How Medical Spanish & Latinx Patient Knowledge Supports Healthcare Students & Professionals

Learning medical terminology in Spanish will help you serve others to ensure their health and safety. Multilingualism is becoming increasingly recognized as vital within healthcare and fields requiring professionals to understand medical needs of hispanic populations. 

This program on the Latinx Patient: Spanish and Culture for Healthcare will provide participants with necessary cultural and language skills. These skills will make them more impactful in the field of medicine and healthcare in the future, as well as the means to become more invaluable to your peers and your organization.

Continue reading to learn more about how this program can play an integral role in your future medical-related career and contributions to improving health care for all people, particularly the Latinx community, in the United States. 

MULTILINGUALISM IN HEALTHCARE

The World Health Organization has a page on their website that is dedicated to the importance of Multilingualism, and reads:  “Multilingual communication bridges gaps and fosters understanding between people. It allows WHO to more effectively guide public health practices, reach out to international audiences, and achieve better health outcomes worldwide. In this way, multilingual communication is an essential tool for improving global health.” (World Health Organization)

The WHO is dedicated to pursuing a continuous Multilingual Action Plan to make materials and information more accessible to people who need them around the world. EdOdyssey echoes this vital global need for multilingual healthcare and resources. Specifically in the U.S., there is a need for Spanish-speaking healthcare professionals capable of supporting the growing hispanic population.  

In our Latinx Patient: Spanish and Culture for Healthcare program, you’ll increase your Spanish-speaking confidence and you’ll engage in conversations with Peruvian teachers and medical interpreters. One day, you too can work to support hispanic populations in the U.S., and work toward better health outcomes nation-wide.

MEDICAL SPANISH: A CAREER BOOST

This program is about both helping YOU become the best version of yourself, and positioning you to best serve OTHERS in the future. Below are three key ways in which the Latinx Patient: Spanish and Culture for Healthcare program will give you tangible career boosts for the future. 

• Stand Out Amongst Your Peers: Become a standout applicant for internships, jobs, or volunteer opportunities. The completion of this program and the earning of a certificate from El Sol Spanish Language School in Lima, Peru, will demonstrate to future employers that you took the effort to go beyond the required academic path, and that you can bring a unique and highly needed cultural competence to the workplace. 

• Prepare Now For the Future:  As you learn medical terminology now, you will gain knowledge that you can use through your healthcare career. You will not have to cram additional language learning on top of rigorous medical school or health professions schooling in the future. Plan ahead and work smarter, not harder. 

• Wider Range of Job Opportunities: You will be able to serve a larger range of people.  Linguistic and cultural competency will likely expand the range of your potential future job opportunities. Some communities, particularly those with high Spanish-speaking immigrant populations, will be specifically looking for bilingual physicians and healthcare professionals. 

BEING A BETTER PATIENT ADVOCATE

When you have a more advanced medical Spanish vocabulary and cultural understanding, you will enhance your ability to serve the growing latino population in the United States. You will be well positioned to help people feel understood and cared for while receiving high quality healthcare. Additionally, you will avoid miscommunications with native Spanish speakers. 

Beyond solely the language component, your newly gained context of common illnesses and trends among hispanic and immigrant patients will help you better serve and advocate for patients.  As you gain more cultural and linguistic knowledge, your background will serve as a crucial step to bridging communication gaps between patients and healthcare professionals.

Your knowledge learned through Medical Spanish will put you in a better position to play a more impactful role in the outcome of someone’s medical care. 

FEELING OF FULFILLMENT

When your skills learned during this course are put to the test with actual patients, an immense sense of fulfillment will likely follow. By putting in the upfront hard work to learn the vocabulary and cultural knowledge, you have positioned yourself to best serve others who may otherwise lack proper care due to their lack of English language proficiency.

Doctors, nurses, administrators, volunteers, researchers, social workers, psychologists, and healthcare workers alike all can better care for their patients by helping them feel heard and understood. Throughout medical related fields, the rising need for practitioners and professionals who speak both English and Spanish will be accompanied by the need for these people to possess cultural knowledge, or direct experience, surrounding Latino communities.

