Semester in Finland
My overall semester exchange program in Finland was excellent. For me, I found my experience was vastly enriched by my ability to speak the language (Finnish) from day one of my exchange. Although my level of the language was then still rudimentary, getting a head start by being able to make ask basic questions and have conversations helped me make friends, connect better, and improve faster. I loved our local coordinator in Finland, as they did a fantastic job of organizing the exchange while helping me meet other local exchange students. If you are thinking of doing this program, my advice is to learn the local language by speaking and surrounding yourself in it! It doesn’t matter if you make lots of mistakes. It will probably seem scary at first to speak in a language you don’t fully understand, but that is the only way to guarantee you won’t fail to improve!
