IRELAND-DUBLIN

I grew up speaking Portuguese until I was about four years old. When I went to kindergarten in Switzerland, I started speaking German. My next foreign language was English, which I learned in grade 3,  when I was about nine years old. Then in fifth grade I started French. So, I got used to speaking different languages or adapting to different situations as a child, which I actually think is quite good. Since Portuguese and German are my two mother tongues, I often have advantages when learning new languages. When I learned French, it was easier for me as a Portuguese than for German speakers and thanks to Portuguese I also speak a bit of Spanish and Italian. Having learned so many different languages at a young age, I would say of myself that I can learn a language quite quickly. I also feel quite comfortable with my English, to be honest. I had eleven years of English at school, and I also did a language exchange program in Miami, which helped me a lot. That's why I wasn't afraid of travelling in general or of this exchange semester in Dublin. The only two things I was afraid of was the Irish accent, because I've never heard it before in my life, and the fact that I have to do an undergraduate degree in English. After all, it's different when you order a coffee in a foreign country or when you study and present your architectural project in front of native-speaking famous architects, because I haven't had the opportunity to present my own project in a language other than German.

My first weeks in the studio were quite good, we didn't have any really difficult tasks yet that required a lot of technical words in English that I didn't know at the time, and the group work was also quite easy. The more we progressed in the studio and the more detailed and complex our project became, the more I noticed that a lot of words were missing from my vocabulary. But since I didn't notice this until later in the semester, when I was already comfortable speaking in another language, I wasn't really scared or anxious that I didn't know the word while presenting or discussing the project. I knew it was normal that I didn't know every word, so I just started describing it or asking my team members what it was called so they could answer it for me. I'm really glad that my experience presenting in English turned out the way it did. I always felt confident answering questions or starting discussions with tutors, even if I didn't have the same opinion as them, which I didn't think was possible at first. In the end, my tutor even said to me that my English was really good, and she never had a problem understanding me or my project, and she liked my quirk of just asking when I didn't understand something or didn't know the word. My team member also never had a problem communicating with me throughout the semester.

The other part that scared me at first was the Irish accent. To be honest, I didn't know why I was scared at all. It's not that difficult. Of course, they use different words or have a lot of slang words that I don't know, but I found it really interesting to hear this different kind of words. My friends also had a lot of fun with me because they like to teach me new words or ask me if I've heard them before.

So, all in all, my fear was unnecessary. I quickly felt comfortable in my everyday life and at university and with my friends. My English really improved, but probably the best thing about studying in English was that I now feel even more comfortable speaking and presenting in English.