If I work abroad/become a Language Assistant will I fall behind in my 4th year?

If, in my Third Year Abroad I decide to become a Language Assistant or do a work placement will I then fall behind when I return for my 4th year? I plan to do Business with Spanish and optional modules in Italian or Portuguese.

This question was asked on 5th January 2016 and has been read 1220 times.

  • Anonymous Answer · 3 years ago

    Hello - in my opinion you absolutely WON'T fall behind in your 4th year if you decide to work abroad or become a language assistant. You'll find that if you put the effort in, your language skills will improve hugely (perhaps you could spend some time in each of your chosen countries??!) and you needn't fall behind with your Business studies either - you could enrol in evening classes in the subject to keep your brain in gear for when you go back for 4th year. In life, yes you will spend an extra year as an Undergraduate, but you will gain an invaluable experience which will be great on a personal level as well as looking brilliant on a CV!

  • Rosemary Maher · 3 years ago

    Hi there,

    I worked as a language assistant last year, and since returning to university last September for my final year have found that I have not been in a bad position because of this. I've noticed that, generally speaking, those who did a work placement (or assistantship) have come back with a better level of French as they were speaking it all the time and were less likely to fall into the trap of making lots of English-speaking friends. Possibly this is also due to the fact they were interacting with native speakers more and thus learnt more idiomatic expressions. If you're worried about falling out of sync with academic work (e.g. essays), then have a think about finding ways to keep this up whilst abroad - I kept a vocab book, watched lots of French films/tv programmes to keep up my aural comprehension, read more French books and had some work to complete for my home university while I was abroad too. You quickly fall back into the university routine when you return for fourth year :) 
