Unit studying Overseas r e a d I n g introduction

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Get used to reading long texts

I agree with Yoshiko – the essay style was a problem for me, too. You are expected to construct your arguments in a 

very linear way: you need to make a point and provide support for it, then you introduce a new point. This is quite 

different from the style I am familiar with, but once I understood what was required of me, I was able to adapt.

Another problem for me was reading. It was very hard at first to read long texts in English. Before I came here, the 

longest text I’d read was only a page, but we were asked to read articles up to fifteen pages long! I was lucky – I took a 

course which helped prepare me for studying at English-speaking universities. We were shown techniques to improve 

our reading and we moved from short texts to longer and longer ones. Now I feel a lot more confident about reading 

in English. If you want my advice, take a preparation course before you start your main degree. You’ll feel a lot more 

confident and better prepared if you do.

Tariq

from Cairo, Egypt

Expect some changes in approach

I found it difficult to settle into a new way of studying. I went to a university in Australia, and it was completely 

different from Japan. In tutorials, you are expected to be much more active – asking questions and giving your 

opinions – and I found it very difficult at first. The other problem was completing written assignments. Where I 

come from, you don’t have to analyse and build arguments in the same way I needed to do in Australia – in Japan, 

we often work around the idea, looking at it from different angles. So it required a big change in thinking. In my 

opinion, it’s not just your level of English that you need to work on – it’s your approach to studying in general. 

Yoshiko

from Nagano, Japan

Studying Overseas

More and more students are travelling to English-speaking countries to study. We talked to three students about their experiences and asked 

them what difficulties they had had and if they had any advice on how to make the most of the overseas studying experience.