A group of international students talking with an advisor

Settling in to university life

Settling down to study

Having a positive attitude is important - you know it's not going to be the same as at home; but you know that it's going to be better in a short time. - Lupita

Moving to a new country to study is a significant and exciting life change. You probably already know what you are expecting and hoping for, but you may also have some questions and uncertainty. Advice from friends who have already experienced living and studying abroad can help you settle down to your new life in the UK.

In these activities you will listen to some international students already living in the UK, give advice and share what they think you need to know in order to settle down to study. You will also find out about an exciting competition open to international students living and studying in the UK.

Activity 1Listening to advice from other students

It is always useful to listen to advice from people who have already done what you are planning to do. In this activity you are going to listen to four international students offering you some advice based on their own experiences of living and studying in the UK.

Instruction icon

Instruction

Watch the video extract and look at these five summaries of the students' advice and comments. Move each one next to the image of the student who says it. When you have finished, read the feedback to check your answers.

Video transcript (pdf, 83 kb).

Watch the video extract again with the transcript below if you need to check your understanding. The parts of the transcript containing the answers to the listening task are highlighted.

Activity 2The Shine! competition

In this activity you are going to find out about an exciting competition open to all international students studying in the UK.

Instruction icon

Instruction

Open the web page below and search for the answers to these questions. Make notes in the textbox and then check the feedback.

1. What is the Shine! competition and who runs it each year?

2. What do students need to do to enter the competition?

3.Watch the 'Shine 2009 winners' video'. How many cities in the UK were mentioned?

4. Read about the 2009 Shine! competition. Who was the winner and where were they from?

Would you like to review the main points?