ERASMUS+ STUDIES UU Report

ERASMUS+ STUDIES UU Report 2014‐2015 optional; only if you don’t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you directly

e‐mail address

[email protected]

faculty/college

Social Science

level

bachelor’s

name study programme

master’s

PhD

Interdisciplinary Social Science

destination city & country

Coimbra, Portugal

name university abroad

Universidade de Coimbra

start date

25 / 01 / 2015 (dd/mm/yyyy)

end date

01 / 07 / 2015 (dd/mm/yyyy)

You are requested to write on the following topics. Text boxes will expand automatically while typing!

PREPARATION exchange application process Application is quite easy. Just make sure you have all the signatures. In Portugal you need a lot of patience sometimes and need to sent reminder emails. counselling & support at Utrecht University Was just fine. Didn’t need them a lot. academic preparation In Portugal the level is lower, so no need for any preparation. language preparation You need to learn Portuguese. I hadnt because I did courses in English and everyone said you would be fine with just English. In my experience it is possible to do without Portuguese, but is so helpful to speak it. Also the number of courses in English is really limited, around 8 courses per semester. finances Portugal is mostly cheap. Only groceries can be more expensive in the beginning, because some products we found normal are really expensive here. So it takes some time learn what is cheap.

STUDY ABROAD PERIOD study programme (content and organisational issues) Classes are different from Utrecht. I didn’t have any lectures in big groups, just small groups of 20 till 30 students. Really nice to get educated this way. academic quality of education activities The level of education is much lower. I didn’t do courses in my field and I was still able to follow them counselling & support at receiving university abroad st

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UU Erasmus+ report deadlines: 1 March 2015 for 1 semester ~ 1 July 2015 for 2 semester or full year exchange page 1 of 2

Really helpful. At the beginning it is all a little bit unclear. For example you go by the office and bassicly get sent away again, because stuff is not ready yet. But if you have questions they always try to help. transfer of credits ‐‐

STUDENT LIFE welcome & orientation programme There is a welcome of one day. In my case it was in the second week of class. This made it quite unnessacery because everyone already had the information. accommodation Mostly cheap and easy to find. There are a lot of international houses. leisure & culture ESN Coimbra is very active and a good place to meet new people. Coimbra is known for its traditions in the student life, which is nice to experience. suggestions/tips

CONCLUSIONS would you recommend this university/destination abroad to others? please explain Yes, it a beautiful city which is really alive, because of the students. The city isnt big , but has everyting you need and bigger cities as Porto and Lisbon are very close. do you have any additional advice or comments? Save this UU report for your own records and send it as attachment to [email protected] within 30 days after finishing your study abroad period and in ANY case before the final deadline!

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ERASMUS+ STUDIES UU Report 2014‐2015 optional; only if you don’t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you directly

e‐mail address

@

faculty/college

Humanities

level

bachelor’s

name study programme

master’s

PhD

Liberal Arts and Sciences


Coimbra, Portugal

name university abroad

University of Coimbra

start date

15 / 09 / 2014 (dd/mm/yyyy)

end date

17 / 01 / 2015 (dd/mm/yyyy)


PREPARATION exchange application process First, I had a look at the open evening at the University of Utrecht to see what it was all about. After this evening I started looking at cities that I would prefer. This was a pretty tough process, due to the many cities that were no partner with our faculty/university and on the same time, offered English courses. When I finally found my city, I filled in the required documents and went for it. counselling & support at Utrecht University My student officer helped me with the learning agreement and told me about the possibilities. Besides that I only needed the international office of the University of Utrecht itself (because Coimbra was a partner of the whole uni, not only my faculty). They helped me to establish an agreement with the partner University, which was a bit hard, because last year nobody went there. academic preparation I wanted to write my thesis when I would come back from my study abroad, which meant that I had to finish all my courses for my studies before I went. This is what I did. language preparation I had a small translating book for dummies and on the internet I did some small research into the language. For me this was only to speak with the people of the city, because my courses were all in English. finances There were little worries about this. I rented my room to a friend of mine, which allready covered all the costs. The plane ticket I booked in advance. This was very cheap and the living there was even cheaper than here, so easy to manage.

STUDY ABROAD PERIOD study programme (content and organisational issues) The organisation was very like the culture, little worries and take your time. Even the teacher were late all the time. The content of the courses I followed were pretty interesting, but had big interdifferences. st

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academic quality of education activities The courses at the University of Coimbra, were of a lower level than usual at a Dutch University. There was a lot of group work and most of the lectures consisted of presentations of fellow erasmus student (Which was pretty poor most of the time). Also because the teachers were all Portugues, some of them didn't have very good English skills, which made it even easier for me. counselling & support at receiving university abroad The counseling and support was friendly. At the beginning the couselers were a little stressed due to the heavy traffic of incoming students and other affairs. Later on this eased out, but this didn't enlarged the productivity and speed of the office. Same here, the official documents and bureaucratic matters took very long and communication was hard some times. transfer of credits This hasn't been done for me, but it shouldn't be a problem; the University of Coimbra has the same ECTS system. The same with all the things at the Mediterranean the process evolved slow and the transcript of records will arrive approximately, somewhere in March, but it can be later.

