Hi guys!
I'm currently in the first year of sixth form, doing my A-Levels. I'm defintely planning to go to Uni, and I was looking at doing History somewhere like Bristol/East Anglia/Exeter etc. Anyway, recently I've been told about the possiblility of studying in the Netherlands, as the courses are free, and in English, meaning I'll leave Uni without student debt. I was wondering if someone might be able to help with a few questions.
1. What is it like living in a country, where you can't speak the language?
2. Has anyone studied in a non-English speaking nation, without knowing the language? What is it like?
3. What is Holland like? Have any of you lived there? And would you reccomend it for a student? Probably Amsterdam or the Hague
I know that the Dutch are great at languages, but I'm not sure on the general knowledge of English for the average person.
Sorry for starting the thread, but it'd be great to read some first-hand accounts. Thanks for the help!
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It'd be hard, as I assume you already know, but you'll probably learn another language which is a big plus in modern times.
I guess if you're a social and confident kinda person, you'd be fine
Good luck with whatever happens
http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/
I'd check out the syllabus options - what history will you study? From my experience, the Dutch tend to be very vocational, so most history students would be expected to go on and teach history or continue with academic research.
I lived for a year in Utrecht when studying, and then 18 months in Amsterdam a few years later and would really recommend it. Back in those days, student flats were basically unfurnished apart from maybe a bed-frame and a large cupboard - not sure if that is still true, but was a shock when I turned up! The Dutch are very friendly and sociable on the surface, but it can be difficult to make close friends as a foreigner - they know you are not there to stay, so that can restrict things. However, I did make a handful of really good friends that I'm still in touch with many years later.
You'd have to get a bike - but make sure it's an old rusty one as anything decent tends to get nicked!
All the best, and if I can help any further, just shout.
Just a thought (in the opposite direction of what the OP's thinking about) - some universities (and I can see this growing) do offer part time degree courses, London's Birkbeck College (part of London University) -specialises in part time courses, mainly evenings to cater for people who work in day jobs. The situation for fees / loans and such for part time students from September 2012 is still slightly fuzzy, but this could offer the chance to earn a bit of money (and not in the typical low paid part time 'student job' sort of thing) while studying.
Obviously, the 'life experience' bit is going to be less than moving to another country for a few years, and the student mix is going to be more varied than a typical university course in terms of age and background - which may or may not suit.
(Declaration of interest, I've been doing the pre-degree level at Birkbeck for the last few years, and starting to think about whether to go on to the degree course or what - in terms of student age range, it's been from 20-somethings to retired people at this level - although with this you can just do one evening a week for one term sized chunks for personal interest.)
Be prepared to work hard if you want to pick up some Dutch lingo tho, pretty tricky in my experience.
Good luck mate.
I studied in Australia for a year and loved every minute of it. Feel free to send me a private message as they're a lot of idiots on this thread.
I reguolarly travel to the Netherlands and they are great people but it is hard not even being able to say the most basic things.
Without a doubt, the single best year of my life and it will never be replicated.
Obviously you might not get 30-40 degrees for months on end over in Holland but the whole experience will leave you questioning why you ever doubted you wanted to do it! I had to go to Spain as part of my course and wasn't overly looking forward to being without Charlton (they plummeted out of the Championship), my family (they were all still here when I got back) and my girlfriend at the time (another discussion entirely!) for so long but in hindsight it was unfounded. From my experience of Holland and having met Dutch people they are incredibly good at English, fun, laid-back and love their footy and boozing... what more could you want?!
Happy to answer any questions you might have...
One thing I would say - I was fairly comfortable in Spanish before I went (GCSE, A level, 2 years at degree level) and there were still times when it passed me by... definitely get cracking on the basics of dutch asap and if you don't think you can manage that then reconsider...