Studying Abroad: How Sport Can Help You Integrate Into Your New Life Abroad Life & style

As a final year Modern Languages student, I can attest that studying abroad is daunting to even the most confident of people Irrespective of your initial linguistic capability, expressing yourself in a foreign language always starts off difficult. But rest assured, there are many ways to overcome this obstacle In my case, it was through sport

During my year abroad, I spent the first semester in France and the second in Portugal After a month in Montpellier, I became dissatisfied with my slow progress in French and my inability to converse freely with other French students This was particularly frustrating as personality is one of the hardest, but most important, things to convey in a foreign language.

Determined to change this, I decided to take initiative and join a sports club My reasoning for joining a sports club over a society was simple: I lacked confidence in speaking a foreign language, and joining a society involving lots of discussion and debate would only exacerbate the problem The difference with sports was that it didn’t matter if words failed you; you could just play Even if you consider yourself awful at sport, it doesn’t matter! When deciding which sport to participate in, beach volleyball was the only remaining one Despite never having played any form of volleyball before, I decided to give it a shot It soon became clear that I had no talent for it, and I would get overjoyed if even one ball landed over the net during training Nonetheless, I made light of my lack of skill and enjoyed myself

At first, everyone assumed I was shy as I struggled to articulate in French. Over time, however, I learnt how people communicate in groups and how to spontaneously join the conversation The act of playing beach volleyball minimised the need for small talk, but I eventually improved at that too I was invited to team meet-ups on the beach, as well as group outings to parties and clubs By the end of the semester, I had made a group of friends with whom I was sad to part ways

This wonderful experience inspired me to join a sports club as soon as I arrived in Portugal.

The contact hours at Coimbra University were fewer, so I decided to join two sports: baseball and tennis As Portuguese was my weaker language, the prospect of conversing with others seemed much more daunting I came across as even shyer than I did in France, and I found it difficult to convey any aspect of my personality My experience with the baseball team echoed my experience with beach volleyball in that I became a part of a team inside and outside of training, but sadly I did not form the same bonds with my Portuguese teammates as I did with my French ones Fortunately, my experience with tennis was both novel and worthwhile Given that tennis is more of an individual sport, I had apprehensions about how I would get to know the other club members. Undoubtedly, it was a much slower process with awkward small talk in-between rallies, but eventually things came together My tennis partner was Brazilian, and we gradually formed an intimate friendship speaking Portuguese. She even invited me to dinner parties and outings with her wife and family! The oneon-one nature of tennis also contributed to my close relationship with the coach, which was a refreshing experience. As an elder, he not only felt more at ease encouraging and correcting my Portuguese, but also acted as a role model

To my delight, I have kept in touch with both my tennis partner and her wife They, along with the friends I made through beach volleyball in France, made my year abroad truly incredible So if you are preparing to jet off to another country next year, I strongly recommend joining a sports club of some kind - you never know what lifelong friends you might meet!

by Olivia Lavelle