The diverse U.S. population calls for a healthcare field which cares for and supports people of all backgrounds and English proficiencies. This course will position you not only for personal success within the healthcare field, but also to better serve vulnerable communities that need you most.

Want to learn more about the program?

Understanding Why Medical Spanish and Hispanic Cultural Knowledge Matters in Healthcare

The need for Spanish speaking professionals continues to rise, and students and professionals who want to prepare for the future of healthcare will require training that combines language, culture and best practices.  The Latinx Patient: Spanish and Culture for Healthcare program will be taught online by Peruvian professionals. They will fuse learning of critical Spanish vocabulary related to the medical field with cultural contextualization of Latin American immigrant populations in the U.S. 

When you combine language learning with cultural modules, you develop a wider context that will help you continue developing into a more well rounded professional. If you are or want to become a physician, health care professional, social worker, and/or a professional prepared to best handle the needs of Spanish-speaking patients, this program is perfect for you.  

Possessing knowledge surrounding Latin American and Latinx culture enables students to better interact with and support non-English speakers, particularly including immigrants and those of Latin American heritage.  During the program, you’ll learn more about how medical care improves from a holistic understanding of the patient, and how YOU can be an integral part of such care. 

LATINO POPULATION GROWTH IN THE U.S.

A key goal of The Latinx Patient: Spanish and Culture for Healthcare program is to provide students with the knowledge and preliminary resources to best serve patients or clients who are part of the growing Spanish-speaking population in the United States. While the annual growth of the Hispanic population in the US has slowed since 2015, “Latinos remain an important part of the nation’s overall demographic story”, making up about 18% of the total U.S. population, according to PEW research. 

The knowledge you learn during this course will help you best serve, and work with, this diverse and growing population. From triage vocabulary to practice restating symptoms to ensure clarity of communication, to learning about common illnesses among hispanic patients, you will expand your knowledge in a breadth of directions. 

NEEDS OF LATINX & IMMIGRANT PATIENTS

In a publication by UMASS Medical school about cross-cultural initiatives, it states that “in many situations, it is not just a language barrier that needs to be breached. Different cultures have different expectations and requirements when it comes to health care,” according to Migration Policy. Health care providers that have background knowledge of different cultures and customs, in addition to Spanish fluency, will best be able to cross common barriers between patient and provider. 

Imperative to the administration of high quality health care is accurate communication and the creation of trust between healthcare professionals and patients. Patients need to feel understood and that their values and identity are valued. Spanish speaking patients may struggle getting their needs, pain, and overall message across to those caring for them, resulting in potentially dangerous miscommunications. 

BEST PRACTICES FOR IMMIGRANT AND SPANISH-SPEAKING PATIENTS

Immigrants, including undocumented immigrants and refugees, live unique realities which result in specific challenges. Some immigrants may not know the extent of their rights or how the U.S. healthcare system functions. 

Healthcare professionals need to be aware of these specific needs and challenges in order to best care for these populations. Some key knowledge of Latin American culture and medicine can play an important role in understanding and caring for patients with such backgrounds. 

Medical practitioners and professionals working in healthcare-related fields must enable their patients to understand all aspects of their care, treatment, etc., so that they can make well informed decisions regarding their health care. Professionals interacting with hispanic populations in health-related circumstances also face language and cultural barriers that can be obstacles which prevent people from being able to make informed decisions for themselves. 

CULTURAL COMPETENCY IN HEALTHCARE

Within UMASS Medical School’s same publication, they argue that “in our diverse world, ensuring that people with limited English competency or specific cultural requirements have access to quality health care is an obligation for all health care providers,” according to Migration Policy. The EdOdyssey Medical Spanish course will help you help the healthcare field move toward providing quality health care for all. 

Feeling understood by a doctor or other healthcare provider who speaks Spanish and has relevant knowledge of Latin American culture, will likely result in the patient or client feeling comfortable and trusting doctors and professionals to do their job. 

WHY MEDICAL SPANISH?

This program will enable students to learn from and with other excited students, as well as native Spanish speakers with experience in the medical field. Luis Garcia, a LSA Qualified Medical Interpreter, and EdOdyssey’s study abroad cultural advisor in Lima, Peru, will guide students through the cultural module of the program. 

