New Harumf

Jan 8 2012, 05:51 PM

Personally, I would enjoy Europe more, only because of my personal interests (and I liked Germany when I was visiting my niece who studied there for a year). Seems to me the call is up to you and your own personal likes and dislikes. German is NOT a bad language to study for international affairs, by the way.

meh

Jan 8 2012, 05:58 PM

New Harumf

Jan 8 2012, 05:51 PM

Personally, I would enjoy Europe more, only because of my personal interests (and I liked Germany when I was visiting my niece who studied there for a year). Seems to me the call is up to you and your own personal likes and dislikes. German is NOT a bad language to study for international affairs, by the way.

It's not a critical language though. There's a much higher chance of me getting a job, especially in the government, if I have proficiency in a critical language.

The Authority of the Grand Moff

Jan 8 2012, 08:25 PM

Trust me on this:

Do your study abroad in Europe.

Ideally the Mediterranean.

Especially any island in the Mediterranean.

meh

Jan 9 2012, 12:21 AM

The Authority of the Grand Moff

Jan 8 2012, 08:25 PM

Trust me on this:

Do your study abroad in Europe.

Ideally the Mediterranean.

Especially any island in the Mediterranean.

How would this help me? If I trusted everyone random person I met on the internet, some Nigerian Prince would have my social security number by now.

Assassin

Jan 9 2012, 03:02 PM

You couldn't pay me enough to go to the middle east again.

meh

Jan 9 2012, 11:41 PM

Assassin

Jan 9 2012, 03:02 PM

You couldn't pay me enough to go to the middle east again.

Unless you were part of the military, I don't see why.

meh

Jan 8 2012, 04:36 PM

Currently, I'm majoring in International Affairs  and Political Science at my university. With my language emphasis in German, I have some several obvious choices that my parents support as well, mainly Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. However, I plan on starting Arabic next year, and thought it would be better for a potential career if I studied Arabic abroad, especially in the Middle East. Now my school only offers study abroad in the Middle East in places like Morroco (which technically isn't in the Middle East, but still an Arab country), Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. My questions is, would it be more benefitial to study abroad in the Middle East, or elsewhere, like in Europe?

:sultan:

Draxis

Jan 10 2012, 03:39 PM

Maghrebi Arabic is indeed different, most other arabic speakers have trouble understanding North African dialects. Hence why the name for Morrocan Maghrebi dialects is usually Durija. I have seen the American University and know that they have some pretty good scholarships and support for westerners (read Americans) in studying in Morocco. Personally I liked my time in Morocco last summer but like anywhere there is a mixed bag of people with the mixed bag of opinions, though in my students (as I was teaching English) all seemed to find the fact that I was from a place that they only know of through film and music pretty awesome. No real negative experiences of harassment outside of a few racial slurs and other insults from random street people to speak of, though the different cultural conceptions of what is appropriate outside should be noted. (May have been local as I was in Fez) So I would support you going to Morocco as its a pretty awesome place with great food. If the main purpose is learning Arabic for outside of North Africa I would probably lean towards Turkey next as I have heard positive things about Turkey form friends who did a study abroad in Turkey and then UAE depending on which city you would be in, UAE would probably be the most useful for language study. If there was on in Egypt that would be the obvious choice as it is one of the most understood and intelligible forms of Arabic to most Arabic speakers given its large film and entertainment sector.

meh

Jan 10 2012, 05:05 PM

Also, does anyone know of any scholarships for international affairs, Arabic, or just study abroad? To be honest, my resume is not that competitive, so my options are pretty limited. I have no real references or letters of recommendation I can get, my grades are ok (3.62), and I have no job experience.

New Harumf

Jan 10 2012, 06:25 PM

meh

Jan 10 2012, 05:05 PM

Also, does anyone know of any scholarships for international affairs, Arabic, or just study abroad? To be honest, my resume is not that competitive, so my options are pretty limited. I have no real references or letters of recommendation I can get, my grades are ok (3.62), and I have no job experience.

I write glowing letters of recommendation, and I have read some of your writings, so it wouldn't be complete bullshit. If you'd like, I would be happy to write you one.

meh

Jan 10 2012, 08:18 PM

New Harumf

Jan 10 2012, 06:25 PM

meh

Jan 10 2012, 05:05 PM

Also, does anyone know of any scholarships for international affairs, Arabic, or just study abroad? To be honest, my resume is not that competitive, so my options are pretty limited. I have no real references or letters of recommendation I can get, my grades are ok (3.62), and I have no job experience.

I write glowing letters of recommendation, and I have read some of your writings, so it wouldn't be complete bullshit. If you'd like, I would be happy to write you one.