STUDENT LIFE welcome & orientation programme There were two types of programmes designed for Erasmus students. The programm of the University itself, which consisted of only two welcome meetings and a walking tour threw the city. The second was much more inovative and fun. It was the erasmus organisation. They organised a welcoming month, which consisted of parties and activities every day. This was a good time and way to find and make new friends. accommodation I didn't find accomodation before I went. So the first days I stayed in a hostel (which I did pick, but not book ahead). So to find housing I did some research on the internet, but this was not a very productive way of searching. So at the first welcome meeting, I asked around and got some numbers. I went to a house of one of the friends I made and the landlord walked in. So I asked this man if he had a house for men. The first hhe brought me to, was the house I have lived for 4,5 months. It was a big and old stone complex in the centre, very close to the university. A lot of Erasmus students lived with me in the building, which made my stay a lot more fun. leisure & culture The culture is different from my own, which I found an interesting observation. It is hard to grasp and formulate a culture, so I can only say the Portugues are very kind at first but not very interested in foreigners. They are very hopitalital, but don't like to speak other than their own language. suggestions/tips Don't find a house in advance, look there, you will end up with a lot better place. Try to arrive before the classes start, because the welcoming months starts a lot earlier!

CONCLUSIONS would you recommend this university/destination abroad to others? please explain Yes, it is a student city, so for studying it is a lot of fun! Also portugal is an interesting country with a unique culture. So probably good to explore different people than you normally meet. do you have any additional advice or comments?

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Go in the summer time. The winter (only two months of cold) is sad in southern countries, because they don’t have a lot of central heating systems, because they normally don’t need them. Save this UU report for your own records and send it as attachment to [email protected] within 30 days after finishing your study abroad period and in ANY case before the final deadline!

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UU Report form ‐ Erasmus 2013‐2014 optional; only if you don’t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you directly

e‐mail address

[email protected]

faculty/college

University of Utrecht, Faculty of Social Siences

level

bachelor

name degree programme

Sociology


Coimbra, Portugal

name host institution and/or

University of Coimbra

master

PhD

research

work placement

company/organization purpose Erasmus grant departure date (dd/mm/yyyy) return date (dd/mm/yyyy)

courses 01 / 09 / 2013 31 / 01 / 2014


preparation exchange/placement application process I had sent my application and all the required documents to the host university a long time before their deadline, but it took ages for them to respond. Finally it turned out that they had lost my registration, and they accepted me a month before I started, after I kept mailing them. counselling/support at home university Because I had many problems with arranging my documents at the host university due to their chaotic way of organizing things, I could not make the deadline for applying for my Erasmus grant because they were too slow with signing the documents. Thankfully my home university, did not make a big deal of it, and reassured me that I still could receive my grant. academic preparation

language preparation I had followed some language courses in Portuguese before I went there. One month before I started my Erasmus in Coimbra I took a summer course in Portuguese at the University of Lisbon. In the first three weeks in Coimbra I took an intensive language course as well, which made my preparation quite good. finances

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UU Erasmus report deadlines: 1 March 2014 for 1 semester ~ 1 July 2014 for 2 semester or full year exchange/placement page 1 of 3

I did not have financial difficulties in Portugal study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) The organization in Coimbra was terrible. Many things were arranged in a chaotic way, so that I had to spend a lot of time sorting out things. academic quality of education/placement activities Many courses which were presented as courses to be given in English, turned out to be partly given in the local language(Portuguese). This sometimes made it very hard to understand the content of the course, what I had to do, and subsequently made it more difficult to pass the exams. counselling/support at host institution/organisation The people at the international office were kind, but sometimes there were too few assistants for too many students, which resulted in spending a lot of time waiting in enormous queues before being helped. transfer of credits I still have to wait for this transfer. Hopefully everything will be fine. student life welcome/orientation programme There were some activities, but I did not participate in these. I made friends in other ways. accommodation I rented a room in a student house. It was really nice. leisure/culture I travelled to other cities in Portugal and also to some cities in Spain. suggestions/tips conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain Yes, but with some reservations. I really enjoyed my time in Coimbra, but more because of the fantastic student life and not because of the university. The university did not match my expectations. I knew before I came to Portugal that it would be probably a less efficiently organized than in Utrecht. However, the differences were gigantic. The organization was really bad, and what most frustrating for me was that the courses offered in English in fact were partly ginven in Portuguese, including lectures and course material that were vital to the course. This made it difficult for me and many other exchange students to fully understand the information and st

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thus hard to pass the exams. do you have any additional advice or comments? Please save this UU report for your own records and send it to [email protected] within 30 days after finishing your study/placement abroad period and in ANY case before the final deadline! If you fail to submit the UU report in time, we have to claim back the Erasmus grant.