Combined with language learning through El Sol Spanish Language School, based in Lima, Peru, the cultural course will help students gain a broader cultural understanding of how one’s culture, background, beliefs, and language affect the healthcare that they receive or need. 

Upon completion of the course, we hope that students feel inspired to continue serving others, particularly those who may face great challenges due to a lack of English-proficiency. More generally, this course aims to inspire students to work toward bettering themselves and the healthcare field through Spanish language acquisition and cultural competency. 

Want to learn more about this program?

How to Define the Study Abroad "Immersion" Experience

Immersion during study abroad involves a deep involvement and understanding of the culture of a different country. It is not just an overview or a checklist of that country’s features, but a thorough encounter into the sublayers of social, political, ideological, and economic factors that define it as a culture. 

If you are involved in the education field as an administrator, teacher or faculty member, your role in a study abroad program comes from preparing and supporting your students in making the most of their experiences within another culture. For students and travelers, your job starts with embracing the challenges that another country presents and finding the best ways to connect with this new culture.

Our team supports educators from across the academic spectrum, from middle schools to higher education, in creating programs that immerse students in another culture. You’ll learn more about how educators collaborate with us to build programs that authentically educate and inspire students through valuable experiences.

Our students organized over 1,000 pounds of food in Córdoba during their immersion in Spain!

Defining Your Immersion

Immersion is an experience that allows you to go deeper into layers of culture and what it really means to live in another society, despite any stereotypes you may have heard. An immersion experience helps students build a sense of appreciation for all the things that make us different: language, history, race, cultural background and cultural expressions, assets and challenges. As students understand challenges and differences in this new culture, they’ll approach the unknown, but all of our teachers will have a team of experts supporting the program as your group faces culture shock so the group can go into the experience with an open mind and heart.

Certain aspects of daily life cannot be captured in pre-packaged programs that don’t differentiate for learning objectives. That is why EdOdyssey focuses on experiences that are specific to what teachers and educators want their students to learn and value from their visits.

We plan accordingly. If a class’ focus is on improving students’ language proficiency, then every moment becomes an opportunity to teach language. For example, if the group of students has been waiting in line for our scheduled Welcome Lunch, our Cultural Advisor takes this time as a teachable moment. He takes opportunity to educate your students on common phrases used by waiters to tell you that your table is about to be ready. Then we help you and your students find out that the meaning of ahorita, or “right away”, is actually a time construct that can mean either right now or in half an hour, depending on the context.

In all of our countries around the world, our team of educators embrace the quiet moments as teachable moments, time for reflection, and an opportunity for teachers and educators to bond with their students. 

If the focus of the program is more a cultural-type immersion, that restaurant visit becomes a visit to el mercado, or a farmer’s market of sorts, is a more permanent sight in countries like Peru. We take that opportunity to educate your students about the struggles of daily life in certain areas of countries, making ends and how a place like el mercado is a place where the less fortunate can have a high-value meal for a fraction of the price of a restaurant, and where bargaining is not disrespectful but a way to get the most out of whatever budget you have for that day.

Immersion helps students understand culture and cherish it, and our mission comes from wanting to support educators and providing the best possible experience for the students.

The Immersion Experience & The Role of Educators

As an educator, your goal goes beyond taking your students on vacation and expanding their perspective. A vacation by definition is an extended period of leisure and recreation. Vacationers keep away from the daily stresses found back home. However, from our over five years working with educators, the goal of an immersion experience comes from becoming part of the cultural community of the country and embracing the challenges that come with us.

Furthermore, when teachers collaborate with us, the teachers can focus on bonding with their students and all of us as educators can support students to build context around the culture and support them through culture shock.

Our study abroad students in Lima visited one of our local partners!

For short term programs, it is understandable that you may be eager to have your class visit and have a look at the most popular or important places the other country has to offer to you, but remember that teachers and your group are not tourists. The students will approach these sights with the aim of becoming familiar with not only their history, but how that history defines their culture today and how their society behaves in relation to that history.

A short experience does not mean it can’t be a deeply enriching experience.

Managing Your Expectations

In another country, some services or situations may not always work or happen as you expect. Certain places might require cash and credit cards may not exist or be widely used in certain areas. 

