Student Handbook - The School of Language, Linguistics and Film

passive and active language skills from hearing, reading, speaking and writing that language
as the unique means of communication.
Other objectives are:
• to provide you with the opportunity to learn about the general culture of the country or
countries which you visit
• for you to investigate aspects of that culture and engage in personal research
• to help you develop confidence and resilience through exposure to other bureaucracies
and other ways of life
• to learn invaluable transferable skills
• to give you an insight into different educational and working structures, whether as an
assistant teacher, as a student in a university, or undertaking an internship, and to
enable you to participate in and adapt to those structures
Students who study two languages are able to split their Year Abroad between two countries
if they wish to.
Most of you will spend your year abroad either as a English Language assistant on
placements arranged by the British Council, or as a university student, either under the EUfunded
ERASMUS scheme which offers exchanges with other European Union universities,
or as an independent student or on an independently arranged work placement. All students
are bound by a contract signed before or on taking up their places or positions, and you
must take care to honour it. The various certificates which students are required to produce
on their return, the reports written by the institutions or companies in which they have spent
their time, visits made by members of staff from Queen Mary to students abroad, and the
close contact maintained by Queen Mary both with the institutions responsible for its
students and with the students themselves, are all of great importance.
An initial meeting to inform you about your options is held at the end of your first year. This
is followed by a series of briefing meetings throughout your second year and backed up by
written year abroad handbooks. It is vital that you attend all of these meetings and take note
of the guidelines. If you need more information, please seek it from the following: French –
Dr Laetitia Calabrese; German – Dr Annja Neumann; Spanish – Dr Mar Encinas-Puente;
Portuguese – TBC (Instituto Camões Instructor); Russian – Mrs Anna Pilkington. You may
also refer to Mrs Heather Heiner, the Administrator responsible for the year abroad.
6.1 YEAR ABROAD FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS
The following arrangements apply to students undertaking the Year Abroad in 2012-13.
Students should be aware that funding arrangements are subject to review on a yearly basis
and the information in this section may change by the time you come to undertake your Year
Abroad.
The amount of funding that you receive will depend on your tuition fee status AND in on the
country or countries in which you will be undertaking your Year Abroad Placement.
Students who qualify for HOME fee status (this includes UK students, EU students,
students who are permanently settled in the UK or who have refugee status) AND who will
be on a study or work placement (including British Council Language Assistantship) within
the European Union and/or Switzerland for a minimum of 24 weeks (this can include split
placements) will receive:
A tuition fee waiver. No fees will be payable to Queen Mary or to your host institution
(if studying under the ERASMUS scheme) for the academic year 2012-13.
A small ERASMUS grant
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