I recently decided to return to uni and do some bridging courses, make sure my skills were where I wanted them to be. I’m studying on-line which has its own challenges, but, the biggest challenge has been getting used to the way things work at university again. I don’t want to get into any of the negatives. This isn’t about that, so the only thing I’ll say on that topic is, expect some negatives. Those won’t be the same for everyone, but, if I was a betting person, I’d bet a large sum of money that everyone faces negatives at some point in their university studies.
What this post is about, are the things that will affect young ESL learners going to uni abroad.
The first thing you need to know is that, there will be a language level requirement before any university will accept you. You will have to pass a test to prove your language skills, and it almost certainly won’t be the Eiken test. Even at high levels, the Eiken test, in my opinion, is inadequate as a method of gauging whether a student will be able to understand and participate in university-level discussions, let alone university-level writing assignments.
The second thing you need to know is that, most universities now have bridging courses that are a compulsory part of any degree. These courses are there to teach you the skills you need to be able to complete university-level assignments. These are skills like researching, essay and report writing, referencing, using the library to find academic papers and the like. All necessary skills if you’re going to have a successful academic experience and launch yourself into a post-study career.
I would recommend doing this class on-line before leaving for uni. It will give you foundational skills that you’ll need for all your other studies, and it’s better to have those skills already in place before you start your other classes rather than trying to learn them alongside those classes. If you do the class on-line, you can get credit for the class so you don’t have to do it twice. You’ll also get a small taste of what university study will be like before spending a lot of money to fly to another country, set up accommodations, pay for English classes, and so on.
So… yeah. Uni can be a lot of fun. You can meet a lot of interesting people and have a lot of interesting conversations, but only if your English is up to snuff. You’ll find it easier to complete your studies if you work to develop the skills mentioned above before you start classes. And you’ll probably find it impossible to complete your studies if you don’t develop those skills. Also, when starting an assignment, always read the question carefully, all of the question, including all the bits about formatting, submitting, and style of referencing. Those things matter.
Good luck.