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UU Report form ~ Erasmus 2010-2011 faculty/college

Humanities

level

bachelor

master


Taal & Cultuurstudies


Bologna, Italy


University of Bologna

PhD

other

company/organization purpose Erasmus grant

study/courses

departure date (dd/mm/yyyy)

5 / 10 / 2010

return date (dd/mm/yyyy)

25 / 01 / 2011

work placement


preparation exchange/placement application process The application progress was quite clear, although I do think that at the beginning it's quite hard to organize how to put priorities in all the paperwork counselling/support at home university The support was very good, I always could go to the international office for information and they helped me very kindly. academic preparation The moment I started my application process I already did a lot of courses that prepared me for the courses in my exchange period. I developed my academical skills and followed communication courses which have given me a good basic. language preparation I've done two courses of Italian language and I aplied for the EILC in Perugia, where I studied Italian language & culture on C1 level. finances I had to fill in a finance scheme, which made me think of my expenses in Italy. I'm very glad I prepared this properly because it's easy to underestimate its importance. Still it's hard to think of it when you not yet know exactly what your expenses will be. study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) My learning agreement has changed a lot, because the organisation of courses in Italy is not so clear on forehand. This resulted in my final learning agreement being created only the last month. academic quality of education/placement activities

UU report deadlines! 1 March 2011 for 1st semester exchange ~ 1 July 2011 for 2nd semester or full year exchange/placement Universiteit Utrecht - International Office, Heidelberglaan 8, 3584 CS Utrecht, [email protected] page 1 of 2

The academic quality of education is good, although the type of education (frontal education) is different from Holland. I could easily understand everything so the level of education was comprehensible. counselling/support at host institution/organisation I discovered I really had to arrange things in person in Italy, The response to e-mailcontact is very low (they are hard to reach), and the best option is to ask things personally transfer of credits I got my credits in cfu, so I had to transfer them in ECTS. student life welcome/orientation programme Unfortunately I missed the welcome meeting in Bologna because of my EILC exams, but after that I had no problems with finding the office and arrange all the papers. accommodation I went to Bologna one month before studying to search for an accomodation. This went really well, I found a room together with another girl in an appartment not far from the centre. leisure/culture I learned a lot of the Italian culture from my roommates. They were all Italians and really friendly. We did a lot together and I learned how to cook Italian food! suggestions/tips No conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain Absolutely, I really like the city and its beautiful university buildings. It has a lot of history and it's a real student city. do you have any additional advice or comments? No

Reminder: for the purpose of future correspondence on the final awarding of your Erasmus grant, please make sure you update your telephone number(s), postal and e-mail addresses in Steun in case of any changes after your return! https://www.ssc-steun.uu.nl/

UU report deadlines! 1 March 2011 for 1st semester exchange ~ 1 July 2011 for 2nd semester or full year exchange/placement Universiteit Utrecht - International Office, Heidelberglaan 8, 3584 CS Utrecht, [email protected] page 2 of 2


Economics

level

bachelor

master


Economics


Coimbra, Portugal


Coimbra University

PhD

other


study/courses

Erasmus Mundus master’s programme

work placement

field work


30 / 08 / 2009


12 / 02 / 2010

other,

You are requested to write on the following topics. Text boxes will expand automatically while typing.

preparation exchange/placement application process The process of applying for the program went rather quick, although the bureaucracy was quite noticable. Different faculties having different procedures/forms made it harder to apply. The learning agreent is one of the examples. The faculty of economics uses a different form, complicating matters in my opinion unnecessarely. But in general I was quite satisfied, during two to three weeks hard work was required, then one could go for 6 months abroad. counselling/support at home university Good, correct. Quick response to e-mails. Good information sessions. academic preparation None, all prerequisites were fulfilled. language preparation Followed one Portuguese language course. I knew the rest would follow once I would arrive abroad. finances Finances were ok, especially since I went to a country were living is cheaper then in Holland. Encountered no problems. study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) Very hard to organize, hard to recognize which course are given, which aren't. Impossible to do when not at the university itself. Help was offered but in a chaotic way. Stamps and signatures were needed from several offices on one form. Confusing. academic quality of education/placement activities Although hard to qualify because of the language barrier I would say the academic level was lower then in my