Conveniences that we have taken for granted at home may not be available and we need to adjust when abroad. Before students go abroad, we share important notes and packing tips that will support them. That way, students will start to appreciate the nuances and particularities of their new home country, and by the end of their time abroad, they will tell stories of how they are now ready to take on challenges that life presents them.

Your Perspective Matters

Even if the program is short, teachers and students can still make the most of their stay by simply maintaining focus. It is not a vacation, it’s an immersion. As such, if the allotted time for your group is short then our team will aim for your group to gain the most authentic experience possible in that time. Your group will get a taste of what living there really is like, and everyone involved will be amazed at how much can be learned from a country in just a few days with an educational approach.

The right approach can turn challenges into opportunities, and that is the change of mindset we want our students and teachers to enjoy when they’re abroad. That is a positive change, a change of feeling empowered rather than hopeless. A feeling they will carry with them for the rest of their lives because they may be on the other side of the world, but they will be just fine.

Are you interested in taking the first step and building a truly meaningful immersion experience abroad?

It’s never too early or too late to start planning or to improve a past program! Please shoot us a message here and tell us about your idea for prospective program abroad!

Defining and Differentiating Tourists from Global Citizens

Positive change comes from working to understand problems and finding solutions. When challenges arise from understanding a new culture, my team and I at EdOdyssey want to provide perspective of what we do best: we find authentic ways to share educational experiences with students.  

We advocate for cultural education and today we show the difference from being just another tourist in a new culture and to becoming a global citizen. 

Mindset of the Tourist

A tourist is someone who engages in travellng or visiting places for the sole purpose of pleasure. Traveling or visiting as a tourist influences us into setting our minds for pleasure or enjoyment.

We become tourists or take vacations if we want to escape and we want to take a break from our daily routine and whatever makes us stressed. If we go to resorts, or do all-inclusive tours, we spend every day under the sun, in front of the beach while holding a cool beverage, and we relax.

If we want to go beyond and learn more about the local culture, we give ourselves an opportunity to grow and learn, which gives all of us an opportunity to become a global citizen.

Defining “Global Citizen”

A global citizen is not a tourist. This type of person doesn’t just travel somewhere for sightseeing but is someone who is also connected to the culture of the country they visit and connected to its people.

To be a global citizen means to understand that country’s situation, its ups and downs, its evolution through history. A global citizen appreciates the strong points of their host country, but is also fully aware of the work that needs to be done for their society to flourish and thrive.

The Mindset of the global Citizen

The mindset of the global citizen is different from that of the tourist. We travel not to escape, but to become integrated into a new reality and culture.

Students in a service activity in the district of Pamplona Alta, Lima-Peru

That means that we will switch our way of thinking and change our approach to aim to experience everything. We will be there through thick and thin to understand another way of life. When we go beyond our own comfort zone, we learn beautiful lessons that last a lifetime.

Now, it’s important to note and remember that there is nothing wrong with relaxing. In fact, we should be open for our students to have moments of relaxation every so often to prevent burning out. However, there will be a general tone and objective to our trip that we need to make sure it is maintained. 

Defining Characteristics of global Citizens

We will get involved with our host society and we will try to learn and understand what’s happening under the hood. It will come to us fairly easily to directly compare our home country with our host one and criticize what they are lacking, but that is not our goal.

There is always a reason behind a person’s behavior and this can be extrapolated to a whole society. Using this as our guide, we will talk to people, do our research and we will try to understand the reasons behind that society’s behavior and if there is room for improvement, we do so from a point of understanding.

If our goal is to become global citizens, we will not visit another country to change it to accommodate our needs. True change starts by caring for others. We will check our ego at the Customs gate and we will think about what that society needs, and then act accordingly.

Becoming a global Citizen

One of the best, if not the best, ways that someone can become a global citizen comes from engaging in immersion experiences. These experiences involve doing everything we have mentioned so far, and at EdOdyssey, we firmly believe that diving into the culture of the places we take our participants to and aiming for understanding outweighs going somewhere just to take a vacation.

Transforming a Tour into Experiential Learning

At EdOdyssey, we believe that learning does not have to be a boring experience. At the same time, we know that there is so much more to other countries than the pictures you could take and the sights you can visit. 

