Part 3: After my Year Abroad

After completing my Year Abroad in France way back in June, the first thing I knew I wanted to do was revive some of the Erasmus culture when I came back to Southampton - by joining the Erasmus Society! It’s proved to be a great decision so far.

I’m one of this year’s buddy coordinators for the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) at Southampton, along with my excellent fellow coordinators, Désirée and Jodie. Essentially, the three of us have the difficult task of matching up the best part of 400 students, so that international and UK students can get to meet one another and practise speaking whichever language/s they want.

The word ‘difficult’ is quite probably the understatement of the century here, as our decisions are bound to make some people delighted whilst others will feel more disappointed.

At the Erasmus introductory white T-shirt party

Back in early October, we sent out a quick survey asking people about their interests and subjects as well as the preferred nationality of their potential ‘buddies’. The response was incredible; much better than we had ever imagined, so our job was even more challenging!

There are 18 of us on the committee, which is one of the largest contingents at the University. So far this year, we’ve promoted ourselves at the Bunfight, set up trips to Oxford and Bath Christmas markets and organised introductory and Halloween parties. As we’re in charge of the buddy scheme, we create meet ups but the initiative is very much down to the amount of effort the buddies put in.

 My committee polo t-shirt!

Now more than ever, I realise just how important and rewarding such a scheme is, especially having just returned from a year abroad myself. At the start, it can be extremely daunting as you never know whether you’ll like the country, be able to make friends and manage the dreaded language barrier.

The buddy scheme is so relevant in establishing a bond between home and international students, rather than allowing cliques to grow, and showing that everyone who studies and works here is a valued part of our community. I think this is very important, especially with recent political events (Brexit being one of many!).

For all the Modern Languages students at Southampton learning French, Spanish, German - you name it - there will be just as many Erasmus and international students looking to improve their English with a native speaker. Another really great thing about it is that it’s not exclusively for language students – anyone can join in!

One of the Language Exchange events at the Bridge

We’re equally fortunate to have a multitude of language events where people can chill out and chat with people of all nationalities from diverse backgrounds, even if it’s just down the pub or on campus. After all, people often say they speak a language more fluently after a drink or two!

Nowadays, there’s a Language Exchange every Tuesday evening at Bridge on campus which always has a warm, friendly atmosphere, plus the French Society, Spanish and Portuguese Society (SLAPS) and German Society all run weekly cafés in nearby Portswood.

There really is no shortage of language opportunities here at Southampton!

Paul