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UU report deadlines! March 1, 2010 for 1 semester exchange ~ July 1, 2010 for 2 semester or full year exchange Universiteit Utrecht - International Office, Heidelberglaan 8, 3584 CS Utrecht, [email protected] page 1 of 2

home University. Only a very small amount of work was needed to be able to participate in courses. Some courses were different then others, quality ranging from below avarage to good. counselling/support at host institution/organisation Motivated staff, more then willing to help. Although chaotic, not working databases, complicated ways of subscribing for courses made it for them difficult to effectively work. transfer of credits Not known yet, although I expect to have 30 ECTS. Difficulty is to effectively put them in my bachelor in my home university. Courses in the host institution are worth 6 ects, in my home institution 7,5. This makes it harder. student life welcome/orientation programme Short but sufficient. A bit overlapping with the leisure/culture program. accommodation I happened to know several people already living in Coimbra so upon arrival I already had a room. leisure/culture Enjoyed a lot, a lot of activities. Cultural and pleasure (organized party's). Made it easy to meet other Erasmus students. Also to get to know the city. suggestions/tips The student life in Coimbra speaks for itself and does not need too much of an explanation. Go with the flow. Try some local restaurants/bars! conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain Coimbra is an amazing vibrant city. The Portuguese are very kind people. If you can live with the southern culture where everything goes slightly slower then at least I was used to it is a beautiful city. Great for half a year. Organization wise/academicly the faculty of economics was not really my thing. But the positive memories dominate clearly. do you have any additional advice or comments? Relax, sit back and enjoy the ride.

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Geesteswetenschappen/Universiteit Utrecht

level

bachelor

master


Nederlandse taal en cultuur


Coimbra, Portugal


Universidade de Coimbra

PhD

other


study/courses

Erasmus Mundus master’s programme

work placement

field work


05 / 02 / 2010


29 / 07 / 2010

other,

You are requested to write on the following topics. Text boxes will expand automatically while typing.

preparation exchange/placement application process The whole thing started off in january 2009. It is a long time ago so I can't remember everything but it was lots of paperwork and waiting. But everything went right. counselling/support at home university I had a lot of help from M. Splint, she tried to answer all my questions, and there were many. academic preparation None, I didn't know what kind of courses I would attend in Coimbra language preparation I attended a course at the James Boswell Institution but it was only 8 lessons and really not enough to be able to speak any portuguese, I didn’t feel like I learned any more Portuguese. finances I have been working my whole summer 2009 and had a second job during the first semester 2009/2010. And of course I requested the Erasmus grant. study/placement abroad period study programme/work plan (concerning content and organisational issues) I attended an intensive Portuguese course, after that the classes portuguese for Erasmus. Next to that I attended 3 very good courses: Theory of Literature, English literature and North-American Culture. That was the plan and that's what I did. academic quality of education/placement activities For the three english courses I had an amazing teacher, the quality of the education was very good. The portuguese classes for Erasmus people disappointed me. The quality was poor and the course was very bad st

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organized, it's only because of that I didn't finish it, not because I couldn’t speak enough Portuguese. counselling/support at host institution/organisation Don't expect anything from the host institution, it is poorly organized. Maybe to Portuguese standards it is quite ok, but to Dutch standards it's very bad. I've had and still have problems with the institution. I hope to get my grades to the Netherlands on time so I can start my Masters in september. transfer of credits The transfer of credits, that's my question. I have no clue how to make that happen! student life welcome/orientation programme The Erasmusorganisation in Coimbra is only there to make sure you drink enough alcohol and attend enough parties. They didn't help me out on any problem that had to do with organisation/information/paperwork or anything. So yes, there was a welcome programme and it was all about partying. accommodation When I arrived lived in the university residence. It was a good residence but very, very far from university. I left after 2 weeks to a studenthouse that I found myself. leisure/culture Coimbra is an amazing city, there is always something to do and I have to admit: there is a lot of party going on here. The town is a little small but in two hours you're in Porto or Lisbon to get some culture! suggestions/tips Leave the residence as soon as possible, it will make your life better! Try to do the english/american literature courses that I attended because they are really really great. Don't think that any other course will be in English. Portuguese is a very difficult language to learn so make sure you have some real good basics before you get here if you really want to attend portuguese courses. conclusions would you recommend this host organisation/destination to others? please explain I would really recommend Universidade de Coimbra to everyone, but mainly because Coimbra is an amazing town and it breathes studentlife. do you have any additional advice or comments? Good luck on all the paperworks, I have no good advice on this, I wish I had because it could make your life here so much better!