A summer’s afternoon at the Malecon de Miraflores, Lima-Peru. Image from Promperu

We transform classic tour experiences into learning moments with added layers of information depending on the location we are visiting. We take our students to a stroll through the Malecon in the Miraflores neighborhood, one of the most beautiful scenes in the city of Lima, Peru. However, we also take that time to also tell our students how the look of the area changed over the years and how the creation of the Malecon walkway encouraged outdoor activities like running and cycling. 

We like to adapt to our audience and get to know our students. Whenever we notice interest in a specific detail of our visits, we use those opportunities to add valuable information and encourage conversation and discussion.

There is huge potential for learning and retention when we use these little moments of interest for the benefit of our students. That way, you can relax and enjoy the activity without realizing our students are absorbing information rather than them being forced into remembering it.

Benefits of Becoming a global Citizen

One huge benefit of becoming a global citizen comes from the change that happens to us for the better. As travelers, we challenge ourselves to become aware of realities different than our own and we learn not to take what we have for granted.

We become appreciative of whatever things we have, material or immaterial, big or small. We develop a higher tolerance for those obstacles that come unexpectedly.

Setbacks become opportunities for improvement, and as a result, we become highly adaptable. We have to be willing to listen to politicians, and people with power and influence, as well as our fellow citizens who share the public space alongside us and want to be heard.

Have you ever had an experience that changed the way you think about another country?

Add us on social media below and tell us! If you want to learn more about culture, check out our blog The Beauty of Cultural Awareness!

5 Ways to Acquire Foreign Language

At some point in their academic life, all students feel the pressure of learning different sets of verbs and their conjugations, grammatical rules, and practice-scenarios. It is not uncommon to have heard of a friend who felt so anxious with the workload that they decided to withdraw from a language course altogether. This doesn’t have to happen that way. There is a better way to easily speak and understand other languages.

It’s time to meet Comprehensible Input - a theory and method for teaching and learning language using messages you understand but that also have enough unknown content for you to push through your limits. In this blog, you will learn the fundamentals of language acquisition to better understand key language-learning concepts and to support your language learning journey!

Below are five ways you can put this theory into practice!

1. Understanding Language Acquisition Basics

Imagine this scenario: you go to a market in a foreign country and you have items in your bag. You walk up to the register to check out. You know you don’t speak their language, but you know you’re likely going to hear numbers related to the cost of the individual foods and the total cost. Over time, you pick up on the words the cashier uses when checking out, and that’s where your journey begins. 

In situations like this encounter, there is enough unknown material that you see yourself challenged and compelled to find out what the missing words are and fill in the blanks every time you go back to the store. You are acquiring the building blocks of a foreign language without even trying. According to the creator of the theory of Comprehensible Input, Stephen Krashen, people don’t learn a language, they acquire it. You spontaneously spoke your first language when you were young. Learning and acquiring are different concepts, and you’ll see how.

Music is a great way to interact with a new language and learn about a new culture!

2. Less Grammar Focus

We’ve all spent endless hours racking our brains over grammar. At some point, all of us have tried to remember that table with the rules of the subjunctive form of Spanish verbs so then we can move on to burning the words belonging to that particular conjugation into our minds. All to wonder why that test was so hard to do while we learned the lyrics to Despacito after a night at the party without breaking a -mental- sweat. 

If your goal is to acquire a language and become proficient in it, Comprehensible Input may be a more efficient way of starting to do it. Once you are able to understand a sizable amount of your target language, studying its grammar may help you understand why things are said the way they are. Grammar instruction then gives you a deeper understanding of language, for example, why the verb to be in English has two separate verbs in Spanish, ser y estar and how this changes the way people think.

3. Language in Motion - Acquisition through Context

Acquisition is a subconscious process that happens when you understand the meaning of something. Your brain then starts associating what you see, hear or read to what you understand. If I tell you a story that resembles one you already know, but change the name of the characters, chances are you will remember the names of the new characters, because you already understand the context of the story. 

The process for language acquisition is the same. I can start drawing on a blackboard, describing what I am drawing in another language, but as soon as you figure out I am drawing a face, you will quickly associate the facial features with the words I am saying at the time I am drawing them. Your curiosity is focusing your attention on figuring out what I am doing, but your subconscious is already making the connections and saving those new words for later use. 

