Georgina Young writes for The National Student on the best ways to spend you year abroad:

As this academic year draws to a close, many first year language students will be weighing up their year abroad options whether to work, teach or study. So as someone who has gone through it all, here are my words of wisdom.

Work

The Good

With more and more people graduating every year work experience is key in clinching that all important graduate job. Time spent working abroad looks great on a CV and the money earned in the process will go a long way towards exploring Europe and trips home. Not only this, but being placed in a company which uses the target language is the best option in terms of language acquisition.

The Bad

Work placements abroad are extremely competitive and a non-native speaker will have trouble securing one. Despite earning more, those who work also do not have much free time to travel or return home.

The Ugly

Moving abroad is stressful enough without the pressure of working in an environment where there is a language barrier. Workers can find themselves as outsiders and it can be difficult to break into a clique…

More on teaching and studying options here.