We live in a mobile world. Nowadays, it takes only a few hours to get from one continent to another. People travel a lot, and many of them have reasons to call themselves citizens of the world. There is one unusual way people travel around the world, and it’s studying abroad. Most universities nowadays invite international students. What are the reasons for doing this?
Reasons Why Universities Invite Foreign Students
Nowadays, many universities worldwide invite students from abroad. In Europe, the Erasmus program (short for the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) runs by the European Union. It provides opportunities for students to study or gain work experience in a different European country while completing a degree. Of course, it’s about business as those students or governments of their countries pay for the studying. But this is only one aspect. Universities organize special departments that work with foreign students. Besides, such foreign students are often provided with a stipend, a dormitory, and free books. This means that universities invest money in having international students directly or with the help of sponsors. But why are universities interested in having students from abroad?
- Having students from different countries in class and on the campus creates cultural variety. All students learn to understand this variety and get the experience of being in multicultural surroundings. This might help them in their future careers as nowadays business is getting international in many aspects.
- Foreign students might create the possibility to practice languages with native speakers.
Advantages of Studying Abroad for Students
Annually thousands of students participate in various exchange programs and study at some foreign college or university for a year or more. They have different reasons to do so. Some choose a better university; others try to get a special stipend to reduce the studying expense. But many students have different reasons for studying abroad. What are they?
- Studying abroad is a great opportunity to study or practice foreign languages. Communicating with native speakers helps you to get a real command of a language. And such knowledge will definitely help your future career.
- Studying abroad is a kind of traveling. You live in a different culture and learn cultural peculiarities. This also might help in your future work. Besides, you have an opportunity to see the famous sights of the country you study in. Students can also have some leisure options unavailable in their home countries like swimming in an ocean or going mountaineering.
- Blogger Brag Wilson claims one can easily order an assignment, but participating in an exchange program is an absolutely different thing. When a student goes to a foreign country he/she faces many challenges and needs to overcome various difficulties being in a different culture far away from his/her family. To be successful he/she needs to be strong and independent. So, studying abroad is about training these personality traits.
Ways Teachers Can Inspire their Students to Study Abroad
If a teacher doesn’t like studying abroad and doesn’t see the advantages of having such experience, they definitely can’t inspire students to apply for such programs. So, firstly, a teacher should be a fan of studying abroad themselves. And, of course, they can inspire their students in different ways.
- It’s necessary to describe both for students and their parents all the advantages they will get due to studying abroad. Of course, it’s necessary to mention the difficulties students might face as well.
- If possible a teacher should provide students with the information about exact options of studying abroad (universities, costs, stipends or grants available, etc.), or, at least, show them the ways to find such information themselves.
- It’s a good idea to provide students with first-hand information about all peculiarities of studying abroad. So, a teacher might organize a meeting of his/her students with a student who has already studied abroad. He/she will definitely have to answer a lot of questions. A teacher can also ask a few students having the experience of studying abroad to share it through school /university websites or social networks.
Studying abroad isn’t a unique experience nowadays. Thousands of students either take part in different exchange programs and spend a year or two studying abroad or take the whole course at a college or a university away from their home country. This way, they get many benefits both for their personalities’ development and their future careers. Still, many other students are unaware of such possibilities, and teachers are the ones who should open new horizons to their students.
