<p>Hello! I am going to be attending Columbia university and want to make use of thier global connections during my summers:</p>
<p>I am planning on mech engineering and later going to grad for mech in auto/ or aerospace.
I am at odd as to where I should go for studying abroad. normally it does not matter but b/c I love cultures of asia and notice that america sends a lot of business offshore to china and japan...it might be best to learn the languge and go there. What do you think? I would like flexibility;however, i know that Chinese and Japanese are very hard to learn.
I am also looking at Russia <not sure="" about="" engineering="" opportunities="" with="" links="" to="" america="">
London England < i have family there>
New york <cheapest and="" easiest="" alt.="">
<if i="" could="" get="" an="" internship="" at="" a="" major="" dealer="" like="" lockheed="" or="" boeing="" car="" factory="" such="" as="" ferrari="" etc="" would="" give="" that="" priority=""></if></cheapest></not></p>
<p>I’m at Columbia, I’m in Mech E (want to eventually pursue astrospace), and I studied abroad. What a coincidence.</p>
<p>I studied in Beijing and then Shanghai for a little over a year. The language wasn’t that hard to pick up when you’re forced to be around it 24/7 and communicate in it. Don’t expect fluency and I’m still pretty illiterate in regards to Chinese, but it wasn’t difficult to hold a conversation.</p>
<p>What a coincidence indeed. What made you choose china over your other options? You had to take two semesters of chinese correct? How was the difficulty for those courses Would rosetta stone help? Im really interested in your experiences abroad.</p>
<p>Plattsburgh, did you study chinese when you studied abroad? If so, did it delay your graduation by a year or did you take certain classes that counted towards your engienering degree?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
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<p>I chose to use the SUNY abroad system since, a) they cost less and b) there weren’t any language requirements before going. I went on a lot of school’s websites before choosing a program. Most people think that you can only go abroad with your school, but as long as the school is accredited you can use any program. </p>
<p>I was going back and forth between Japan and China, but went with China because the program I did had the students traveling all over the country a lot – whereas some of the other programs were just stationed at one college and that was it.</p>
<p>Stay away from Rosetta Stone. They’re absolutely horrible. I got a copy free and threw it away, it was that bad.
If you’re just beginning, try Pimsleur which is a great starting point.
[Learn</a> Chinese - Audio and video Chinese podcasts - ChinesePod](<a href=“http://chinesepod.com%5DLearn”>http://chinesepod.com) , [Learn</a> Spanish, French, German, Italian and over 70 languages with Byki software.](<a href=“http://byki.com%5DLearn”>http://byki.com) , [Language</a> Learning with Livemocha | Learn a Language Online - Free!](<a href=“http://livemocha.com%5DLanguage”>http://livemocha.com) were all free sites I used too.
With Chinesepod, just keep making new accounts after the free trial period ends.</p>
<p>
I did, but i didn’t feel I learned anything from it since the teacher was Chinese but she taught way too quickly and her accent was difficult. But eventually, after being there for awhile, I got to the point where you didn’t need the class. It was easier to learn on my own than in the classroom. </p>
<p>It did delay my graduation by a year but mainly because I didn’t take any courses in my major while abroad. Had I taken courses in my major, I’d probably graduate on time.
But I’d do it again, I think being a year late was worth it for the experience.</p>