Personal Erasmus Report
Name: Daphne de Vries
E-mail: d.d.j.de.vries@student.rug.nl Host university: Newcastle University
School of: English Literature, Languages and Linguistics
Dear reader,
If you are thinking about applying to Newcastle University for your semester abroad, I highly recommend it. In this report I will include some information on the university in general, the courses I took and the social life in Newcastle.
Newcastle University
To start off with my experience with Newcastle university, I feel the need to mention that the campus is amazing. All your classes are within walking distance. However, be aware that in the Netherlands we generally get 15 minutes to change classes but in Newcastle you have about 5 minutes, so in the beginning this might be a bit daunting when you don’t know where to go. Don’t worry, you’ll learn your way around the campus in no time. Everything is near each other and the facilities are great. There are multiple canteens but my favorite place was Luther’s Bar, where you can get a coffee in between classes and a pint of Strongbow to celebrate the end of your day. Luther’s Bar is in the Student Union building which hold many study areas and printers. This building is situated on campus so it’s easily accessible. That’s another great thing about Newcastle, there are so many places you can go to study. Besides the Student Union building and each campus’ own study area, there are about 3 or 4 libraries nearby. I only visited the Philips Robinson building because I preferred to be directly on campus. Therefore, I was mostly in the Student Union or Percy Building (building of School of English).
Courses
I will tell you a bit about the courses I took as well. In general I should advise you to be aware that although Newcastle might be considered a party city, the level of education is quite high. Attendance is mandatory. Where the universities in the Netherlands might be quite lenient with attendance at lectures, at Newcastle Uni you are required to follow each class. And for the seminars even more so, as part of your grade is based on your class participation.
1. Introduction to Child and Adult Language Acquisition (20 credits = 10 ECTS)
This class was divided in two parts: first half was about Child Language acquisition and the second half about Adult language acquisition. I found this course incredibly interesting as it touched a bit upon the biological area of language. I also preferred it as it was more practical than the rest in the sense that you had to take a midterm exam and there was a group assignment.
2. Sociolinguistics and the Sociology of Language (20 credits = 10 ECTS)
This course was personally very useful as it touched upon experimental research and that was quite useful for finding a topic for my thesis. This course was given by three professors and for the seminar you had a different teacher. I found this course useful, but I didn’t particularly like the set up – the lectures didn’t really match the previous ones. I would have preferred one professor who linked the previous week to the following to make it more orderly.
I really liked this course the most as it is completely different than other courses I have had. This course started out being a history lesson about human kind and its predecessors. I loved that each week you actually had to read just one paper and answer questions about it. In class you were expected to have prepared it so that made the level of discussion interesting.
Introduction week
The introduction week organized by the university was quite simple. You basically go and get to know your ‘supervisor’. To me, it wasn’t completely clear who my study advisor or anything was while I was abroad. I was send from the one to the other. However, when I needed help Rachel Bailes was amazing and very much supporting. Furthermore, you get to know a bit about the uni and extra information. I would definitely make time to go to the introduction week as it provides basic information that is useful for your stay.
Freshers week
More useful than the introduction week, was the Freshers week! Not only do you get to do a lot of fun and exciting activities, but you get to know your fellow students. This week really made my stay great. If you have any questions, people are there to help you and to advice you. And mostly you’re just getting to know others and the city.
Housing
For housing in Newcastle I would highly recommend Erasmus Living. As I did not have anyone to tell me where to live and what to do I decided to first search for a place in one of the many student flats. Unfortunately, they only allow students who stay for the whole year as you sign a 42 week (or so) contract. So, after searching online for housing I came across Erasmus Living. At first I was hesitant as I wanted to live with native British and I didn’t prefer to live in a big house with 6 people. But it ended up being the best decision I ever made because Erasmus Living is great. I stayed in a huge house with lots of space for everyone. The person who helps you get a room and get settled in and everything is super nice, her name is Lucy. Furthermore, the landlord was very helpful, if you had any questions you could just ask him. And best of all, my housemates. I honestly made friends for life and they honestly got me through the dips of being abroad. So, I would really advice to check out Erasmus Living.
Costs
The costs I made in Newcastle weren’t very high. As I said I lived with 5 other Erasmus students and we often ate together. Also, there is this place called … where you could get a lot of food very cheap. This market is open everyday except for in the weekend. For your other grocery shopping the best option is Tesco’s. So, food wasn’t very expensive unless you go out for dinner a lot. The costs for my house were paid upfront so I didn’t have to deal with that, but it was 400 pounds per month (including everything: gas, electric, washing machine, dishwasher, TV license, Netflix, local taxes). Books don’t have to be expensive if you get them second hand. Other costs at uni can be for social activities like sports or other societies, but that is all up to you.
I hope this gives you enough information. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me, I’ll gladly tell you more about Newcastle and/or my experience over there.
Kind regards, Daphne de Vries
