Ashland University provides students with a multitude of opportunities to study abroad in a foreign country. One of these popular destinations includes Brazil.

In addition to enrolling in the new Portuguese classes offered this year at AU, students can also gain insight into Brazil and the Portuguese language by traveling to the country. AU student Katie Stone serves as one of the individuals who took advantage of the study abroad options at Ashland by spending last spring in Brazil.

“One of the most enjoyable parts was participating in an opera, La Traviata, with members of my college and many people from the community,” Stone said. “I am a music education major here at Ashland, so just the musical experience was one to remember as it was my first ever opera.”

She also valued the friendships formed during the trip.

“Another enjoyable part was that I met so many amazing people through the program. I believe they will be lifelong friends,” Stone said.

While in Brazil, a typical day consisted of one to five classes with each course lasting an hour and forty minutes.

“All of my classes were taught in Portuguese. Things were very difficult at first, but as I learned the language I got more and more out of my classes,” Stone said. “Thankfully, some of my teachers spoke English and helped me understand things better after class.”

Stone indicated that the university was a fifteen minute walk from her apartment.

“This wasn’t so bad most days, but some days I would go to school and back several times (when I had one class in the morning and one in the afternoon for example). I really got my exercise on these days,” Stone said.

In addition to gaining knowledge in her classes, she learned more about the different foods in Brazil.

“The university does not have a cafeteria like AU does, but several small snack bars in some of the different buildings,” Stone said. “Most of the food I had never seen or heard of before so it was interesting getting to try those on the rare days I didn’t make it home for a meal.”

Stone also discussed the language barrier during her time in Brazil.

“One very interesting challenge I had was that I was staying with a woman who spoke no English,” Stone said. “When I first arrived in Brazil I knew the very basics of Portuguese and it was very difficult to communicate.”

However, she indicated that dictionaries and online translators helped improve the communication process.

“Even though this was somewhat inconvenient at first, it really did help me to learn the language in the long run, so I’m very thankful for that,” Stone said.

For individuals interested in studying abroad in Brazil this year, AU will offer an exchange program with the Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina in Florianopolis, Brazil during the spring semester. The application deadline is October 1 and students can contact the Global Education Office for additional information.