This is wonderful, though I don't know what type of reference you would be, since most tend to be my professors.

meh

Jan 10 2012, 04:25 PM

Draxis

Jan 10 2012, 03:39 PM

Maghrebi Arabic is indeed different, most other arabic speakers have trouble understanding North African dialects. Hence why the name for Morrocan Maghrebi dialects is usually Durija. I have seen the American University and know that they have some pretty good scholarships and support for westerners (read Americans) in studying in Morocco. Personally I liked my time in Morocco last summer but like anywhere there is a mixed bag of people with the mixed bag of opinions, though in my students (as I was teaching English) all seemed to find the fact that I was from a place that they only know of through film and music pretty awesome. No real negative experiences of harassment outside of a few racial slurs and other insults from random street people to speak of, though the different cultural conceptions of what is appropriate outside should be noted. (May have been local as I was in Fez) So I would support you going to Morocco as its a pretty awesome place with great food. If the main purpose is learning Arabic for outside of North Africa I would probably lean towards Turkey next as I have heard positive things about Turkey form friends who did a study abroad in Turkey and then UAE depending on which city you would be in, UAE would probably be the most useful for language study. If there was on in Egypt that would be the obvious choice as it is one of the most understood and intelligible forms of Arabic to most Arabic speakers given its large film and entertainment sector.

Well my university is pretty limited when it comes to the Middle East and Arabic, so my only choices are the American University of Sharjah in the UAE, Okan University in Turkey, and Al Akhawayn University in Morocco. Any one of these would be amazing to go to. I'm just afraid I might go to a small university that loses the immersion aspect of language learning. I know Al Akhawayn University is in Ifrane, which is small ski resort town, so there's a possibility that it might have too many foreigners for the full immersion. The wikipedia page describes it more as a western European alpine village. Also, the climate and surrounding environment is almost exactly identical to the one I'll be leaving.

As of now, I think studying in Sharaj is on the top of my list.

meh

Jan 10 2012, 08:18 PM

New Harumf

Jan 10 2012, 06:25 PM

meh

Jan 10 2012, 05:05 PM

Also, does anyone know of any scholarships for international affairs, Arabic, or just study abroad? To be honest, my resume is not that competitive, so my options are pretty limited. I have no real references or letters of recommendation I can get, my grades are ok (3.62), and I have no job experience.

I write glowing letters of recommendation, and I have read some of your writings, so it wouldn't be complete bullshit. If you'd like, I would be happy to write you one.

This is wonderful, though I don't know what type of reference you would be, since most tend to be my professors.

Quote:

 

Having been to Ifrane I can attest that visually it is pretty much the place other than Marrakesh that gets a lot of tourism. Though when I was there over the summer it seemed to mostly be Moroccans and Fezians (trying to escape the heat of Fez) than international people. Though I can note that experiences like that are not the most reliable of sources. Personally I'd give it some thought (partially because Ifrane is pretty cool in both sense of the term. In general it is the most "western" looking town in Morocco at least on the outside, and is possibly where I may have developed my addiction to pistachio ice cream. I'd do some research on the university there though as I do not know its student population or demographics offhand or by memory (It was mentioned when I was there but I was hungry enough to not listen at all). On the plus side the Dirrham is pretty weak against the USD so money might not be too much of a problem though you will have to haggle (or learn to haggle if you have not already) as most places have two menus one for foreigners and one for Moroccans, or may have no menu at all. Also remember that when haggling always do so in advance, I forgot once and man did I get a shock on the price.

But I'd probably put Sharjah at the top as their arabic will be more commonly understood in the wider Arab World, with Al Akhawayn around the two spot. I do not think that Turkey would be as good for immersion due to Turkish being the main language but iirc Al Aaram studied in Turkey (may be wrong) so he would offer better advice than I ever could.

Siadhal

 

You're in your second semester of college, right? 3.62 GPA so you already have some A's. Why do you say you can't get any letters of recommendation? Professors are used to writing them all the time. You just have to ask them and give them enough time to write one, usually two weeks. I've even gotten letters of recommendation from professors whose classes I didn't do so well in.

meh

Jan 11 2012, 01:21 AM

Siadhal

 

You're in your second semester of college, right? 3.62 GPA so you already have some A's. Why do you say you can't get any letters of recommendation? Professors are used to writing them all the time. You just have to ask them and give them enough time to write one, usually two weeks. I've even gotten letters of recommendation from professors whose classes I didn't do so well in.

Yep, I'm just starting my second semester, thought technically I'm a Sophomore due to my extra credits. The 3.62 is good, but its not good enough to get me any scholarship or anything special notice. Last semester though, I applied for the Critical Language Scholarship (which I didn't get) and had to supply two letters of recommendation. One professor told me flat out that he didn't know my name and all he could really write was that I showed up and got A's in the class. Keep in mind, that this is the professor that I would routinely speak to after class about current events relating to his class and much more, all on top of my participation in the class. The guy never even bothered to remember my name. Some of the blame can be put on me, as I obviously didn't try hard enough to get noticed, but he is the professor who told us that before we came to him with anything, we should go to the TA first, and then and only should we come to him if she couldn't answer our questions. It's not like his job is hard, he only teaches four entry level classes, and three of them are the same class.

