What I did before I entered the Faculty of Psychology at L’Aquila University

Hello everyone. I say that I studied abroad at the Faculty of Psychology at the University of L’Aquila from Japan. This time, I will write about what kind of preparation and what I did to get accepted to the Faculty of Psychology at L’Aquila University, which is my first-choice school. This article is recommended not only for those who want to study at the Faculty of Psychology at the University of L’Aquila, but also for those who want to study abroad at an Italian university (especially for the purpose of obtaining a degree).

Learn Italian at an advanced intermediate level.

While in high school, I taught myself Italian to the level equivalent of CILS B2 in order to keep up with the classes taught in Italian. This is the upper-intermediate level that you should aim for before graduating from a four-year Italian language major at a four-year university in Japan. In order to learn these on your own, it takes time and effort. However, I had a dream of supporting the victims of the earthquake, and I thought that studying at the Faculty of Psychology at L’Aquila University would be the best way to do that, so that dream gave me a lot of encouragement.

Learning English.

Many of the papers are written in English. Therefore, knowledge of English is also unavoidable. I studied abroad in Australia and learned and used English. The classes were conducted in Italian, and I had many friends in Italy, so I didn’t have many opportunities to use English, but when I listened to classes in high school and listened to English news such as BBC and CNN every day, I was able to improve my reading and listening grades significantly.

Start a career as a translator.

I started working as a translator to raise money for my study abroad and, above all, to do work that was deeply related to what I love (language and linguistics). Through this experience, I got to know many of my colleagues, who inspired and motivated me. It was also great that I could connect with society in ways other than school by receiving money. In order to study at an Italian national university such as the Universidad L’Aquila, you need to pay about 1,500 euros / 150,000 yen per year, as well as living expenses. The average rent in L’Aquila is about 150 euros / 15,000 yen per room, but in addition to this, there are food costs. The work of the translator helped me a lot to save money for this study abroad program. Also, the job of a translator is more important than anything else that you have work experience. Therefore, the early experience not only gave me a great sense of confidence and accomplishment in my life but also convinced me that studying abroad would be a success.

Visit L’Aquila.

In January 2020, just before the spread of the new coronavirus, I visited L’Aquila without going to the National Center Exam and visited L’Aquila University. Even though I rushed to the university without making an appointment, it was a valuable opportunity to understand the University of L’Aquila. Actually visiting the city where I wanted to study convinced me that studying in L’Aquila was the perfect solution for me. In fact, L’Aquila is a very livable city. The citizens of L’Aquila welcomed me very kindly, and I strongly felt that my place was here. In order to reduce the feeling that “it wasn’t supposed to be like this” when you study abroad, we strongly recommend that you take a look at your study abroad destination.

Make friends in L’Aquila.

Studying abroad is a lonely thing. When you suddenly jump into an unknown city and spend some time there, you inevitably become lonely and sick. Therefore, being able to use Facebook and get to know the citizens of L’Aquila was essential for the success of studying at the Faculty of Psychology at L’Aquila University. L’Aquila was very gentle and very strong and stricken. Of course, what I saw was only a superficial part, only a small part of them, but I could still sincerely feel the strength of the reborn city. My friends in L’Aquila were very kind and helpful to me, and I was able to experience a lot of kindness, such as friends who sent me the necessary reference books (not available from Japan) and friends who gave me coffee. As a result, my study abroad at the Faculty of Psychology at the University of L’Aquila was successful.

Study required subjects (biology, chemistry, etc.) in Italian.

Wikipedia and other textbooks with a standard curriculum taught in Italian high schools are available to the public. Using it and studying subjects such as biology, chemistry, and mathematics in Italian instead of my native language of Japanese was necessary to achieve good results in my study abroad life. I could learn things that I wouldn’t learn in Japan, words that I wouldn’t use in Japan. In addition, the content learned in humanities courses is very different from science subjects. For example, even if we know that knowledge of Latin and ancient Rome is required as a general common sense and that knowledge of the history and culture of not only Italy but also Europe is required, it is very difficult to study it from Japan. By studying these subjects in Italian, you can learn what you need to live in Italy.