Studying Abroad - Essay Example

Studying abroad As demand for education increases throughout the world, often prefer seeking overseas education. Western countries such as the United States and the Europe are among the preferred destinations owing to the high quality of education in the regions. While the trend is commendable and strives to seek the quality of education globally, the trend is hectic and often has myriad negative effects on the learners owing to the uniqueness of the new societies. Foreign students face myriad challenges most of which impair the learning process thus the quality of education that the students in such countries. Foreign universities on the other hand continue to develop infrastructures and products that target the foreign students owing to the lucrative nature of such products. Institutions of higher learning are business just as any other and therefore diversify their products in order to enhance their profitability. Learning abroad is not always a smooth and efficient process since the learners face myriad challenges as the discussion below portrays. Key among the challenges is language differences. Most of the foreign students in American and Europe countries are from either Asia or Africa. Most of such languages have varied first languages. When the students travel to the foreign countries, they have to learn a new language, which is never their first language. This impairs their interactions and integration in the new society thus making the learning process hectic. Language barrier is a major impediment to the learning process since in most cases the teachers rarely consider the plight of foreign students. As such, the student must always make arrangements and learn the languages either before they travel to the country or once in the country a feature that increases the cost of education besides presenting cultural conflicts. Cultural difference is yet another fundamental impediment and a challenge that foreign students face in their universities. Culture refers to the social values that influence fundamental aspects of life. Culture influences such vital aspects of life as religion, attire, interactions and cuisine among many others. As such, culture is an important aspect of life that enhances the interactions and integration among people in a society. Students studying abroad who come from different backgrounds often face numerous cultural conflicts. The cultural differences in the societies compel the students to seclude themselves from the rest of the new society thus impairing their learning process (Purnell 41). Cultural conflicts represent the innate nature of the interpersonal conflicts that the students face, as they have to change their cultural values in an attempt to fit the new society. The effects of shifting cultural values often manifest itself once the learners are back in their native countries with the degrees only to face yet other problems as they again try to reintegrate into their own societies. Cost is a major factor that influences the quality of education. Parents and learners consider the cost of education before making any investments. Foreign learning is never cheap since the learners must incur numerous related costs in order to enable the students learn effectively. In most cases just s discussed earlier, the learners often come from weak economies. This implies that either the parents or the learners must incur currency conversion costs a key factor that makes education costly to the earners. Additionally, the conversion costs often apply at every level of financial transactions throughout the earning process. Besides paying admission and tuition fees, foreign students must further incur travel and settling costs. The students often make private arrangements as they find accommodation and other personal effects all of which often appear costly given the newness of the economies. Such auxiliary costs raise the cost of education for the foreign students thus making it more expensive for them to acquire the high quality education than it is for native students. The loneliness that engulfs the students who have to leave their families for a considerable duration is yet another torture that may impair the concentration of the students; the students always leave their families and stay abroad for considerable periods. The uniqueness of the new society coupled with the cultural differences often makes the loneliness even more conspicuous. In some cases, the students are adults with their own families back home. In such cases, the adults leave their spouses and children in order to pursue their degrees in the foreign countries. This heightens the stress besides compounding the cost implications of the learning process, the social implications of studying abroad present challenges to the learning process thus impairing the quality of the education. The distance that results from such arrangements often complicate the relationship between the students and their families often leading to break ups as some partners who travel abroad for the studies settle in with new partners in the foreign countries. In young learners, the social effects are often more conspicuous since they form new behavior and conform to the lifestyles in the foreign countries. As such, some resent their own countries thus heightening the loneliness in their parents as they strive to obtain employment and permanent residence in the foreign countries. The uniqueness of the social structures in the foreign countries often impair the learning process as the foreign learners fit in the new societies and begin taking side in the prevailing social, cultural and political trends in the countries. In the United States for example, racial discrimination remains a fundamental factor that affects social interactions and integrations among people in the society. Foreign students studying in the United States often face such social challenges most of which they do not always understand. Their lack of understanding on such matters further compound the effects of such social evils on the foreign students as they often undergo intense discrimination that they do not understand. The fact that the students come from cohesive societies that did not have such conflicts make it difficult for the learners who strive to fit in the society despite the intense opposition from the internal segregations. Xenophobia is key among such discriminations that make it difficult for foreign students to integrate in the societies thus enjoy their studies just like the other students. As discussed earlier, studying abroad is a costly undertaking that requires appropriate investments. In most cases therefore, the foreign students who seek studies abroad are from wealthy societies abroad. The fact that they can therefore afford the luxuries and the best education in foreign countries make them a target for discrimination especially by locals who cannot afford the best education offered in their own countries (Guido 32). The nature of intense hate and discrimination that Africa expatriates face in the Middle East is a clear portrayal of the extent of xenophobia and the racial discriminations that foreigners face once they settle abroad. Xenophobia affects the growth of the learners thus impairing their learning process. In most cases, such vital individuals as teachers and their colleagues exhibit the xenophobic traits thus discouraging both the integration of the students into the society and the learning process. In retrospect, studying abroad is an effective learning process that ensures that foreigners receive high quality education. Such quality of education is empirical in fostering the economic growth of economies throughout the world. However, the learning process is not only costly but also presents numerous challenges to the learners thus affecting the effects of the learning process. Foreign students always ace numerous challenges besides the high costs all of which affect their learning. From the loneliness brought about by staying abroad alone to the resentment by the local communities in most cases is a portrayal of the myriad challenges that foreign students must overcome in order to learn effectively in different counties abroad. Works cited Guido, Bolaffi. Dictionary of race, ethnicity and culture. SAGE Publications Ltd., 2003. Print. Purnell, Lavigne. Transcultural health care: A culturally competent approach. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co., 2013. Print. Read More