113: Study Abroad

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Questions about the video file:

  1. Which one of the five undesirable things he mentioned about study abroad do you find the most difficult to deal with?
  2. Among the five likable things he mentioned about study abroad, which one do you like to have the experience of very soon?
  3. What did he mention about health problems when you prove as an exchange student?
  4. What was the point he made regarding job opportunities and how do you find it?
  5. Would you rather be an exchange student apart from the difficulties you are certain to encounter? Why?

 

General questions for discussion:

  1. Why do some countries seem more interesting to students to get university admission from?
  2. Majority of the exchange students prefer to stay where they finished their education. What could push them to choose there as an adopted country?
  3. Do you think study-abroad students make more knowledgeable graduates than those studying in their home country?
  4. Do you think study-abroad students have a higher chance to be employed in the future? Why?
  5. What are some stereotypes about exchange students?
  6. If you were an exchange student, would you prefer to stay with a family, rent a place on your own, or live in a dormitory?

 

Related quotes:

  • "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." Mahatma Gandhi
  • "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." Robert Frost
  • "Children must be taught how to think, not what to think." Margaret Mead

 

Related vocabulary:

  • Selective schooling: students need to take exams to gain entry to schools or universities
    • Some students are not able to demonstrate their abilities in selective schooling system so they may look as slow ones.
  • Comprehensive schooling: students can gain entry to schools/universities without taking exams
    • Because students would not be under the stress caused by exam taking, they have a stronger tendency to attend comprehensive schooling system.
  • Correspondence course (n) a course of lessons in which you study and complete assignments at home and send them to your teacher through email
    • Since she had to take care of her baby, she took a correspondence course to make up for her being absent for one semester.
  • Distance learning (n) a method of study in which you study at home and send your assignments to your teacher via email
    • It is for the matter of convenience that has made distance learning so popular nowadays.
  • Extracurricular (adj) outside the regular study program or curriculum
  • Heuristic (adj) a method in which you learn something through discovering and experiencing for yourself
    • When teenage students learn their lessons through heuristics processes, they can internalize them well.
  • Scholastic (adj) academic
    • It is important to improve scholastic skills if you are looking for brilliant prospects.
  • Truancy (n) when students intentionally stay away from school without permission
    • There is a close connection between teenage truancy rate and family conflicts.

 

Idioms and phrases:

  • Compulsive reading: It refers to a book/magazine etc. that is so interesting that you cannot put it down and like to finish it soon.
    • What can keep me away from all the hustle and bustle of daily routines is compulsive reading.
  • Brush up on something: to practice and improve your skills that you learned in the past
    • Even if you have a good English background, you need to brush up on your skills when taking TOEFL.
  • Bone up on something: to spend as much time as you can to learn about something completely
    • Since I have not studied this lesson during the semester, I have to bone up on it this week.
  • School/University of hard knocks: the hands-on, often painful, experiences of learning from real life situations
    • What one learns in the school of hard knocks can be comparable to what you gain through academic knowledge.
  • Cover a lot of ground: to complete a great deal of material in a course
    • Those teachers covering a lot of ground in one session seem to be stricter than those (who are) concentrating on one subject.
  • Crank out a paper: when you write a paper without thinking much about it and in other words it is written mechanically
    • When students are fully occupied in terms of university assignments, they always resort to cranking out papers.
  • Learn sth by heart: when you memorize sth and you never forget it
    • Repetition is one of the guaranteed ways to learn things by heart.
  • Pass with flying colors: when you pass exams with very good marks
    • After days of studying hard, Ben passed the exam with flying colors.

 

Please leave a response to the following question as a comment: 

What could be the main reasons for students leaving their home country?

There are 3 Comments

Opportunity to study abroad is fantastic, interesting and even fun. You can experience many new things in foreign countries. Probably any student would like to have such opportunity during his or her life. By this, on the other hand, students have to leave their country, therefore, it can be tough and unusual for them. When it comes to me, the main reasons to study abroad and leaving home country can be classified as below:

Firstly, you can attain fund for your education career. Most students leave their home countries to find positions with support. When you attain fund in abroad country, you will not have any concern about other aspects of your life, thus you can concentrate on your education. Moreover, you can cut your dependence on your family support.

Secondly, work situations in their own country can cause this phenomenon. Whenever students will be worried about their future, job situation and income they decide to abandon their own countries. And I think this is normal for anyone.

Thirdly, going to better universities can be accounted as another reason to leave your own country. When students find abroad universities better than universities in their home country, they tend to leave. For instance, isn't there any difference between University of Queensland ranked 45 in the world and other universities ranked above 1000?

Finally, by going abroad for education, students can find more fun. They can deal with new people with different cultures and they can experience new customs and traditions. I think working with Japanese people can be so interesting. Also, having meal with Indian people with their spicy foods can be so fantastic.

My Q: "University or country", which one should be more important for students to study abroad? 

In my idea  studying abroad can be one of the most likable and beneficial experience with a lot of fun regardless of its undesirable things. I think studying abroad is an exceptional opportunity to study in a foreign country and live in the heart of the pure culture of a new land and feel it by your soul. This is the best way of finding out about another culture and explore it in long period of time. Moreover the international universities have a large community both from local area and all around the globe. In fact you will meet a large amount of students and make a lot of friends from different cultures. On the other hand it will help you to become truly independent and it makes you to have the capability to look after yourself and sort out your affairs. Studying abroad is a life changing event and may change the way you see life and expand your insight and obviously will help you to tolerate different ideas and appreciate diversities.
It will make you ready for an international workplace and you can apply more easily for an international job opportunity.
In addition studying abroad is a good chance to develop your language skills and definitely it is a good advantage for your future.
Actually you can have an accredited qualification from an international university and it will help you to have a better position and job offers.
If you have the intention of imigration to another country an international qualification can guarantee your job on that country.
Sometimes your internal universities don’t have a specific field of study and you can find it in an abroad university.
At last  unfortunatley some students are going to study abroad just for show off.

My qustion is:

If you live in another country, are you interested to study in Iran's universities? Please elaborate