Reviews of Universiteit van Amsterdam (UVA) | Netherlands

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bisoushka

Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Nice, France
Language, Undergraduate, 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: At ease in most situations
My level after: No problems in any areas (including slang)

How much did you improve your the local language?

My level before: Basic phrases
My level after: Everyday knowledge (shopping, directions, etc.)

Language difficulties

Social

Educational

Administrative / Institutional

Overall

Personal comments

you may go to Amsterdam to learn Dutch but most people speak english and like to speak english. However, people will always appreciate to speak Dutch with foreigners.

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michalb

Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, Poland
Financial Management, Graduate, Erasmus

Expenses

Main source of funding:

Personal savings

Other sources of funding:

An ERASMUS grant

Work opportunities:

I didn't want/need to work

Personal spending habits

I wanted to use most of the opportunity I was offered as an exchange student.

Food, Housing, Nightlife, Overall:

was more expensive than at home.

Travel, Telephone:

was the same price as at home.

Accessibility of student needs

Second-hand text books

Second-hand household items

Computers / Internet

Administrative

Money from home

Personal comments

As you will soon discover everybody commutes on the bike in Amsterdam. You can get one from EURO 60. Public transportation in the downtown area is slow and rather inefficient and very expensive in comparison to biking. You cannot avoid public transportation however when getting to the airport or IKEA store.

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Christine B

Rheinisch Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Aachen, Germany
Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Graduate, Erasmus

Student life

Describe host city:

Students interact with the local community without much university involvement

Activities: Takes place mostly within the university/student environment

Nightlife, Travel: Takes place mostly outside the university/student environment

Personal social experience

Activities

Nightlife

Travel

Overall

Personal comments

Amsterdam speaks for itself. Depends on personal interest. Drugs and parties are not my life. I really enjoyed the opportunity to row in a club on the Amstel though.

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Deborah D

Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, Nice, France
European Studies, Undergraduate, 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: No problems in any areas (including slang)
My level after: No problems in any areas (including slang)

How much did you improve your the local language?

My level before: Basic phrases
My level after: At ease in most situations

Language difficulties

Social

Educational

Administrative / Institutional

Overall

Personal comments

I had prooblems in speaking with other foreigners speaking English,I didn't like that too much.The English spoken was pretty poor(by not-native language speakers)

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amejiag

Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia
Biochemistry, Graduate, Independent

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: At ease in most situations
My level after: At ease in most situations

How much did you improve your the local language?

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

Language difficulties

Social

Educational

Administrative / Institutional

Overall

Personal comments

the communication could be better if I have learn the host language in the host university, in my university it was better because it was in my native language

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