What's the best city to study abroad? - Page 5

They don't. He's most likely talking about a US university's study abroad center or something similar.

meh. Packing up and going to a school full of other Americans is not worth doing then. OP - since you have fluent Spanish, then go to Spain, almost anywhere in South America, or else another English speaking country like the UK or Australia, and go to a 'real' university there rather than a little floating piece of the US somewhere else.

+1

Look I love paris and france in general but you won't get squat out of a semester there. You probrably won't even have a chance to talk to any real french people. No profetional advancement, not as much fun as other cities, and common as dirt

Barcelona anyone??

yeah, I was just sitting here idly thinking the same thing...Barcelona or Madrid for that matter. Fluent Spanish speaker, can totally immerse himself in the college, the community...if he wants to go check out Paris, spend some time there, it is a 90 minute, 30 euro RyanAir flight north.

i've never been to barcelona, but i really enjoyed studying in madrid.
+1 on spain

I studied at Waseda in Tokyo and loved it. Never a dull moment. A lot of people will tell you "you're in Tokyo you wont speak any Japanese" but it's really what you make of it. Some kids on my prog just partied nonstop and didn't get much out of it language-wise. But they did the same thing on the portion of the program that was in the countryside. Some kids stayed in all the time. Just gotta find a balance.

I'm thinking about doing my spring semester abroad, I've got to apply soon. Anyone have any input on Germany, Norway, Sweden, Hong Kong? I'd like a program where I can study language, have fun and one that's not too homogeneous (ex: my friend went to Mishima via Stony Brook and found that most ppl on the prog were cliquish LIers who knew each other already)

Not really a 3rd language, but St. Andrew's, Scotland is supposed to be pretty great, as is Edinburgh.

Norway is a gorgeous country, but beware: the country in general and Oslo in particular is SUPER expensive. I think it placed fourth on the list of the world's most expensive cities, tailing only London, Tokyo and Moscow. I'm originally from Sweden so I'm fairly familiar with most university cities there. Lund University in the southernmost province of Scania is a great place. Tons of international students and a vast variety of courses, plus, it's only 50 minutes from Copenhagen, Denmark, which is the arguably nicest capital city in Scandinavia. From southern Sweden you're in a good position to explore the continent (Germany, Benelux, Denmark, France, etc.) as well as northern Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. I personally find Germany to be a pretty "blah" country, but I have American friends who can't get enough of Berlin. HK: no idea.

So many choices.


Istanbul -
Cairo
Baghdad (once it is fixed up again)
Beirut
Damascus (once it is bombed and fixed up again)
Moscow
Someplace in India?
Bangkok
Dubai
......

Bocconi University in Milan now teaches all classes in English. This is what the OP was referring to, learn in English and socialize in the native language.

Stockholm

Can you really afford not to go to China at this point? I had the best 4 months of my life in Madrid but in retrospect wish I had started learning Chinese earlier.

Bocconi is obviously the exception to the rule...
In general, most universities in Europe will offer some classes in English, but the vast majority will be in the local language. If you don't mind severely restricting your class choices and taking classes only with other American exchange students, then go for it - but both of these would be dealbreakers for me.