Das studentische Austauschprogramm der Europäischen Union feierte am 24. Januar 2017 sein 30-jähriges Bestehen und nach wie vor erfreut es sich großer Beliebtheit unter Studenten. In der Sprachenfabrik haben einige Kollegen ebenfalls ihre ersten Auslandserfahrungen mit ERASMUS gemacht und unsere Übersetzer-Praktikanten sind begeisterte Teilnehmer des Erfolgsprogramms – so auch Ross, unser neuer Praktikant, der uns etwas über seine Erfahrungen mit ERASMUS berichtet:

The ERASMUS Programme is a student exchange programme, which supports students to study abroad in Europe. In 2017, this fantastic programme turns 30! Nearly 300,000 European students are studying, working or volunteering in a different EU country this year – and I am one of them!

Like many other British students, I started my ERASMUS adventure in Paris where I spent 6 months working as an English teacher for a large French company. As part of the ERASMUS Programme, every student is entitled to a grant. Since I got paid for my internship as well, I received slightly more than my friends who went to university. This extra money allowed me to explore every corner of the beautiful city and made life a little less stressful when the rent was due. In Paris, I decided to live with other English people in a flat share, and although this made settling in a lot easier, I would fully recommend against it! I found it way too easy to retreat into my comfort zone. Therefore, I decided to take the plunge and live with real Germans in Bielefeld! My time in Paris flew by and after half a year of climbing the Eiffel Tower, visiting the Louvre, and eating many pains-au-chocolat, I finally started to feel like my French was improving. Thanks to my ERASMUS opportunity, I now feel comfortable communicating in French.

After an unforgettable time in France’s magnificent capital, I boarded a bus (the ERASMUS grants are brilliant but Paris is not the cheapest place on earth!) and travelled straight to Bielefeld. Here I will work for Sprachenfabrik over the next 8 months as a translation intern. Whereas in France I worked with other British students in a team, I am now the only English native speaker here! My first 3 weeks in Germany have been challenging and I feel somewhat thrown in at the deep end – but that’s all part of the joy of ERASMUS! I hope to have a high level in German by the time I finish my internship and will certainly make great use of ERASMUS’ Online Linguistic Support to help me reach the highest level possible.

My ERASMUS experience so far has been one of the most exciting in my life – I’ve met some great friends from all over Europe and had the chance to feel completely independent! I would fully recommend ERASMUS to anyone who wants to improve their language skills, learn about different cultures, or simply experience life in another country!

Hopefully, this programme will continue so that students all over Europe can have this wonderful experience.