Is Foundation Year Life Abroad Really That Easy?

Many students think of study abroad life as easy, comfortable, and relaxed. In reality, it is not nearly as carefree as people imagine. It is not just about drinking coffee, shopping, and traveling every day. Real study abroad life, especially for foundation year students, can be very demanding. It takes a lot of effort to keep up with your studies normally.

First, consider daily life during your time abroad. In general, if students cook for themselves, their weekly food expenses will not be very high. But in return, they have to put in a lot of effort in daily life. For example, they need to spend time going to the supermarket every week to buy groceries, which is enough to put off many students from China. After all, at home, not many students do much cooking, let alone grocery shopping. But overseas, these are basic skills. So it is best to try them out in China before you leave. Otherwise, if you only start learning after you arrive, you may end up paying a costly price. Usually, you can simply look at the discount label and then roughly calculate the exchange rate between RMB and the local currency to tell whether something is expensive.

Once you are familiar with the basics of daily life, you can try looking for a part-time job. As a student, however, you can only work part-time for ten hours a week. There is no need to worry too much, though, because this is only about earning a little pocket money. In fact, we do not recommend spending too much time on part-time work. The kinds of jobs available to students are usually things like washing dishes and cleaning up after meals. If you have the opportunity, it is fine to try it out, but it is better to spend more time on your studies.

Speaking of studying, foundation year life is also very busy. Although it is called a "foundation" year, what you learn is very real and practical. You still need to build a solid base for your future studies. In addition to basic theoretical knowledge, there are also many humanities and arts courses to take. Each of these courses may involve a large number of proper nouns or technical terms, so it is still quite challenging for students with weaker language skills. That said, as we keep learning and becoming more familiar with this knowledge, we are also gradually deepening our own understanding of it.

In short, studying abroad is not easy. Even a foundation year requires action, effort, and persistence if you want to build a stronger base and be fully prepared for正式 enrollment.