By Iiris Aaltonen EBA18

Many people have asked me why I decided to study in English and why I didn’t go abroad to study if I wanted to study in a foreign language. To be honest, the idea of studying in English in Finland seemed somehow odd at first. I didn’t even consider it as an option although I have always loved the English language.

I started studying English when I was in second grade and it quickly became my favourite subject in school. Learning a language has always been easy for me and it was a natural continuation to start studying English after I graduated from high school. I applied to university to study English but didn’t get in, so I studied it in open university. I liked the school and did okay in my studies but after six months of studying English grammar, literature and all those things, I started to realize that I wasn’t as interested in it as everyone else was. I like the language and I love speaking English but the thought of studying the actual language any deeper was too much, I was more interested in actually using it. So, that’s how I decided that I was going to apply to study in English rather than actually study English.

Now, after six months here on the EBA programme I really like studying in English. It makes the international aspect of our studies even more real. I also feel that my English skills have already improved here. This is good preparation for my exchange year in year three where I’ll be hearing a lot more English. Despite studying in Finnish my whole life, studying in English has felt surprisingly natural for me. Now I’m excited to start studying German next semester and I hope I’ll be able to learn to speak it well someday too.