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Exchange report of Universidade de Coimbra Faculty of Humanities Period: July 2008 ‐ January 2009 Voorbereiding Ter voorbereiding van het halfjaar in Coimbra kregen we hulp van de docenten van de opleiding Portugees. Er werd ons uitgelegd welke formulieren we moesten invullen en deze hebben we gezamenlijk en ruim op tijd opgestuurd. We kregen veel informatie over de universiteit in Coimbra, het studentenleven en de huisvesting. Er werd ons een plattegrond van de universiteit aangereikt, adressen waar we een kamer zouden kunnen vinden en tips voor het leven daar. Voor mijn vertrek heb ik mijn ov‐kaart ingeleverd om een vergoeding te krijgen en heb ik mijn kamer in onderhuur gedaan. De eerste indrukken Eenmaal in Coimbra aangekomen was ik aangenaam verrast met de stad. Samen met mijn ouders ben ik de stad gaan verkennen en op zoek gegaan naar een kamer. In een lijstje dat ik had meegekregen stonden enkele adressen en zodoende ben ik bij het huis dat mij het aantrekkelijkst leek beland; een prachtige villa met tuin en zwembad midden in het centrum. Een klasgenoot werd mijn ganggenootje en de andere klasgenoten zaten in een ander huis op 15 min loopafstand van ons. De studie Na twee vrije dagen begon de intensieve cursus Portugees die ongeveer twee weken zou duren. Ik vond deze cursus heel leerzaam, echter vond ik dat we veel te lange dagen moesten maken (wat gepaard ging met concentratie verlies) en dat de cursus veel effectiever was geweest als deze wat meer verspreid had gelegen over een paar maanden. De dagen waren zeer lang aangezien wij ’s ochtends vroeg om 9 uur begonnen en het voorkwam dat wij om 8 uur klaar waren waarna wij nog boodschappen moesten doen, koken en het huiswerk maken voor de volgende dag. In de tweede week begonnen ook de andere colleges en nam de drukte toe. Ik had besloten om drie extra vakken te volgen die mij erg interessant leken naast de verplichte vakken literatuur, taalkunde en geschiedenis van Portugal. Vooral de laatste vond ik interessant, maar ik vond dat de onderwijsmethode matig was voor alle drie. We hadden bij geen enkel vak een reader of een boek ontvangen en waren dus genoodzaakt om goede notities te maken. De docenten literatuur en taalkunde konden vele verhalen vertellen zonder echt de essentie te geven, maar waren heel vriendelijk en we konden wel bij ze terecht als het nodig was. Formulieren Dit verdient een aparte titel, want wij hebben veel verwarring en problemen ondervonden met alle papieren die wij moesten laten tekenen, opsturen, bestempelen enz. Het was mij niet geheel duidelijk hoe en waar dit moest gebeuren, want elke keer bleek dat we nog ergens heen moesten, nog een handtekening nodig hadden van de één, later van de ander en wij hadden dit niet overzichtelijk op papier staan. International office was altijd drukbezet en het kon gemakkelijk uren duren voor we geholpen werden. Het is het handigst om ’s morgens vroeg te gaan om de grote drukte te voorkomen. Ik ondervond helaas een probleem met de Erasmus beurs. Het bleek dat mijn papieren zoek waren geraakt in Nederland en dat ik daardoor geen beurs kon ontvangen tot dit weer hersteld was. Financiën Mijn kamer in Coimbra was vrij duur voor de standaard daar, maar ik had wel een eigen badkamer en douche en een grote tuin. De huur bedroeg 235 euro. Ik denk dat ik ongeveer 50 euro per week kwijt

was aan boodschappen en dergelijke. Ik heb nog vele leesboeken gekocht die op onze literatuurlijst stonden voor literatuur. (Helaas bedacht de docent zich in het midden van het semester en heb ik een aantal boeken overbodig gekocht omdat ze die achteraf toch niet wilde behandelen). Collegegeld werd nog aan Utrecht betaald. Het vervelende was dat mijn studiefinanciering in het eerste semester afliep en dat ik nog steeds geen Erasmus beurs had ontvangen. Hierdoor kreeg ik het financieel lastig als mijn collegegeld van mijn rekening werd afgeschreven. Uiteindelijk heb ik eind november toch de beurs ontvangen. Het studentenleven Het is zeker aan te raden om deel te nemen aan de activiteiten die door Erasmus worden georganiseerd; zo heb ik in Coimbra heel veel Erasmusstudenten ontmoet van verschillende nationaliteiten. Ik kreeg uitnodigingen voor diners, feestjes, reisjes en activiteiten. Ik heb aan één van de reizen deelgenomen en dat blijft toch één van de leukste ervaringen die ik daar heb gehad! Ik heb er voor gekozen om toch niet aan teveel activiteiten deel te nemen, aangezien ik al mijn vakken wilde halen en de meeste Erasmus studenten vooral in het buitenland zijn om te feesten en in mindere mate om het studeren. Met ons klasje Portugees hebben we vaak de sportschool ‘Corpo louco’ bezocht wat ons heel wat vrolijke uurtjes heeft bezorgd, vooral bij de les ‘dance fusion’ waar we allen met veel plezier aan deelnamen. Ik vond het leuk om te lunchen aan een terras bij de rivier en om af en toe een fadobar te bezoeken waar mensen spontaan muziek maakten. Ik ben regelmatig uit eten gegaan, omdat dit in Coimbra goed te betalen was. De taal In mijn tijd in Coimbra heb ik de taal veel beter leren spreken en schrijven. De intensieve cursus heeft hierbij geholpen, ondanks de korte periode. De verplichte lessen en de extra vakken die ik volgde werden allemaal in het Portugees gegeven en ik merkte dat het steeds beter ging met de taal. Helaas ben ik niet veel met Portugezen omgegaan en juist met Erasmusstudenten. Gelukkig zaten er wel Brazilianen tussen met wie ik mijn Portugees kon oefenen en had ik huisgenotes met wie ik Portugees sprak. Het huis Het huis waar ik in zat was op het eerste gezicht geweldig om in te wonen. Ik zat er vaak in de tuin te leren en genoot van de rust dat het me bood, zelf midden in de stad. Helaas kwamen mijn klasgenootje en ik er al spoedig achter dat de huisbaas heel raar was. Hij kwam elke dag op onze gang en sprak ons steeds aan over van alles. Vaak ging het om de bijzonder strenge regels die hij had bedacht en was van plan ons elke dag te controleren. Hij liet ons niet echt met rust en kwam regelmatig onze kamers in als wij wegwaren om te controleren of alles in orde was. Een enkele keer stapte hij zonder te kloppen de kamers binnen als er wél iemand aanwezig was. De ervaring Studeren in Coimbra was uiteindelijk een bijzondere ervaring die ik niet meer zal vergeten. Ik heb er veel leuke activiteiten ondernomen, aardige mensen ontmoet, maar ook veel gestudeerd. Het is een stad met veel mooie plekken, cultuur en tradities. Ik moest in het begin even wennen aan de manier van lesgeven op de universiteit, maar ik heb me uiteindelijk net als ieder van ons, aangepast en alles met succes gehaald. De docenten waren zoals de meeste mensen daar, heel aardig en behulpzaam. Na de leuke tijd die ik in Coimbra heb gehad en de contacten die ik er heb opgedaan, ga ik zeker een keer terug!