This is why Comprehensible Input works so great because you focus on the images and concepts you are relatable. At the same time, you can find yourself so puzzled by the things you don’t know, that you feel compelled to find out what more lies there. Before you know it, new words and phrases start to naturally make sense in your mind.

4. Infuse Your Passions to Activate the Language 

Through our experiential learning programs, students learn words, concepts and new ideas!

Take advantage of the things you enjoy. Our electronic devices are built with the goal of consuming content. Use your device as a tool. The next time you jump onto Netflix and watch your favorite movie, but this time set both the audio and subtitles to the language you want to learn.

If you enjoy cooking, why not look for a YouTube video of a foreign meal you always wanted to try? You already know most cooking shows list their ingredients first, then move on to the instructions, so use that to your advantage to associate what you see with what you hear.

You must have fun doing this, and if the method you are using right now does not inspire or compel you to continue, don’t be afraid to change it into something you can’t wait to do.

5. Building Language Through Daily Interactions 

Comprehensible Input shows students who might struggle with classic methods of classroom teaching and learning to rather focus on how to naturally pick up the language. For example, language acquisition in children happens spontaneously through play, daily life, listening to their parents, songs, stories. The next time you are feeling anxious or frustrated about that chart with verbs you need to learn, put the dictionary down for a moment and find another fun way to activate the language.

Have you tried using Comprehensible Input? Connect with us on social media below and tell us about your experience! You can also check out our blog post on Four Tips for Embracing the Language Learning Journey.

Why Your International Friendships Will Last A Lifetime

As you look to study abroad, you might think that making friendships abroad might seem like a daunting task given your destination, but the long-term effects are worthwhile! Developing lifelong connections with other international students and your local peers will provide you with a deeper understanding of other cultures, after interacting effectively with people from cultures besides their own. If you’re coming back from being abroad, you’re probably thinking about how your new friends from abroad will play into the rest of your life.

In 2015, a research study measured 571 adolescents from Germany regarding their interpretation to intercultural competence and characteristics that matter most in various friendships. Intercultural friendships are defined as, “a friendship in which the friend is perceived to have different cultural affiliations than oneself” (Schwarzenthal et al., 63).

Researchers within the intercultural psychology community examined the aspects of intercultural situations that influence adolescents toward cultures beside their own. Essentially, studying abroad presents students with windows of opportunities to expand their views of the world and reflect on the impact of acclimating to an unfamiliar culture.  

In today’s blog, we’re going to examine the specific ways that connections abroad can last a lifetime!    

The Wellness Perspective 

Why should you, as a student, care about your wellness when it comes to relationships with your peers abroad? 

Students should consider the connection between their wellness and relationships while they’re abroad because it will drive your experience abroad and once you come home. Researchers from The Research Center for Internet Psychology and School of Psychology in Canada explored the dimensions of friendships and determined how the wide-spread usage of technology affects the features of friendship.

This study, in particular, validated why friendships enriches one’s personal life, primarily because “friendship is essential for wellbeing” (Amichai-Hamburger et. al 38). In this context, wellbeing regarding friendships, refers to the concept that human beings receive companionship through meaningful interactions with one another, from rewarding and mutually positive social situations. 

Moreover, the implications of friendship directly relate to one’s emotional and psychological being. According to a research study conducted in 2012 regarding the variations in offline and online friendships and the impact it has on one’s mental health, an important benefit of friendship is, “[the] ability to provide various forms of support, social and material, at times of stress” (Amichai-Hamburger et. al 36).

One could even argue that a critical component of survival includes maintaining friendships, due to fulfilling relationships playing a major role in physical and emotional well-being. It’s important to also acknowledge the improvement in one’s happiness, as a result of a close bond or friendship. To summarize, the contribution that human connections have are significant, everywhere in the world! 

Developing Friendships During Programs 

The variety of friendships abroad get planted and nurtured from your first days and weeks that eventually blossom and form into different, life-long connections. For instance, homestay families create an initial bond with peers and adults within a home in a host country that later extend outside of your home, and EdOdyssey supports you along the way. 

