Honestly, it’s not that bad. I am Czech and I would say that I have been doing okay in the UK. There however a few differences – I had been doing English for 13 years before I came to the UK. Also, English is one of the most commonly spoken (and taught) languages abroad. And, most importantly, most of you will be doing your coursework in English once you go abroad (… right?!) – so, what can we do to learn the language before we actually go?
Be lazy.
Why not pick a destination where the foreign language that you studied at high school/sixth-form is spoken? This might help you to decide during the early stages of your Erasmus application process.
Use the University’s facilities.
I don’t know if you noticed, but there are some language courses organised by the university. The courses offered cover the ‘big’ languages, such as French or German. You can sign up for them – but they are paid. Or… you could use the amazing international students we have a Lincoln and join the Cultural Exchange Sessions! We (yes, we! I will use this blog to shamelessly promote the Czech CES that I launched last year in cooperation with two Czech postgraduate students) organise language classes and culture exchange sessions, such as international pizza evenings, and so on.
Use your phone.
Not much to talk about here – I am sure you have heard of Duolingo, but it works wonderfully. You can spend 5-10 minutes a day practising – there are exercises for you to complete that often consist of tapping the right choice, matching pairs, drag & drop translations, or writing (o even saying) short sentences. They are drill exercises, which is great for remembering things (and for seeing the patterns in the language gradually), but they are fun! I highly recommend this.
Use Erasmus.
Erasmus offers a special service designated to assess your language abilities in the target language – and to help you learn. Unfortunately, you need a special licence to register, and it often takes a while to get one (I got mine mid-August), but you will need to register at some point – completing the language assessment is one of the requirements for getting the rest of your Erasmus grant money!
Use your host university!
Most of the host universities will offer you a free language course for the beginners – the courses often carry ECTS credits, so it literally is killing two birds with one stone!
tl;dr
There are many ways to learn a foreign language. You could pick a destination where the language you were learning at school is spoken. You can use the (free) Cultural Exchange Sessions in Lincoln that are run by international students, or you can sign up for one of the university’s (paid) language courses. You can download Duolingo and start practising. You can use the Erasmus linguistic support or often sign up for (free) language courses at your host university.
And remember – speaking another language gives your future a massive boost – it looks great on your CV, and it gives you more options! We (the Czechs) have a saying that would (freely) translate as ‘However many languages you speak is how many times you are a person,’ so let’s act on it!
Ciao,
Ondrej