Impressions d'estudiants Erasmus estrangers de pas a la nostra Facultat

A continuació reproduïm una conversa que vam mantenir amb tres estudiants Erasmus que van passar el primer semestre d’aquest curs a la nostra Facultat.

Es tracta de Maria Tzivanaki i Sofia Valkanidou, de Grècia, i Jules Pierre Cornet, dels Països Baixos. La conversa es va desenvolupar en anglès.

Pregunta. Maria and Sofia, you are coming from Greece, aren’t you?

Maria: Yes, from Thessalonika. Precisely, from the Technological Educational Institution of Thessaloniki (http://www.teithe.gr/index_en.html). We are studying Library Science and Information Systems there. This is our last year of studies and we will start our 6th month, of practice.

Pregunta: And you, Jules Pierre, where are you coming from?
Jules: I come from the Netherlands; this is my last year at the university. I’m studying Communication and Information Systems at the School of Communication & Media of the Hanze University Groningen (http://www.hanze.nl/communication&media).

Pregunta: Why did you decided to come to Barcelona with Erasmus?
Maria: I chosed Barcelona because I visited the city in the past and I like the city, the way of life, the climate and I also have already some friends which help me with the life here.

Sofia: In principle I chose Barcelona to stay one semester because I have heard that the libraries in Barcelona are very developed and they have a work system a bit different in comparison with the libraries of my country. I am here because I would like to find out these differences on the work places.

Pregunta: Ok, and you Jules, why this choice?

Jules: I decided to come to Barcelona for three reasons: I like the climate and the city, to obtain a benefit of the stay at your Faculty, and to improve my Spanish.

Pregunta: My second question is if you were aware of the linguistic reality of Catalonia.
Sofia: Yes, I have some idea. But when you really realize the reality is when you are living here. It has «una mica» of difficulty!
Maria: I was aware of the situation because I visited the city sometimes before, and I was a bit worried about that, because I wanted to come to improve my Spanish language level, because I already took some classes and I also started to study Catalan language because I would be staying for long amount of time and I decided I didn’t have time to study the other language Catalan because I would confuse me more with the Spanish so I just want to improve my Spanish.

Pregunta: In fact if I am right you Maria are doing your Practicum at an organisation where English language is the world language, isn’t it (Médicos sin Fronteras: http://www.msf.es/)?
Maria: Yes, in the whole organization English is very used and the most of the resources of the library are in English, so I don’t have any problem in my working with my colleagues. But this is a general aspect of Catalonia: it gives me the sense that if you want to life here in Barcelona and develop your career here you need to learn Catalan.

Pregunta: And Jules, did you know that Catalan was a reality here?
Jules: Yes I’ve heard before, so I started to learn Spanish and also a little bit of Catalan; but the most important things are in English. In the beginning it can be confusing, but in the end you are able to distinguish the two languages and learn how to use both Spanish and Catalan.

Pregunta: Please specify some differences between this Faculty and the Faculty where you come from.
Maria: There are some differences, yes. First of all the Faculty here in Barcelona is in the centre of the city, and the Faculty of Greece is outside the city. I have to drive or take the bus 20 minutes to arrive, and there are some differences in the building, structure, materials, here in this university seems that the infrastructures are better and there are a lot of students, and it gives me the sense that there is a quantity and quality of materials and resources compared with my university which is less adequate in this level.
Jules: The classes are more or less the same, but a big difference is that in Holland we use more books and classes are more theoretical. You have to study more at home, here in Spain you have more classes and the classes are more practical. The Universitat de Barcelona is much bigger than my University in Holland. The faculty in Barcelona is about the same size.
Sofia: The differences are a lot, and very important: first of all, this Faculty is very big! I have to say it: boys, my Faculty is the half of this! The name of my Faculty in Greece is "Librarianship and Information Systems". In fact is a Technical Institute, not a University. The studies take 4 years, not 3 like here. The Practicum in Greece last for 6 months, not 3 as here is. And at the end of the Practicum we don't have to prepare a written paper (and obviously we have no oral presentation of that). We have 6 months of placement and then we have to prepare a final project about one of the topics of the curriculum.

Pregunta: Another question is if you are enjoying your stay here.
Maria: Yes, I am, sure. I’ve already friends in Barcelona I enjoy my time doing the practice and the conditions there and the life in Barcelona is very interesting wherever age you are: if you are a student or older you have many opportunities in doing things, like concerts, getting to know the city, the bars, the restaurants…

Pregunta: The level of life cost is higher?
Maria: Yes it is. The level of life cost here in Barcelona, specially the rent, but cafeterias and bars are cheaper here, so you can save money out of that. It’s true that the rent of the flat is too high.
Sofia: Globally speaking is a very nice experience! You can live in a foreign country where everything is different: the meals, habits, the way of thinking, etc. These reasons will be worth it. Yes! I love it very much!

Pregunta: Do you recommend to any student the experience to stay in another country for some period?
Maria: Yes, definitively. I’ve already been an Erasmus student in another country, in England. I would recommended this kind of activity since is very nice to have an experience in another way of life in another country, another academic experience both under or postgraduate: it is very interesting and very useful for your career and for your life, for your character and personality, I definitively recommend to everybody whatever stage they are in their studies and get to know something different and maybe better.
Sofia: Of course I recommend this experience! All my friends in Facebook already know and see this experience in Barcelona by my pictures! He he
Jules: I would definitely recommend to study in another country. You will learn so much new things and make new friends. It is also good for your personality. I recommend that you will learn the language before you go, it makes things a lot easier.

Pregunta: Do you think that this experience can improve your professional curriculum in order to find a good job?
Jules: Yes, that's right. The life experience of going to study abroad and also see a different kind of education system, permits you discover also what you like and what you don’t like of your career. Especially if you want to work in Europe, you can use all your gained experience for your future career and job.

Dear friends, thank you very much for your impressions!