Without English in a New and Exciting Place Past Review
By A student (PSYCHOLOGY., Brandeis University) - abroad from 03/06/2012 to 06/29/2012 with
Ben Gurion University of the Negev: Beer Sheba - Direct Enrollment & Exchange
I have become much better at Hebrew and learned a lot about myself in the process. Language immersion was a challenge that changed my life.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Tomer was excellent and so was the office for International Students. Still, I found that, because the program was so small, I did not have a lot of people to turn to. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My roommate was amazing but our unwelcome visitors (a ton of cockroaches) and some of the less desirable men in the dorms harassing me were not pleasant experiences. |
| * Food: |
No food was provided so this rating is really moot. There was good food you could buy on campus and a grocery store walking distance from the dorms. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I enjoyed meeting many Israelis and going out with them. However, the presence of English speaking International Students made it more difficult to achieve full language and cultural immersion. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
If I ever had a problem, I knew that there were people ready to help me at a heartbeat. |
| * Safety: |
To be completely honest, Be'er Sheva is not the safest location. Instead of a welcome parade, we were welcomed with rockets being sent from Gaza. Aside from that, I also found the aggressive nature of the men in Be'er Sheva alarming. I did not feel safe by myself in the city. That all being said...I still found it to be a good place to live and a more authentic Israeli expreience. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
Be'er Sheva is a cheap place to live. Most of my spending ended up being due to travel expenses. |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | No |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 100 a week (averaged including travel) |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Go out once or twice a week instead of every night. You can learn how to cook cheap instead of wasting too much money on food/drinks. It is better to save all the cash you have to travel! |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
It is an immersion program. We had no choice but to speak Hebrew! It was challenging but fruitful. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | I was in the highest level at Brandeis University (but I still did not feel very competent). |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 10+ |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Try to make as many local friends as possible and minimize the number of friends you have that do not speak the language. Even if your friends are from your country of origin, talking to them and doing things with them in the language you are studying is a valuable experience. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Just how hard it would be for me and how rewarding it would feel in the end. |
