More and more young people are making a decision to study abroad, which I fully understand. There are lots of pros of studying abroad. However, a decision to educate yourself in a different country may also come with downsides.
Firstly, as I mentioned, when you study abroad you have a wonderful opportunity to practice a foreign language and soon become fluent in it. Learning at school cannot be compared with day-to-day interactions in a target language. Not only can you acquire lots of vocabulary and grammar expressions used by natives, but you can also improve our pronunciation along the way. Secondly, if you are living away from your family, you have no other choice but to grow up. There’s no one around to make food for you or nurse you back to health when you get sick. Finally, it goes without saying that if you are a graduate of a prestigious high school or college you attended abroad, you have better chances of finding a rewarding job with a competitive salary in your home country.
However, it’s pretty common to feel homesick when you study in a foreign country. Everything seems so distant from what you’ve known your entire life. There are even cases of people getting depressed or suicidal. Moreover, education in a foreign country is quite expensive and few families can afford it. Of course, you can apply for a grant or take a student loan, but the first one is difficult to obtain, while the other one comes with an extra cost, which are installment. In addition, differences in syllabuses or education system itself can be overwhelming. It takes sometimes lots of time to adapt yourself to a completely different model than the one you’re familiar with.
All in all, studying abroad can be a life-time experience and help you improve your language skills, make you more independent and gives you a head start when it comes to your career. The problem begins when you miss your family and friends too much, end up in a debt or cannot accept a new learning model.
Glossary - słownictwo
pros and cons – zalety I wady
abroad – za granicą
it comes with downsides – jest związane też z niedogodnościami
to be compared with something else – być porównanym z czymś
to be fluent in a language – być biegłym w danym języku
a native ( speaker ) – osoba, dla której dany język jest językiem ojczystym
to acquire something – zdobyć coś, nauczyć się czegoś
along the way – przy okazji, w tym samym czasie
to grow up – dorosnąć, wydorośleć
to nurse somebody back to health – postawić kogoś na nogi ( pomóc komuś wyzdrowieć )
It goes without saling – Nie trzeba wyjaśniać, że … / To oczywiste, że …
a graduate – absolwent
prestigious – prestiżowy
a rewarding job – ciekawa praca
a competitive salary – wysoka pensja
a home country – kraj ojczysty
to feel homesick – tęsknić za domem
to be suicidal – mieć myśli samobójcze
to afford something – móc sobie na coś pozwolić ( mieć wystarczająco dużo pieniędzy )
a loan – pożyczka
installments – odestki
overwhelming – przytłaczający
to adept to something – przystosować się do czegoś
to be familiar with something – być z czymś zaznajomionym