has to say, both good and bad.</p>

6

<p>This is a very personal decision. I know where I would choose …</p>

<p>Я бы либо ехать в Россию ou je voudrais aller en France.</p>

<p>But that is me. Choose where you want to go.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Having lived in Moscow for a few years, I politely 100% disagree.
As always, YMMV.</p>

7

<p>Really? I’d be curious to know how your experience differs from mine. I was not in Moscow for very long so maybe I am not the best person to ask, but getting off the train in Murmansk was ecstasy.</p>

8

<p>I think I have narrowed it down to the following criteria.</p>

<p>Paris or smaller in terms of a city.</p>

<p>Crossed off Russia.</p>

<p>Leaning toward France or Germany.</p>

<p>Any other suggestions? Dionysus, do you know much about France? How are the people outside of Paris?</p>

<p>Moscow is beautiful, but I would only have one semester to learn all the Russian I need to make it through six months, and I just don’t think that is feasible. Yes?</p>