Quick class 6: International experience – B2/C1

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Have you ever lived abroad? If so, tell your teacher about how the experience was for you and what you learned from it. If not, tell your teacher about how you think this experience would change you.

Hello! My name is Nicolás, I’m 29 years-old and I am from in a small town in Colombia. I am going to tell you about my international experience. I lived with my mother and my little sister until I was 24. At that time, I honestly felt I didn’t belong there anymore. It was almost as if I’d been cheated out of a different life that some of the people I knew were able to have and I wasn’t, like going to college, working with something I was truly passionate about, and, well, overall pretty much having better life experiences than I was. Don’t get me wrong, I mean, it wasn’t like I was envious or anything. It was just this odd feeling of being left behind by the world somehow which bothered me the most. I was stuck working at my mom’s restaurant and there was no way she could afford losing me. And so, I stayed against my will. Pretty soon I was becoming angry and dissatisfied with myself.

But that’s when a stroke of luck changed my life for good. Not just luck, I like to think I also had something to do with it. I found out about this program that sends people overseas to study in colleges. I studied very hard for the exam and I passed! I just couldn`t believe it. It was like a dream!

The college was in Germany, but all classes were in English. At first, I struggled a little to understand what the teachers were saying one hundred percent. But I got much better very fast and I found that the whole experience of living abroad changed my life forever.

I made tons of friends there and got a very important degree in Economics, which made my mom very proud of me.

But the greatest gift of all is that I have changed entirely as to who I am. I have matured immensely from all this, and I have learned to be grateful. Not to mention, of course, the employment possibilities and being finally able to help my mom the way she deserves. I can’t say that my international experience didn’t have its hurdles and bad moments. There were lots of those to get over. But it was more than worth it in the end.

ACTIVITIES:

Match the words and their correct definitions:

a) To belong somewhere	1) To annoy, to worry.
b) To be cheated out of something	2) A fortunate and unpredictable occurrence.
c) Odd	3) Entire.
d) To bother	4) Useful or enjoyable despite the effort required.
e) Stuck	5) Overcome, recover from.
f) Struck of luck	6) Strange, unusual.
g) Whole	7) Obstacle, difficult.
h) Hurdle	8) To feel that you are where you should be.
i) To get over	9) Attached, pinned, glued.
j) To be worth it	10) To have something taken from you by deception.