Exchange report of Universidade de Coimbra Faculty of Humanities Period: August 2008 ‐ January 2009 Voorbereiding Aan de universiteit Utrecht, aan de faculteit Letteren, studeer ik Portugese taal & cultuur. In het tweede jaar is het verplicht om het eerste semester in Portugal door te brengen. Aan de universiteit van Coimbra om precies te zijn, in het noorden van Portugal. Deze ervaring, om een semester in Portugal te verblijven en te studeren, is een verrijking en verbetering van het schrijven en converseren in het Portugees op academisch niveau. Om de Erasmus‐beurs te krijgen moesten we in het eerste jaar 60 ECTS hebben behaald en we moesten een aantal formulieren invullen. Nadat we dit allemaal hadden behaald, ingevuld en opgestuurd naar International office, heb ik een aantal weken daarna een e‐mail ontvangen dat onze aanvraag in behandeling was genomen. Een paar dagen later kreeg ik een e‐mail dat mijn aanvraag was goedgekeurd en dat ik mijn vergoeding van €200,‐ per maand zou krijgen vanaf de eerste maand in het buitenland. Bij mij is overigens het hele bedrag van €1000,‐ in één keer gestort in het begin van de maand september. Studie in het buitenland Omdat er elk jaar studenten van de universiteit Utrecht naar Coimbra gaan om te studeren, hebben onze docenten een goede band met de docenten in Coimbra. Daarom hadden wij de eerste twee weken van september een intensieve taalcursus gevolgd, die alleen voor studenten van de universiteit Utrecht was. Dit om ons Portugees weer op peil te krijgen na de zomervakantie, en om nieuwe grammatica te leren en onze spreek‐ en schrijfvaardigheid te verbeteren. Normaal gesproken begint het eerste semester in Portugal pas half of eind september, dus de planning was dat we eerst de intensieve taalcursus zouden afronden voordat de andere verplichte vakken zouden beginnen. Maar dat is dit jaar anders gelopen. Van hoger hand was dit schooljaar besloten dat de lessen eerder moesten beginnen. Dus onze verplichte vakken begonnen al terwijl we nog bezig waren met de intensieve taalcursus. De verplichte vakken die wij moesten volgen aan de universiteit waren: Literatura Portuguesa 2 (Portugese literatuur 2), Introdução aos estudos linguisticos (linguïstiek, een introductie) en História de Portugal contemporânea (hedendaagse geschiedenis van Portugal). Deze 3 vakken en de intensieve taalcursus waren allemaal 7,5 ETCS waard. Als optioneel vak had ik vertalen gekozen, van het Nederlands naar het Portugees. Dit vak was 6 ECTS waard. Er zit wel een verschil in de manier van les geven in vergelijking met het lesgeven in Nederland. In Nederland, vooral als de klas klein is, is er veel interactie. De docenten betrekken de studenten in de lessen. Tijdens de lessen wordt het materiaal wat net onderwezen is meteen toegepast doormiddel van kleine opdrachten die de studenten tijdens het college moeten maken. Ook word in Nederland een student meer als een gelijke gezien door de docent dan in Portugal. In Portugal genieten de docenten veel aanzien en daar gedragen zij zich dan ook naar. Ook werd er bij geen enkel vak dat wij hebben gevolgd gebruik gemaakt van readers of ondersteunend lesmateriaal. We hoefden ook geen materiaal voor een college voor te bereiden, omdat we vaak de enigen waren die dat deden. De

