Slovak Erasmus Students

Ján Karchňák

26 years, autumn 2014
Technical University of Kosice (Automation and Control) - Università degli Studi di Parma, Italy

"I did my Erasmus in Parma (internship as PhD student), which is really nice historical town. There are so many things I would like to say that it could be a book, but I will try to make it short for you! I will cover pros & cons for city, teachers, accommodation and people from my experience. Let’s begin!

City - the good thing about Parma is that you can get anywhere by bike and there is a lot of cyclists’ pavements. Drivers pay attention to pedestrians as well as cyclists. There are so many little shops where you can get anything! And you can see a lot of historical stuff around as well. The party street of Parma is called Via d'Azeglio and you should visit it on Friday night! The thing I didn’t like was lack of publicly available wi-fi hotspots and sometimes it was problem to find anybody speaking English. However, it is an Italy, so you have to speak with your hands and everything is going to be fine :-)

Teachers – I didn’t have lessons due to the fact that I was on an internship, but I was in touch with couple of professors and they were real experts in their fields. Thing that amazed me was that they were willing to help students to understand the topic and even to give some extra lessons on weekends! As for English, they had no problem. Accommodation – university offers some facilities, such as dorm or residences but the price is high. You can use various kinds of web sites for finding an apartment or you can try it on facebook in related groups and usually the price is better. But be careful – always ask for written agreement or a bill.

People – well, what Italy would be without people? Generally, Italians are very friendly and nice people. They are very social and always have a time for a friend. If they want to get somewhere, they just go. However, they are late all the time :-D

To conclude, I have to say that the time I spent in Parma was the best time of my life, because I met incredible people and had a lot of fun with them. City of Parma is not as big as Milano, but it is full of culture and history. What is more, you can buy parmigiano and prosciutto for really good price ;-)"

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Eva Polačková

23 years, summer term 2014
Ekonomická univerzita v Bratislave (business administration) (EUKE) - Fachhochschule Rosenheim, Germany

"I spent my erasmus time with great people, I could compare Slovak culture with other very different cultures and countries (Arabic culture, Indian culture, American culture...). It was good experience for my future. I improved my foreign languages, soft skills and found so many friends. Many thanks for Programm Erasmus :)"

Miroslava Hroncová

22 years, winter term 2013

Technická univerzita v Košiciach (Artificial Intelligence) - Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain

"I decided to apply for ERASMUS study because I wanted to experience something new and I also wanted to get a chance to experience such wonderful country as Spain. Fortunately I managed to get this unique opportunity.

At first I was scared a little because it was my first flight and I had not had any knowledge of Spanish at all before I came to Spain. Sometimes there were stressfull moments and sometimes very funny moments but I am glad that I managed to do everything from getting to my flat, making timetable and doing all necessary stuff at different offices with help from coordinators at international student office, my new friends and thanks to a little improvisation. I have a lot of friends all round the world, I learnt Spanish, I travelled a lot throughout Spain and visited a lot of beautiful places.

I also think that ERASMUS stay made me more responsible, self-sufficient, more confident and experienced. I can only recommend this great opportunity :)"

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Barbora Korchňáková

24 years, full year 2012/2013

Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice (Geography) - Faculty of Science- Universität zu Köln, Cologne, Germany

"I am so happy that I could go to Erasmus. It was my dream (plan) since I started to study in University :D I should stay there just one semester, but then I asked for semester more. Because I realised it is better idea to stay and continue with german language course (I have gained certificates A2,B1,B2 level).

I enjoyed that time there really intense. I met really nice German people, but they really need more time to become your friend. Thats a reason why I befriended earlier with foreigners. Now I have friends around the world. I was traveling around Germany, Netherland and Belgium. Because of cheap flights I visited Barcelona too.

I had new subjects in english and german language (GIS for water resources and watershed management, Changing African Environments, Wirtschaft und Stadt, Landschaften im Kartenbild). I learned a lot and I realised that Slovak Geography is in the same quality level, but unfortunately has low budget for research.

