Studying on the Costa del Sol

My name is Kerenza and I’m doing a languages degree (French and Spanish) so spent my year abroad studying at the University of Malaga (technically not Erasmus thanks to Brexit but treated as such by the uni). We know the year abroad is a compulsory part of a BA in MFL, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it’s possibly the most attractive aspect of studying languages. However, I’d also be lying if I said I it wasn’t one the on the hardest things I’ve done and wasn’t genuinely terrified, to the point where I had been considering not even going and suspending my degree! Everyone has their own pace obviously, and I knew going in it wasn’t going to be easy, but I think it’s worth sharing the reality of the year abroad as well as the obvious incredible experiences that are to be had.

Whilst incredibly rewarding, just like anything else, the year abroad is filled with ups and downs, and to make it to the end is an achievement in itself. I know not everyone goes abroad to study a language but obviously for me, gaining proficiency in the target language was my main goal and it was around 3 months before I was comfortable even using Spanish! (Apart from “con tarjeta por favor” and “no necesito bolsa” in the supermarket.) But by the end of the year, I was hanging out in groups only speaking Spanish, having people tell me that I speak well and even that I’d picked up a slight andaluz accent! The feeling of going home and realising you have friendships entirely built in another language is indescribable and absolutely the highlight of my year.

Malaga is a very popular Erasmus destination with thousands of Erasmus students from a variety of countries and even more when you consider the people here doing internships and British council or similar (Erasmus here is often used as a loose term to describe all the people who’ve come to study abroad or teach or do internships and all of us together form a sort of community in Malaga). I’ve met people from almost every country whilst studying here and now have contacts all over the world, from Canada to Columbia, Italy to Australia, and the list goes on! With such an influx of Erasmus etc there’s a lot of trips (international too) and parties organised that make it easier to meet people. I’ve been to a lot of places around Andalusia and experienced a lot of the culture such as the ferias and Semana Santa.

The only problem with all the incoming students etc, is that it is a bit harder to make connections with people actually from Malaga or at least Spanish speakers, especially seeing as English is normally the common language for everyone. After becoming more comfortable using Spanish, I had to work harder to keep using it and finding the opportunities to practise and improve (very annoying having the world language as your first when you actually want to learn others). But even as someone who found moving here and finding my footing so difficult, it was entirely possible and have left at least feeling like I have made a lot of progress.

As for the studying side of things, it is a bit of a shambles and will never accept anyone saying things are disorganised at home again! It also feels a lot more like secondary school in the uni so takes a bit of adjusting for sure but once you understand how things work, it’s a cool experience and you can really make the most of it! I arrived late because of visa issues which did make my arrival slightly more challenging  (I’d recommend starting the visa process even before summer starts), but after speaking to other Erasmus students and even Spanish students, I found out that the admin is generally difficult to navigate and things are a bit disorganised, but there’ll always be someone to ask whether it’s a fellow student or professor.

Another thing I noticed at uni is whilst the Spanish students are usually quite nice, they have  normally had the same friendship group since they were children as it is much less common to move away for uni, so it is quite difficult to penetrate those friendships and you have to make the effort yourself as they’re unlikely to come to you –  I think as well because Malaga has SO many Erasmus students and its not so much of a novelty for the students there. It wasn’t until after maybe 6 months that I did start making friends with some of the people in my classes, but it just shows that even though it might take some time, it is possible!

All in all, my best advice would be to make the most of your time abroad 100% but don’t be disheartened if you’re struggling or feel like you’re not making enough progress etc because it’s a big challenge and it’s pretty cool to come home and look back on what you’ve achieved.