Maria Abroad

Interview Martha – A Polish Girl in the UK

Posted on15. Nov, 2010 by Francois K..

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Hello! Q) What is your name? I am Barbara T. Q) How old are you? I am 24 years old. Q) What is your home country? I was born in Poland, I spent my childhood there. Q) Where do you currently live? I live in the United Kingdoms. Q) What field do you study? I [...]

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How to deal with Culture Shock

Posted on08. Nov, 2010 by Francois K..

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According to our favorite but not officially-recognized-as-a-reliable-source Wikipedia, culture shock refers to “the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, uncertainty, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within a different and unknown culture such as one may encounter in a foreign country.” Indeed, some people may feel… let’s say uncomfortable after having spent some [...]

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The hardest step: Dare to speak in a foreign language

Posted on28. Oct, 2010 by Francois K..

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Here, I could tell you about my own experience. I have recently given classes, as a French teacher. The classes took place in a restaurant owned by a French guy, in a very friendly atmosphere, and were followed by about 20 persons. One of the thing I have noticed during those classes is that the [...]

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Interview with a study abroad student from Bosnia Herzegovina

Posted on25. May, 2010 by Alexandre Q..

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What is your name and how old are you? Haris LIBIC, 20 years old. What is your home country? Bosnia Herzegovina Where do you currently live? I currently live in Irvine, CA What field do you study? I am a student at University of California Irvine (UCI), where I am currently doing a Bachelor in [...]

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What is Culture?

Posted on28. Apr, 2010 by Marie M..

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According to Gary Wederspahn, culture is the shared set of assumptions, values, and beliefs of a group of people by which they organize their common life. In our world we can distinguish lot of cultures because of the number of countries for example, but also we can see some scales in these ‘country cultures’. When [...]

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Differences Between Living in Spain and France

Posted on27. Apr, 2010 by Maria P..

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Two European countries with a common border. How different can they be? After having lived many years in both, even though the cultural differences are not shocking, there are some disparities in the daily life. I have always lived in the Spanish Basque Country, although at the age of sixteen I lived for 2 years in [...]

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Studying abroad with 13, should it be allowed?

Posted on07. Apr, 2010 by Maria P..

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Kathleen Megan wrote an article in The Hartford Courant this month concerning a case of discrimination in the University of Connecticut. Colin Carlson, a 13 year old prodigy was denied to attend an African ecology course involving a summer field study in South Africa. Even after his mother offered the university to go with him [...]

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Why study a foreign language?

Posted on01. Apr, 2010 by Marie M..

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What does ‘study a foreign language’ mean? Nowadays, more and more people speak at least two languages; it is not an ephemeral trend but an essential way in our changing world. Everything (from people to information) is closer and closer connected thanks to Internet but also thanks to our ability to move and our ever [...]

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Differences between living in Spain and the U.S.A

Posted on29. Mar, 2010 by Maria P..

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As a Spanish citizen that has spent 10 months living in the USA, I am going to develop the similarities and differences of life in Spain and in the United States. First of all, Spain has a national official language Spanish, while the United States does not have any official language even though the most [...]

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ECUADORIAN CUSTOMS AND MANNERS

Posted on20. Mar, 2010 by MariaAbroad.

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Are you thinking about moving to Ecuador for work or study abroad in this beautiful country? Sara Mercedes Arevalo Lopez contributed this informational blog post about Ecuadorian Customs and Culture to Maria Abroad! Thank you very much!!! ECUADORIAN CUSTOMS AND MANNERS Every country has its specific costumes and manners. When you come to Ecuador, it [...]