It is a shame that due to the COVID19 Quarantine that the Study Abroad Program has been cancelled. Students and Faculty are advised to stay home to stay healthy. Many students are disappointed to see their study abroad plans just evaporate.
For me, my study abroad adventure in France was an eye-opening adventure. I learned so much about other cultures. I learned to empathize with our cultures. I learned that Americans can have a negative or positive image abroad. In fact, I learned while I was in France that Americans are considered loud, naive, and spoiled. On French TV comedy shows, Americans were depicted as having bad manners, speaking loudly, putting their feet inappropriately on fine furniture, and not knowing the language of the country. Americans come off looking like country bumpkins. Before going to France, I had no idea that Americans could look that bad. I only knew about how Americans thought about the rest of the world, not about how the rest of the world thought about America.
Advantages of a Study Abroad Program
1. Learn customs of host country.
2.Able to immerse yourself to learn another language.
3. Develop ability to make friends in host culture which means when you come back to the States, you have no trouble making friends with international business clients.
4. With the knowledge of other cultures, as a business leader, you are able to make day to day decisions regarding international public issues or international marketing strategies. As a teacher, you understand the other cultures from which your international students come from for better multicultural lessons.
5. Learn new ways of looking at social rules such as shopping, funerals and weddings.
6. You later enhance your ability to deal with people from that host culture in the future.
7. You gain an understanding of how to talk to different people from all walks of life.
8. Learn how to assert yourself to fight for social justice in the host country.
9. Develop conversational skills in other culture.
No comments:
Post a Comment