Tips for Making Friends When Studying Abroad
Going overseas as an exchange student or for a working holiday is a fantastic way to improve your English skills. You also get to experience many new things in a fresh and exciting environment. New customs, new foods, new experiences! …New friends? Well, that depends.
It turns out that making friends while studying abroad can be challenging. But friends are important for helping you improve your English through study sessions and daily conversation. And of course, you need someone to hang out with when you're not thinking about class!
If you're planning to go overseas, or if you're in another country now and struggling to make friends, we have some suggestions that will help you improve your situation!
Take advantage of school events
You don't have to put all of the pressure on yourself to find new friends. Your school knows that making connections is an important part of the study abroad experience, so it will likely hold many events that are designed for people to meet. Go to them!
There will be other people there like you who also want to meet new people and have the best international experience they can. No matter who you meet, you already know that you have at least two things in common: you are a student and you are away from your home country. That's enough to get started! A simple "Hi! Where are you from?" can lead to an interesting conversation.
Join study groups
Study groups are a great way to "kill two birds with one stone." Studying with people who speak different native languages is a good idea since everyone will have different strengths and weaknesses. While your partners are helping you, you will be able to help them with something they are struggling with, which will boost your confidence in your own ability.
By working together to achieve a goal, you will also create a stronger connection with your partners, which could lead to fun activities that aren't related to books or classes.
Join a club
Just like in your home country, joining a club is a great way to meet other people who have interests similar to yours. See what activities your school or study program sponsors. You can also look online at sites like Meetup to find other programs and activities that are offered in your area.
Groups that meet regularly are best since they give you a reason to keep going out; if you only meet once, it's possible to lose contact with people if you don't work to stay in touch.
If you don't find a club that interests you, try starting your own! This leads to our next suggestion…
Get outside of your comfort zone
Are you normally quiet and introverted? Do you often spend weekends and evenings with books, movies or other things that you can do alone? That's OK, but it probably won't help you to make friends.
If you're serious about meeting people, you will need to change your routine and try something new. That might mean contacting others about meeting up instead of waiting for someone to contact you. It might also mean doing activities you've never tried before.
We've previously suggested joining clubs, but you don't have to limit yourself to activities you already know. In fact, you shouldn't! Be adventurous! Have you ever tried rock climbing or joined a dance class? What about bowling? Team sports and other activities that require partners are great choices.
Be brave and keep an open mind when looking for things to do. After all, learning and growing as a person is the reason you're studying abroad, isn't it?
And don’t forget…
We have one more very important tip. While you are out making friends, it will be very easy to spend most of your time with people who are similar to you, either in language or background. But the friends you make will have a big impact on how much your English improves.
So if you really want to get better, try to make friends who are from different parts of the world than you. In other words, don't spend all of your time speaking your native language!
Time to move
Studying abroad is an exciting and rewarding experience that can be one of the best times of your life. But in order to get the biggest benefit, you will need to share your experiences with friends.
Look at the activities your school offers, join clubs and be active in contacting people and trying new things. Remember, if you wanted a safe and familiar routine, you could have just stayed at home!
