Tita Beaven: Hi, I’m Tita Beaven from the Department of Languages at the Open University. Welcome to the second episode of Talking Languages, our podcast series about language learning.

In the first episode, we heard about why people learn languages. For me, it was personal. My father is English, my mother Spanish, so languages have always been part of our family. Like many other bilingual children, I grew up taking language learning for granted, and I remember finding it bizarre that some of my friends only actually spoke one language.

In this episode, I talk to James Coleman, Professor of Language Teaching and Learning at the Open University. To start with, I wanted to know why Jim became interested in language learning in the first place.

Jim Coleman: I think like a lot of people who come from Wales I had an initial exposure to bilingualism which is extremely important. I am an English native speaker but I learnt Welsh from the age of 7 and that’s what triggered an interest in foreign languages, which has continued ever since.

Tita Beaven: Jim is an expert in the field of studying abroad, and knows a thing or two about discovering other cultures!

Jim Coleman: I find study abroad a fascinating topic, but one thing that recurs all the time is our emotional reactions to being abroad and trying to operate in a foreign language context where you don’t have the same control of the language as you do in your own language. One thing I remember very clearly is trying to open a bank account and not really understanding what was required and feeling hurt and angry and hostile as a result of my own failure to communicate and to understand what was required of me. Managing that kind of emotional response to being in a foreign culture is a very important thing to try to learn to do.

Tita Beaven: So, living abroad can be a frustrating experience. But what do foreign students who are spending time in the UK find difficult? I asked a couple of Chinese students to tell me about their experiences:

Student 1: I remember five years ago when I first arrived in the UK and I lived in Manchester, one day I went to an open market and I wanted to buy some groceries, vegetables, and food and the vendor said to me “Love, what do you want?” and I was really, really shocked and embarrassed, so I ran away without anything. I felt really, really strange, I only wanted some food and vegetables, why did this man call me love?

Student 2: Before I came here I thought my listening was kind of good, but once I arrived and I asked a lady what time is it, and she answered what time it was and I couldn’t catch it at all. I was so shocked, I was so scared, you know… the very strong British accent really scared me.

Tita Beaven: Well, it is clear that language, and interacting with people in real life can be a bit of a shock when you first go abroad, but what does the research tell us?

Jim Coleman: Trying to summarise the research that has been done recently on study abroad, first of all it’s a hugely expanding activity people around the world are realising what they can gain out of study abroad and every year the number travelling goes up and up and up, except in the UK, where I fear we are becoming a bit more insular.

Basically people gain first of all the academic, and the cultural knowledge that they gain from following courses in other countries; linguistically they also improve, especially in their spoken language and in the expansion of their vocabulary; they become more employable when they have studied abroad, because they have the capacity to function in different linguistic and cultural contexts; they develop personally, they become more self confident, more self aware.

Perhaps most important of all, is that they become citizens of the world and they become less narrow in their outlook, they develop this intercultural competence which means they can adapt and observe accurately what’s going on and participate without making narrow judgements on the community in which they are living.

Tita Beaven: When I was a student I spent a year living abroad. I was lucky enough to spend a year in the beautiful city of Bologna, in Italy. It was, of course, a great way to improve my Italian, but it was, above all, a fantastic way to find out about other people, other cultures, foods, flavours, music… I loved it so much I found myself going back to work in Italy after I graduated.

My own experience of Italy had been very positive, but I wanted to find out what foreign students think of living and studying here, so I went to the University of Buckingham, where a lot of foreign students come to do a two year degree, and asked them what they liked about studying in the UK.

Student 3: Well, one of the things I love about this country is that you meet so many different people, and at the same time they are not treated differently.

Student 4: First of all when you come here you see so many different people, so many backgrounds, it’s multicultural. So many people which you would never see in another city, and when you are dealing with them you are facing how things are done differently if you compare to your culture.

Tita Beaven: So, being exposed to other cultures is obviously something that can open your mind. But is there anything you should do in advance of such an extended visit abroad? Can you prepare for it in any way? I asked Jim Coleman about it.

Jim Coleman: If you want to ensure a successful period of residence or study abroad I think preparation is absolutely crucial. You should prepare linguistically, practically, academically but above all I think you need to prepare emotionally. There will be times when you feel absolutely lost when you are abroad, if you prepare yourself for that then you can also prepare some strategies for dealing with these feelings of home sickness and loneliness and anger and whatever the feelings are. So the message is prepare for absolutely everything and then be prepared to be surprised.

In the same way that they prepare athletes psychologically by getting them to think through the race ahead. It’s also possible for students and others who are going abroad to think through what it might actually be like and the kind of things they are going to want to do and the kind of feelings this might evoke. So that when these things happen it’s less of a surprise because they have prepared themselves psychologically for difficulties as well as the good side.

Tita Beaven: When I lived in Italy, one thing I did miss enormously was, surprisingly enough, food. Not that Italian food isn’t superb, but from time to time I have to confess that I would get together with my English friends, and have a Sunday roast. And food is something that the students at Buckingham also talked about.

Student 4: The first time it’s like, new food, new things and you are just happy to try it, but after a few months you are just fed up with it. I just want proper food that I’ve been eating all my life! I just want proper food from my mum.

Student 3: Even if you know how to cook when you use vegetables or meat etc it tastes absolutely different and not in a good way, especially the tomatoes because I’m from Bulgaria and we have wonderful tomatoes, big ones, here when you go to Tesco’s to buy tomatoes they all look the same, the colour is the same, and the shape is the same, and they taste like nothing, they taste like … feet.

Tita Beaven: So, obviously, small things, such as eating different foods, is something that you have to be prepared for. But what other things should you consider if you are thinking of spending some time living or studying abroad? I asked Jim Coleman for his advice.

Jim Coleman: Be prepared to adapt you’ve got to get away from that mentality that says this is the way we do it, and this is therefore the only way we do it. You have to be open minded you have to be willing to first of all understand and then accept that each culture has different ways of approaching food, time, greetings interpersonal relations, the conventions of work and so on, and I think if you are open minded and have your eyes open when you go abroad then you will adapt and get so much more out of the experience.

Tita Beaven: Living abroad, especially as a student, was certainly a fantastic opportunity for me, and I have many fond memories of my year abroad in Bologna. And for the students nowadays? Let’s hear it from them…

Student 4: When you come here your mind is changing a bit, it becomes reshaped and redesigned and you see things differently and then when you go back home and see what is going on there you can compare. Before you couldn’t compare because you are biased by your own culture.

Student 2: Going abroad can definitely broaden your views and if I stayed studying in China I wouldn’t know so many things but now I know lots of different things, things that even my parents don’t know and I have a more higher view and more global view.

Student 3: You go out of home thinking locally but when you go home after two or three or four years of education you come home thinking globally.

Tita Beaven: Well, as we’ve heard, living and studying abroad can open your horizons, make you more aware of cultural differences, and more competent at dealing with people from different cultures and backgrounds. So if you are about to embark on a period of living or studying abroad, or just thinking about it, have a look at our website: open2.net/learning. See you again soon!