I just haven't been around long enough to do any real networking.

Siadhal

Jan 11 2012, 03:02 AM

meh

Jan 11 2012, 01:21 AM

Siadhal

 

You're in your second semester of college, right? 3.62 GPA so you already have some A's. Why do you say you can't get any letters of recommendation? Professors are used to writing them all the time. You just have to ask them and give them enough time to write one, usually two weeks. I've even gotten letters of recommendation from professors whose classes I didn't do so well in.

Yep, I'm just starting my second semester, thought technically I'm a Sophomore due to my extra credits. The 3.62 is good, but its not good enough to get me any scholarship or anything special notice. Last semester though, I applied for the Critical Language Scholarship (which I didn't get) and had to supply two letters of recommendation. One professor told me flat out that he didn't know my name and all he could really write was that I showed up and got A's in the class. Keep in mind, that this is the professor that I would routinely speak to after class about current events relating to his class and much more, all on top of my participation in the class. The guy never even bothered to remember my name. Some of the blame can be put on me, as I obviously didn't try hard enough to get noticed, but he is the professor who told us that before we came to him with anything, we should go to the TA first, and then and only should we come to him if she couldn't answer our questions. It's not like his job is hard, he only teaches four entry level classes, and three of them are the same class.

I just haven't been around long enough to do any real networking.

Ah, well that sucks. He sounds like a real ass. A decent professor would have just said sure, but this guy didn't even bother to remember your name? Just wow. Though I suppose sometimes you get unlucky with the professors you stuck with some semesters. Depends on the university too.

Well in that case, good luck, because it sure sounds like you need it. I hope you get all this squared away. I've got a lot of stuff to deal with right now, but I was going to look into scholarships for a potential study abroad to Russia.

Actually, I have a piece of paper right over there on my desk. *grabs paper* It's about the 2012-2013 David L. Boren Scholarhsip and Fellowship Applications. It's specifically for international research and language study abroad. Boren Scholarships are up to $20,000 for undergraduate students, and the Fellowships are up to $30,000 for graduate students. Deadline for the scholarship is February 9th. For the Fellowship, in case there's anyone reading this applies to, it's January 31st.

So you may want to look into that. It's at www.borenawards.org

meh

Jan 11 2012, 03:19 AM

Siadhal

Jan 11 2012, 03:02 AM

meh

Jan 11 2012, 01:21 AM

Siadhal

 

You're in your second semester of college, right? 3.62 GPA so you already have some A's. Why do you say you can't get any letters of recommendation? Professors are used to writing them all the time. You just have to ask them and give them enough time to write one, usually two weeks. I've even gotten letters of recommendation from professors whose classes I didn't do so well in.

Yep, I'm just starting my second semester, thought technically I'm a Sophomore due to my extra credits. The 3.62 is good, but its not good enough to get me any scholarship or anything special notice. Last semester though, I applied for the Critical Language Scholarship (which I didn't get) and had to supply two letters of recommendation. One professor told me flat out that he didn't know my name and all he could really write was that I showed up and got A's in the class. Keep in mind, that this is the professor that I would routinely speak to after class about current events relating to his class and much more, all on top of my participation in the class. The guy never even bothered to remember my name. Some of the blame can be put on me, as I obviously didn't try hard enough to get noticed, but he is the professor who told us that before we came to him with anything, we should go to the TA first, and then and only should we come to him if she couldn't answer our questions. It's not like his job is hard, he only teaches four entry level classes, and three of them are the same class.

I just haven't been around long enough to do any real networking.

Ah, well that sucks. He sounds like a real ass. A decent professor would have just said sure, but this guy didn't even bother to remember your name? Just wow. Though I suppose sometimes you get unlucky with the professors you stuck with some semesters. Depends on the university too.

Well in that case, good luck, because it sure sounds like you need it. I hope you get all this squared away. I've got a lot of stuff to deal with right now, but I was going to look into scholarships for a potential study abroad to Russia.

Actually, I have a piece of paper right over there on my desk. *grabs paper* It's about the 2012-2013 David L. Boren Scholarhsip and Fellowship Applications. It's specifically for international research and language study abroad. Boren Scholarships are up to $20,000 for undergraduate students, and the Fellowships are up to $30,000 for graduate students. Deadline for the scholarship is February 9th. For the Fellowship, in case there's anyone reading this applies to, it's January 31st.

So you may want to look into that. It's at www.borenawards.org

I just found this scholarship a couple hours ago, and it looks amazing. But from what I've heard, it is an extremely competitive scholarship. Normally I'm one to say just go for it, but in my case, its pointless. I fit the mold for this scholarship almost perfectly. Everything they want, I have. However, I just don't have the grades or the history or the references to back me up. I mean, I didn't even get accepted to the Californian State Universities. How on earth could I possibly get a competitive scholarship?

Maybe it's just the fact that I'm only in my second semester of college, but I feel like I'm so behind. And I don't know how to catch up.