Gemma studied abroad in St. Petersburg and Volgograd and is now a German-speaking cabin crew member
by dcmaster
This article was written by Global Graduates, published on 21st April 2012 and has been read 35335 times.
Gemma studied German and Russian at Manchester University and spent her year abroad studying in St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Düsseldorf and Dresden. She graduated in 2011 and is now a German-speaking cabin crew member for an English airline.
"My year abroad was mostly spent in Russia, studying at a language school in St. Petersburg for the first half followed by a semester in Volgograd. After this I spent two months at language schools in Germany, one month in Düsseldorf and one in Dresden. Without a doubt this time helped me to improve my language skills immensely - the chance to be immersed in the language and to form friendships with native speakers was invaluable, and it was this year out of the four of my degree which saw the greatest improvement in my language ability.
Culturally I was able to get to know both countries quite well, and developed an in-depth knowledge of each country's histories and social and cultural norms. In addition to this my confidence and social skills were built upon immensely: the year abroad was genuinely the most life-changing experience of my university career.
I am currently working for an airline in England as German-speaking cabin crew, and hope to move to Germany in the next few months - a move which in all likelihood I wouldn't have had the confidence to make if it had not been for the university year abroad."
In partnership with the British Academy and University Council of Modern Languages (UCML) we gathered short reports from graduates on the importance that the year abroad has had for them, in terms of their skill set, their careers and their lives. These reports formed the basis of the Position Statement: Valuing the Year Abroad. Browse the reports below for inspiration, and select a tag within a report to read more on that theme.
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