Reviews of Haskoli Islands | Iceland

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Veronica M

Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Engineering, Graduate, Erasmus

Languages

Language of instruction: English

Local language was: Different than language of instruction

Was learning English a key decision factor?

Yes, I wanted to improve my English

Was learning the local language a key decision factor?

Yes, I wanted to improve my the local language

How much did you improve your English?

My level before: Everyday knowledge (shopping, directions, etc.)
My level after: No problems in any areas (including slang)

How much did you improve your the local language?

My level before: Did not speak it
My level after: Did not speak it

Language difficulties

Social

Educational

Administrative / Institutional

Overall

Personal comments

At the begging was a little bit hard communicate with other people, because i wasn't able to let the other understand me. Anyway after the period that i spent there, in Reykjavik, i've improved a lot my english, and now i'm able to understand everybody speaking english, and i can speak very fluently, also the technical english.

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Astrid P

Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Vienna, Austria
Business Studies, Undergraduate, Erasmus

Overall

I wish I had known...

That it is so hard to get in contact with Icelandic people.

In my opinion:

Everybody loved it, you will too!

Important factors in my choice
(1) Unimportant – (4) Very important

Academic reasons

3

Culture

4

Costs

2

Activities

3

Campus life

3

Party / people

4

Weather / location

2

Personal recommendation

A perfect university, didn't want to go home after a semester.

During my experience abroad, I ...
(1) Never – (4) A lot

Became familiar with another culture

4

Traveled

4

Improved language skills

4

Met people from other countries

4

Became more independent

4

Partied a lot

4

Experienced a change in life

4

Advanced my studies & career

4

Final comments

Try to travel as much as possible. This country is beautiful. Take with you a good warm jacket, a hat, a scarf and gloves. The wind and the weather in Iceland is very often really cold, windy and wet.

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Tiina

University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
International Relations, Undergraduate, NORDPLUS

Housing

Type of housing: With a family

Arranged by: Host university

If returning, I would choose: Apartment/House

Why?

Because I´d like to live more independently and closer to the center

Personal assessment

Cost

Facilities

Location

Cleanliness

Space

Personal comments

Otherwise ok, but the landlady was too greedy for money!

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Stephanie B

Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Vienna, Austria
Business Studies, Graduate, Erasmus

Expenses

Main source of funding:

Personal savings

Other sources of funding:

Family<br> Government assistance<br> An ERASMUS grant

Work opportunities:

I didn't want/need to work

Personal spending habits

I hardly ever called people, since Reykjavík is so little, you just meet people in the street. And why did I spent more? Because it is so expensive here!!

Travel, Nightlife, Housing, Overall, Food:

was more expensive than at home.

Telephone:

was less expensive than at home.

Accessibility of student needs

Second-hand text books

Second-hand household items

Computers / Internet

Administrative

Money from home

Personal comments

I didn´t have any big surprises, since I was quite well informed about the price level. The only problem was that for 2 months, the Euro was very low compared to the Icelandic krona - but that, I couldn´t predict. People should be aware that they´ll have to pay a caution on arrival, which with all the other expenses will make it a hard month.

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