When I came back I started to work for ESN Košice, because I really missed the erasmus spirit and multikulti community. I am proud to be a volunteer, even PR and webmaster for ESN Košice. B-)

After my erasmus time I could imagine to live everywhere. I feel stronger and more open-minded then before. I advice everybody to go to erasmus. It is big chance to get know better the world and yourself!"

Milada Konečná

23years, winter term 2012

Pavol Jozef Šafárik University (British and American studies)
- Faculty of Arts- Universidad de Valencia (English Philology), Spain
"My Erasmus stay belongs to the most wonderful and interesting parts of my life. Five months spent in Valencia has given and thought me a lot – about Spanish culture, people, language but most importantly about me! To be honest, I enjoyed every singly minute of my Erasmus stay and I was unbelievably sad when I had to say good-bye to my new Spanish and other international friends. I was able to learn Spanish in five months, therefore, I also got the opportunity to understand Spanish culture and Spanish way of life (SIESTA, FIESTA, MANANA :) ). I regularly participated in “Language Exchange Meetings” which are aimed to people who want to meet new, interesting and open-minded people and practise languages. It helped me to improve my language skills and meet my new amazing Spanish friends. Moreover, during my Erasmus stay, I got the opportunity to travel a lot (almost whole Spain), party a lot and meet people from different parts of the world and develop myself. I have experienced so much that it is incredibly difficult to describe it by just few sentences. ERASMUS should be experienced by EVERY STUDENT in order not to lose a chance to experience something wonderful! My Erasmus and people I met have changed my life and my already positive attitude towards life has become even more positive! :) "

Peter Turcsanyi

23 years, summer term 2012, TUKE - Faculty of Civil Engineering
- Politechnika Krakowska, Krakow, Poland

"It was just life changing episode for me. Besides studying in different language, with different methods i gained something much more valuable (for me). Friends. Thanks to erasmus I was able to widen my international thinking. It has taught me how to live alone, with my friend and be responsible for myself. Thanks to that, I decided to continue my Master studies abroad as I am not done with exploring the world. In fact, Erasmus programme just gave me the right impulse to do so."

Darina Glittová

23years,
TUKE - Biomedical Engineering
- Politechnika Bialistocka, Bialystok, Poland

"simply unforgettable"

Andrea Hanáková

24years, summer term 2010,
Pavol Jozef Šafárik University (British and American studies)
- Faculty of Arts- Universidad de Valencia (English Philology), Spain

"My Erasmus stay in Valencia was the best time of my student life! Getting to know new people, new language, new country,is the way to getting to know the world. New door has been opened and will never close. I´m thankful I had this chance to study in Valencia and experience different school system and life. Professors at University are top professionals but treat students as equal what means such a huge benefit to student-teacher relation. I had no problems during my studies there. After submitting some presentations, papers and passing some regular tests during the term, we had exams at the end. Those exams take more time than in Slovakia. Even 4 hours! It is all about different school /teaching system, but it is easy to get to used to it. We lived in huge student area on the street Blasco Ibanez, what was great location - 20minutes to university, 20 minutes to the beach :) During one term we had chance to travel a lot thanks to Spanish traditions and many days off due to public holidays which are celebrated in a great style what we enjoyed a lot. Not only those traditional festivals, beaches and sun but also new cities brought us smile and new experience. We visited Ibiza, Barcelona, Alicante, Madrid, Toledo and also many cities in famous Andalusia. And there was always something to do thanks to student organisations which were planning parties and trips for us. Unforgettable experience!"

Want more info about studying philology at University of Valencia? Feel free to ask me > adka.hanakova@gmail.com

Alex Šucová

24 years, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University - Law - Università degli Studi di Foggia, Italy,summer term 2012

Time of my life! Living half a year close to the sea and visiting different beaches almost every weekend in the summer, studying in a multicultural environment, learning foreign languages actively while meeting bunch of international friends..Study abroad definitely opens one`s mind and teaches to rely on yourself and the others. For me it was like living a dream!!

Languages

Main menu

Follow us

Slovak Erasmus Students