EdOdyssey’s own custom designed programs and study abroad terms afford students the advantage of staying in homestays, meeting local students, and feeling connected to the culture. One of our high school students did a homestay in southern Spain, and he mentioned that he liked engineering and trains. We matched him with a family, and his homestay father worked for the Spanish train company and took him to the local train station and told him about his work. When there is potential for connections, we seek to bring that connection together because it acts as encouragement later on to stay in contact with one another upon return home! 

A degree of comfortability and closeness directly results from insightful conversations with host families. Not only do they act a great resource for local culture and language skills, but being in daily proximity with one another grants a whole new level of appreciation one might not have had if they stayed in a dorm or hotel. Living with host families makes experiences abroad all the more rewarding, and prompts many students to continue keeping in touch for years to come. 

Keeping Connections Alive during Study Abroad   

Why is it important to maintain bonds abroad? 

A vital aspect of being abroad involves maintaining bonds with friends, whether someone currently studies abroad or has already returned home. Students can sometimes focus too much on the fear of missing out (FOMO) when they can’t spend time with their friends from home. Instead, it’s wise to be aware of the many possibilities to bond with local and international students within the host university and country. 

These particular interactions show evidence that these initial connections have potential to evolve into lifelong friendships! The German study determined that, “active engagement with diverse cultural perspectives can promote intercultural learning” (Schwarzenthal et al., 70-71). This outcome supports the idea that intercultural socialization in friendships does offer opportunities to exchange cultural perspectives and valuable learning experiences (Schwarzenthal et al., 72).

Overseas programs, homestays, and service learning opportunities allow for personal growth. Intercultural friendships and interactions not only assist students by increasing intercultural skills, but also open up conversations with diverse perspectives (Schwarzenthal et al., 63). Overall, developing connections abroad generates a greater variation in values, beliefs, and worldviews, compared to friendships from the same culture. 

Upon returning home from studying abroad, a realistic piece of advice accommodates both parties by not forcing overseas friends to stay in immediate and direct contact every single day. Releasing pressure from one another will alleviate frustration when dealing with time zones and schedules, and allows ample room to cherish and appreciate the physical time spent together abroad. 

Technology has added immense value to today’s society, and the ability to connect with friends around the globe has created an incredibly convenient for study abroad students to develop and maintain friendships. With either scenario, whether it’s connecting with friends from home while abroad or vice versa, “electronic communication allows two people to interact without being present at the same time” and supports the idea that, “friends provide invaluable social support...at stressful times,” no matter the mode of the interaction (Amichai-Hamburger et. al 33). 

Though the ways in which friendships develop typically progress through close proximity and the amount of effort put into the relationship, “once this closeness is established it can be equally fulfilling,” irrespective of being online or in person (Amichai-Hamburger et. al 35).

When you create close bonds that can be sustained throughout life transitions, you truly make the most of the time abroad. These lifelong connections are irreplaceable and valuable because they remind you of your own power to overcome obstacles and challenges in a new place!

Developing bonds with others while overseas does not have to take months, sometimes the most spontaneous interactions become the most profound. No matter the amount of time you’ve been abroad, it’s important to give thought to past experiences.

Check out “Six Key Questions to Reflect on Your Experience Abroad” if you’ve already gone abroad and are thinking of going again, or if you want to get a sense of what study abroad might look like after you come home!

Si usted está interesado en leer o compartir este blog en español, por favor continue a "Por Qué Tus Amistades Internacionales Durarán Toda La Vida" que fue traducido por nuestros amigos de Travolución.

If you're interested in reading or sharing this blog in Spanish, please enjoy the translated version of this blog "Por Qué Tus Amistades Internacionales Durarán Toda La Vida" that was translated by our friends at Travolución.

Sources

Amichai-Hamburger, Yair, Mila Kingsbury, and Barry H. Schneider. “Friendship: An old concept with a new meaning?” Computers in Science Behavior, vol. 29, 2012, pp. 33-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.05.025 

Schwarzenthal, Miriam, Linda Juang, Maja K. Schachner, and Fons J.R. van de Vijver. “‘When birds of a different feather flock together’ - intercultural socialization in adolescents’ friendships”. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, vol. 72, 2015, pp. 61-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2019.07.001