An adventure every day Past Review
By A student (Middlebury College) - abroad from 02/06/2018 to 06/03/2018 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Yaoundé
An understanding of just how vast and diverse the world is, and of the remarkable ways that foreign cultures can feel both extremely similar and extremely different from my own.
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. |
The academics in the Middlebury program didn't quite live up to my expectations, while the classes at our local university were actually a bit better than I was expecting, in terms of the classroom experience. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
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| * Food: |
Cameroonian food is fantastic! |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
To the extent that I didn't feel integrated, it certainly wasn't the fault of the program — I think it's impossible to ever become completely integrated into a culture in which you're as visibly different was I was. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I had more threatening experiences with police and soldiers than with muggers/thieves/etc. |
| 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) |
Yaoundé is an extremely inexpensive city to live in. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $15 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | ATMs only dispense 10,000 CFA bills (equivalent of $20), which most stores don't accept unless you buy at least 5,000 CFA worth of things. Instead of doing that, make friends with the women outside the Casino supermarket who exchange small bills for large ones, usually for a very small fee. It feels sketchy at first, but it's totally reliable and far cheaper than trying to break the bills in stores. |
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 |
My group kept the language pledge pretty much exclusively, which I was really glad for! |
| 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? | French 379 |
| 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? | Talk lots with your host family; they were the biggest contributor to my improvements in French. |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Direct Enrollment |
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? | Nothing; I went in pretty much blind, and I think that's the right way to do it. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Outright UrbaniteA social butterfly, you're happiest in bustling cities with hip people, and took advantage of all it had to offer. You enjoyed the nightlife, and had fun going out dancing, and socializing with friends. Fun-loving and dressed to the nines, you enjoyed discovering new restaurants, shops, cafes, and bars in your host country. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
History of Cameroon |
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| Instructor: | Prof. Fofack |
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| Comments: | • Assignments were not challenging • Exams were excessively numerous and covered much of the same material T • The two sections of the course — history of Cameroon and history of Africa — covered exactly the same topics, resulting in lots of redundancy that could've been avoided had the 2 sections simply been interwoven rather than divided. • Instructor barely made use of any primary source or multidisciplinary material • The post-independence history of Cameroon was barely covered • The instructor is definitely knowledgeable about the subject and could be effective with a better-designed course |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
