There is no doubt that knowing English as a second language provides both, professional and personal, enormous advantages. These advantages combined with a more and more competitive and globalized world are making learning English a priority for a lot of people. As a consequence, the number of people studying overseas is increasing by the thought that it is the most advantageous way to do it. This essay will consider arguments against studying abroad; however it will also examine the reasons why studying abroad helps the student to develop a better understand of his own cultural values and biases, to increase his self-confidence and makes the student a more open-minded person.
The first huge advantage of learning English in a foreign country is that it makes the person understand better his own values and biases. Once immersed in a different culture, people need to deal with all the different aspects of it, and unwittingly start to compare everything, since their habits and customs to their greeting and gestures. As a result, everyday it provides a better critical reflection about themselves than any self-help book could provide.
Secondly, the opportunity to study abroad takes the student out his comfort zone. It is not a surprise, when 96 percent of students who study abroad have noticed an increase in their self-confidence (The benefits of study abroad n.d).The fact of facing psychological and linguistic problems and unfamiliar situations provides the adventure student experiences and maturity that increase his self-confidence feeling.
The experience of living and studying in other country can also be open-minding. It provides a unique opportunity to know a different culture and people of various backgrounds. It slows down people’s judgments, makes people find a way to learn from every situation and gives a better understanding of the world.
Opponents of