What's up,guys? I'm planning to list UWC Costa Rica as an option of mine.Before I do,I wanted to know if the NC takes into account whether you know the language of the country where the UWC is or not.For instance,I don't speak Spanish.Is it difficult to study in a UWC in a country where you don't speak the local language?
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Red Cross Nordic UWC
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From what I know, absolutely not, but I think there's some expectation that you will learn the local language in your time there. Like I'm off to RCNUWC this August, and the only Norwegian I know is "Takk"! The main language used in UWCs is English, and even if that isn't your best language, you can always take the English course 1 month prior to the school year starting.
On the application page (http://www.uwccr.com/howtoapply.php) it says that you should be 'Committed to becoming fluent in both English and Spanish'. As this is a bilingual UWC (unlike the other IB ones) I think that knowing some Spanish beforehand will definitely be an advantage. But listing more options can't hurt.
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The UWCCR is the only "bilinugual" UWC at the moment, meaning that it is required to speak either language, spanish or english, when you arrive. Then you are strongly encouraged to learn both by the time you leave. Of course everyone learns at a different pace. The majority of the student do learn both languages by the time they leave the school after 2 years.
If you speak english though, you do not have to worry about anything at all. and even if your english is not perfect, you will learn very quickly. a friend of mine came to the school speaking not a word of english or spanish and was fluent in both in only 3 months.
I chose the UWC in costa rica because i knew it would be the opportunity for me to learn spanish, quickly and fluently. and it already payed off!
hope that helps.
Victor
Cogito ergo sum. Pienso luego existo. Fiesto luego existo?
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I feel something must be added to Victor's reply (finally some interesting talking about UWCCR!!!!)
First of all, as Victor said, you don't need to know Spanish at all, as you will learn it with time. A simple example: I'm from Argentina and two of my best friend were Italian and Belgian.... almost no English was used between us during the second year as they learnt and love speaking Spanish. You can get a really high level of Spanish if you put some effort on it, since you will have a lot of moments to practice both inside and outside the campus. Still, many of my co-years left UWCCR without knowing more than a few words....it's all up to you! In terms of t he academics, you have many different levels of Spanish classes, so you can really find the one that suits you. Some people arrived knowing a bit of the language and ended up doing Spanish A2 HL or even Spanish A1 HL (not kidding...) and some others even picked other subjects as History and Biology in Spanish too.
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I agree with Juani on this one. For example, I went to CR without knowing any Spanish at all but after 2 months became very fluent in it. A lil bit of effort is needed but it pays of as you become bilingual in the end. I think putting an effort into learning Spanish would be a great way to contribute to the attempt of UWCCR to be completely bilingual, which is one of the things it's special for.
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Jun 21 2009, 09:58 AM
The main language used in UWCs is English, and even if that isn't your best language, you can always take the English course 1 month prior to the school year starting.
