Laura Knneip, Lélia Chaves and Lucas Alves
Autor: Letras | Publicado: 2011-06-21T08:16:00-07:00

Interview with a person who has been abroad – Flávia

Flávia studies Modern Languages at UFMG. She studied English, and went to Texas, USA to study abroad. She told us about her experience and how her time at an American university changed her professional life.

1. Hi Flávia, could you tell me why you decided to go abroad?

I wanted to have an academic experience abroad. I had lived in England before, but just to learn the language. So it was different, because I used to study with international students; and this time it was only academic students and English native speakers. That is why I decided to go.

2. What did you do there? In which university did you study?

I studied at Baylor University, in Texas. It is located in Wacco, about one hour and a half from Dallas, and a little bit far from Houston. I guess it is about three hours from Houston. It is a very small town, and the whole town is involved with the university. It is the only thing there, is the university, you know. That is where I studied for six months.

3. What did you find most difficult there?

I guess it is like when you are studying with native speakers, the professors, they speak at a very high speed. At first, during the first month, you are still adapting your listening and it is difficult, but then it gets normal. And I guess the worst part was to understand everything, all the classes; but only at the beginning.

4. What did you like most there?

What I liked the most? The people are very polite. It does not matter if they are Americans or the international students or people from the international department; everybody is very polite. And the classes are very good. I took three classes in Literature, the others in Grammar and Writing, and they were very helpful with improving my English and get to know literature a little better. But the people were the best part.

5. Did you travel around the country and where did you go if you did?

First, I went to one side of the coast. I went to Los Angeles, because we had some holidays. So every time we had holidays, all the students would gather and travel a little bit. So I went to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and New Orleans, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., and Texas. I went to the most important cities.

6. Do you maintain contact with people you met there?

Yes, I keep contact with most of the people there through Facebook and Skype. I really think it is important to keep this contact, because we had a very close relationship - all those students who were there during the exchange program or even the students that I met there.

7. In your opinion, how did this experience help you, and still help you nowadays?

When I went there, I had been working with human resources, and then when I came back, because I had this experience abroad, I was employed in the international commerce area, because of the English and everything. It is not still in my university course area, but it helped to get this position in the company where I was working. So that was very good, and now, in the university, I can better see what I want to do when I finish my paper and if I decide to take a master degree. It helps a lot when you have this academic experience abroad and you see what it is like to study in a place like the U.S.

Ok, Flávia, thanks for the interview.