Portugese studenten zijn dit niet gewend en de docenten gaan er dan ook van uit dat ze het niet doen, en behandelen alles in de les. In Nederland is deze mentaliteit anders. Als er materiaal wordt opgegeven voor het volgende college, dan wordt dat van een student verwacht. Heeft de student het niet gedaan, dan is dat zijn of haar probleem en niet die van de docent. Er is ook veel sprake van bureaucratie. Als je aan de universiteit Utrecht een lokaal niet kan vinden dan ga je naar het secretariaat en dan word het je gezegd. In Portugal werkt het anders. Je moet voor het minste of geringste een nummertje trekken bij de administratie en dan minstens anderhalf uur wachten totdat je geholpen wordt, dus dat loopt een beetje moeizaam. Ook aan het begin van het semester moesten wij ons inschrijven aan de universiteit van Coimbra. Het International was maar 4 halve dagen open en er waren honderden studenten die zich in moesten schrijven. Dus dat was wachten, wachten en nog eens wachten en heel veel formulieren invullen. We werden ook van het kastje naar de muur gestuurd, want dan moesten we bijvoorbeeld ons eerst laten inschrijven op het stadhuis om een collegekaart te kunnen krijgen. Je leert het accepteren want je kunt er niets aan veranderen. Het Portugese cijfersysteem gaat tot 20 in plaats van tot 10 zoals in Nederland. Als je het om wilt reken moet je het cijfer gedeeld door 2 doen + 0,5. Bijvoorbeeld: als je een 13 hebt gehaald. Gedeeld door 2 is een 6.5 + 0,5 is een 7 in het Nederlandse cijfersysteem. Het studentenleven Voordat wij naar Coimbra gingen, hebben wij contact opgenomen met een aantal personen die kamers te huur aanboden in Coimbra. Wij hebben binnen de studie Portugees een lijst van adressen waar de studenten elk jaar gebruik van maken om een accommodatie te vinden voor de 5 maanden. Na mijn aankomst in Coimbra ben ik naar het huis gegaan waar ik een kamer had gehuurd en contact opgenomen met de andere studenten uit Utrecht en hebben we de stad verkent. Ik zat zelf in een villa met een zwembad, sauna en grote tuin. Het huis werd bewoond door de eigenaar en zijn familie. De verdieping onder het huis bood ruimte voor 9 meisjes. Ik had zelf een individuele kamer met eigen badkamer. We hadden 2 keukens, een grote keuken met tv en een kleine keuken. Omdat ik zelf ongeveer 14 uur les per week had en verder in een vreemde omgeving zat, hadden we met zijn allen besloten om te gaan sporten. We zijn daar naar de sportschool ‘Corpo Louco’ gegaan en we hebben ons aangemeld voor groepslessen. Daar gingen we 5 dagen per week heen. Voor de rest ben ik een paar keer naar het zuiden van Portugal, de Algarve, geweest om mijn familie op te zoeken. Maar het is een reis van 7 uur met de bus,dus dat heb ik niet elk weekend gedaan. Ik ben naar de bedevaartsplaats Fátima geweest , Figueria da Foz en Aveiro. In Coimbra zelf hebben we de monumenten en bezienswaardigheden bezocht waar de stad om bekend staat. Dit is tevens ook een advies. Coimbra is niet zo een grote stad. De hele stad heb je in 4 weken wel helemaal gezien, dus zoek een bezigheid zoals sporten of ga veel reizen door Portugal, want het is een prachtig land met een veelzijdig landschap en veelzijdige steden. Er worden vanuit Erasmus zelf ook veel reizen en evenementen georganiseerd, dus dat is ook een aanrader. Conclusie Coimbra is een aan te raden bestemming. De mensen en de stad zijn veelzijdig en het is natuurlijk een verrijking van kennis en ervaring hoe er les wordt gegeven in het buitenland, in dit geval in

Portugal. Het is natuurlijk altijd wel even wennen als je ver van huis bent en opeens in een andere cultuur terecht komt. Daarom raad ik aan om, naast je schoolwerk, ervan te genieten. Ga reizen, steden en monumenten bezoeken, ga uit en ga sporten zodat je lekker onder de mensen komt en het een fijne tijd zal zijn om op terug te kijken.

