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Why Bangor

Looking for universities online, which combined the languages I wanted to study in the way I wanted, was what originally led me to 91�����. After coming to visit Bangor for an Open Day, I really liked the town, area and the department was exactly what I wanted from a languages department. Small, friendly and familiar. 

The International Mentor Scheme

The International Mentor Scheme is an addition to the way international students are supported while they are studying at Bangor. If they have issues or questions and they would prefer to speak to a follow student about it as opposed to a member of staff, they have the option to do that. Better still, they can discuss things in their first language, which for some can really take any pressure out of asking whatever it is they might need to.

For prospective students, International Mentors are also an approachable body of current students from whom they can hear first-hand exactly what it is like being a student in Bangor. International Mentors also make excellent representatives for the University when people, both from the UK and further afield, come to visit Bangor.

That international student mentors often have both a different perspective than home students and those who live in the UK and are part of the student body themselves, they are also in a position where input from them can be hugely insightful and helpful in identifying exactly where Bangor might better be able to support current and future international students.

The Course

For me, there is no greater feeling than having just had a real conversation with someone in a foreign language. Different cultures and countries also fascinate me and I love any opportunity I have to travel. Studying Chinese and German gives me the chance to pursue and improve my German and to learn the Chinese language, culture and history. That in my third year I will spend a semester respectively studying in institutions in both countries is hugely exciting to me.

The Lecturers

Being one of the smaller parts of the School of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics means that the department is very personal. It is easy to get along with lecturers and professors very well and that they have fewer students and know each student that much better, when there are any issues academically, they are always there to give you as much support as they can. With the nature of the department being one of foreign languages and nearly all of the academics speaking a language other than Welsh or English as their mother tongue, even just passing through the corridor in our school I tend to end up having a chat in German or Mandarin. 

Clubs and Societies

Though to a slightly lesser extent this year, I have been active in the Language Society, or LangSoc, here at Bangor. It was always one of the highlights of the week for me last year, meeting with my exchange partners and catching up in a café or pub. It is a society I was lucky to make some fantastic friends through. And since many of them have departed Bangor to continue their studies back home, I have been very lucky to have been able to visit and stay with many of them.

Bangor and the area

Though not overtly a sporty person, I really love being outdoors for hikes, walks, campfires and the like. Some of the best days out I have had while being in Bangor have been barbeques at various nice spots, walks in Snowdonia with friends and hanging out at some of the beaches in the area. Karaoke is also something I can get on board with, provided the only song we end up singing is “Mr Brightside”.

The best thing about living in Bangor

Bangor is a truly stunning town. It is also a town that, as a student moving to it you do not lose yourself completely. By that I mean, it is a town where you can turn a familiar face from a lecture into a friend, you figure out quickly where in the town you really enjoy spending time with people and because of its size Bangor is a town with much more of a sense of community.

Leaving the area and no longer having the mountains and the sea at my fingertips will be tough. Following my graduation, the friends I have made here in my department, those who I have lived with and those who I have gotten to know on exchange will also be dearly missed.

Support from the University

The university has been fantastically supportive to me during my time at Bangor so far. Fortunately, I have not had situations where I have needed support from the university for anything other than my academics and career prospects. But in both of these regards, lecturers and other staff at the university have been very approachable and helpful.

Advice for new International students

Introvert or extrovert, do your best to be as outgoing as you can be when you arrive. Say yes to do what you can when you can. You never know if going for that walk with housemates or course mates when you felt a little tired and just wanted to watch Netflix will open doors to friendships and opportunities for you.

Be open to trying things the university offers. There are so many opportunities that lecturers or other staff may mention in a seminar or in an email and if you seize these opportunities as and when they come, you might find something truly amazing. I answered one email on a whim and have spent the last year doing an internship I love and have been able to travel to China because of it.

The Future

Being able to use my languages to help people abroad is something I would really love to do. Working in an Embassy as either a diplomat or support staff in some function is what I would ideally do following my degree.

Bangor is such a special place. It is not where I was born, but has quickly started to feel like home. It is somewhere where I have been able to grow, develop, and do things I would have never expected before coming. I really do consider myself to be unbelievably lucky for having chosen to study here. I’m looking forward to my next three years here.