University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)

Even though I had a decent knowledge of English before comming to Australia, it has improved dramatically since I live in Sydney. The first weeks were obviously a bit hard because one needs time to ajust to the local accent, slang... At university it took also a couple of months to be completely comfortable with the fact that everything was in English. Indeed an international student has to cope with the difficulty of the class itself but also with language difficulties. Reading in a foreign language is something that takes a lot of time to improve because at first one has to read every single word to be able to have an understanding of the document but after a relatively long time one manages to improve and to quickly grab the main information out of a text to have a general understanding. I spent 2 years in Australia and I can really see an incredible improvement. Some people even ask me if I am local which is always a compliment.

The first weeks in Australia are rather costly because bonds for accomodation have to be paid, at least some furniture to be bought, university books to be purchased... A lot of transactions are made in cash in Australia and therefore it is quite easy to run out of cash in the first weeks (as there is usually a withdrawal limit on credit and bank cards). So one tip is not only to take a bank card but also some cash (in American dollars or Euros) when coming to Australia.

There are plenty of things to do in Australia, plenty of amazing places to see. So make sure that if you come to Australia to study you allocate a bit of time for travelling there. Be ready to live in a completely multicultural city (especially if you come to Sydney) where it is somtimes hard to find a "real Australian". Don't be afraid of the Australian accent: it is a bit strange but everyone gets used to it, starts to love it and sometimes even picks it up.

aucun

There are plenty of pubs and clubs to go at night in the city and it really depends on people's tastes, restaurants in Glebe and in the Rocks are very nice. Some evets that have to be seen and/or participated in are the City to Surf and the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.