Exchange report of Universidade de Coimbra Faculty of Humanities Period: September 2008 ‐ February 2009 Preparation As preparation I studied the language during 4 Portuguese language courses, which were all part of the first year of my bachelor. We did this with three different teachers and three times a week. During the last language course two teachers visited us from Coimbra (host institution) so that we could already get acquainted. As far as finances go, we were able to retain the same grants that students get for studying in Holland, plus we were expecting to receive the Erasmus grant. Study Abroad In Coimbra we started with a brief language course for two weeks, in which we spent up to 8 hours a day working an intense language program. After those two weeks the regular lessons were supposed to start, although some of them only started a bit later. The courses that I followed were ‘Culture(history), Linguistics and Literature. The quality and standard of education was usually high enough although the participation was at times very minimal and the courses long. The counselling and support that we received was very minimal, with us waiting in front of closed doors more than once. Our intensive language course teachers however, were very kind and informative to us, also taking us on a little fieldtrip to conclude the course. I think that the transfer of credits was not a big problem, although the gathering of signatures for the grades was tedious at times. Student life In Coimbra we received a welcoming e‐mail telling us where to meet the first day. We started off with a brief tour of the building, which was very helpful. Accommodation I had found here in Holland, so that when I arrived in Coimbra I could start living there immediately. However, it is easy enough to find better rooms in Coimbra and I would encourage students to look for a room once they get there instead of already renting something beforehand. Concerning leisure and culture, there was more than enough time for both and Portugal is a wonderful country with so many things to do. Coimbra is a bit small, but Lisbon and Porto are very near and accessible by train. Coimbra has a really nice market and boasts a very old cathedral and many churches. There are also many clubs and cafes that are opened almost every day. Conclusions Coimbra is a beautiful city and very recommendable both in a cultural and academic sense. The city is very small though and sometimes it may prove difficult to make friends. But that doesn’t take away that the people are very friendly, and once I adapted to the differences I had a very enjoyable time during my trip.

Exchange report of Universidade de Coimbra Faculty of Humanities Period: August 2008 ‐ January 2009 Preparation In 2007 I started studying Portuguese and after the fulfilment of four language courses I was interested in continuing the study Portuguese. The study department offered me a special study program for students Portuguese from Utrecht in Coimbra (Portugal). Because it is an annual programme, I asked Portuguese students from the previous year for information. They also gave a presentation about their staying in Coimbra. One of the students did know a Dutch lady who rented apartments in Coimbra for students. I got in touch with her before going to Coimbra to arrange a room. Regarding financial funding and the Erasmus grant the university offered information via the international office. Together with them we filled the required papers to request this. Study abroad: The initial idea was that we got an additional two‐week language course at the University of Coimbra before the start of the programme. During the second week of this course the other courses already started. I experienced that the language course was too short and having the other subjects in the second week was hectic and really difficult to keep up with my other classmates. I found the subjects interesting but it was different from Holland. There was not many interaction between the teacher and the students, so we had to listen for two or three hours to the teacher and write everything down that we could understand. In the beginning this was really hard but in the end I managed to get it on paper and understand everything that the teacher was telling us. Beside this, the classes where not very organised and we didn’t have books. To be sure that I understood everything from the classes, I compared my notes with the notes of my classmates. We did had a counsellor, but I didn’t had any problems I couldn’t fix on my own, so I have just seen her one or two times. When I look back I think the school system was a really good experience, because I have learned that not all the systems are the same and I’m really proud that even trough the differences I managed to pass all my exams. In the end we had to get signatures of all the teachers with our final notes and I managed to get almost all of them and the last signature will arrive next week. Student life In the beginning we had an introduction with our counsellor the language teachers. They explained some things about the Portuguese life and the student life in Coimbra. During the weekends most Portuguese students went to there families. We, Erasmus students, took the train and the bus to experience the Portuguese culture. For Dutch students it is an advantage that that the train and bus in Portugal are inexpensive. There is a lot to see even close to Coimbra,so there was always a new adventure. I stayed in an apartment with three other students. The apartment was relatively expensive and I didn’t get what I paid for. The rooms were old and the kitchen was very dirty and incomplete. There wasn’t even a central heating which made the house very cold during the winter. I recommend future students to go to Coimbra and book a youth hostel for one or two weeks for finding a room. It is easy to get a room in Coimbra. If you do it this way, you’ll get more involved within the local culture.

Conclusions: Overall it was a really good experience, I got integrated in the Portuguese culture, my Portuguese is better and because of the differences of culture with Holland it was really good for my personal

development. I think Coimbra is a nice city but I would prefer another city in Portugal like Braga or Lisbon. Coimbra is a small town and except of the students parties there isn’t a lot of culture to experience like theatres or museums. They have some historical places but in one weekend you have seen everything. My advice is when you go to Coimbra you have to travel during the weekend so you can escape the silence of the city and see a lot of the beautiful culture of Portugal.

ERASMUS+ STUDIES UU Report

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