As a student abroad, you are in a slight disposition compared to other students. You may struggle a bit until you fit in and learn a new language so that you can hang out with new friends. Despite that, you should travel as a college student and use your semesters abroad as a learning and travel experience.
You may find it more difficult to finish college assignments and need to use online tools and services to your advantage. Luckily, there is an abundance of useful apps and platforms which you can install or sign up for while you’re still at home. Here are a few examples of what you can use and how you can use it to study more effectively.
1. Google Workspace
Contrary to its namesake, Google Workspace isn’t exclusive to office workspaces. Instead, it represents a set of very useful tools which you can use to your advantage. These tools include Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Calendar, and Google Drive among others. The combination of these tools will make it far easier for you to manage your college workflow abroad. You will be able to send emails, manage assignments, organize your semester calendar, and much more directly from Google Workspace.
2. Khan Academy
While many colleges try to accommodate foreign exchange students in their curriculums, different universities will inevitably feature different courses and exams. Khan Academy is an online learning platform with over a dozen different fields in which you can study up on whatever you’re missing. You can learn about math, science, finance, art history, and so much more for free. Khan Academy features gamification, meaning that you will be encouraged to learn more as soon as you finish a lesson. Khan is great for kids, but it’s not the only one out there. Another great online math tutor for your kids is Brighterly.com – which has a lovely interactive learning program that focuses on “Why” instead of “What”,
3. Duolingo
Going abroad will likely mean that you have to learn a new language on the fly. Duolingo is an amazing platform that can help you do just that. You can use Duolingo both on your laptop and on your smartphone where the platform exists as an app. It will allow you to learn over a dozen languages through daily exercises, starting with the basic alphabet and grammar all through different speaking phrases. You can compete in weekly leaderboards and earn achievements to unlock extra characters in the app, further expanding its engaging nature.
4. Evernote
Evernote is a cloud-based platform centered on taking notes and passing them among your devices. You can take your tablet to class and access the notes you took from your laptop later on. Evernote will let you plan your essays, write down research notes, and bookmark interesting resources online. You can then use a writing essay website to write, edit, and proofread your college papers and essays to make sure they’re of high quality. Evernote is a very useful app to have as a student abroad since you never know when you might want to write something down quickly.
5. Nord VPN
Depending on where you go for your semester abroad, you may not have access to your favorite websites or streaming content. Nord VPN is a great solution for traveling abroad, as it will allow you to mask your IP address. The platform is very easy to use and you can jump from country to country with a click of a button to mask your activities. Many students use Nord VPN and similar platforms to gather research notes for exams and papers from sources they otherwise couldn’t access. Nord VPN offers lucrative discounts for first-time users so check it out.
6. Dropbox
As a college student, you will likely have to send papers and presentations to your professors via online links. Dropbox is a cloud storage platform with a streamlined system for attaching and sharing documents. Dropbox is available as a website-based cloud storage platform but it also features desktop and smartphone apps. You can easily share your notes, documents, and learning materials with other students and use Dropbox to save important college files. Dropbox is free to use but does feature premium options for business-level use, which you likely won’t need.
7. Uber
Not every country has a well-established taxi or public transportation system, which is why Uber exists as a secondary option. Your college may be far from where you live or you may want to visit a local mall or go downtown on a whim. Uber will allow you to call a driver straight to your doorstep from a list of reputable, checked-out private drivers. All you need to do is hitch a ride and then review your driver to help them attract more customers. Uber is an extremely useful app to have on your phone because you never know where you might find yourself abroad.
8. Avast
As you browse the internet, you may click on suspicious links or spam emails by accident and realize what you did a second too late. Avast is a safe and reputable antivirus solution that you can install both on your laptop and smartphone device. The app features a silent mode which will prevent it from popping up while you work or play games. Most importantly, it is constantly updated with new malware information which will help you avoid the latest cybersecurity risks. Download Avast or a similar antivirus before going abroad to avoid potential digital worries.
9. My Study Life
During your first weeks abroad, you may have some trouble organizing your time around the new semester calendar. My Study Life is an app that can help you do just that. You can insert all of your college obligations, assignments, and extracurricular activities and organize them all into a calendar. This will eliminate the need for you to carry a notebook or a physical planner everywhere you go. My Study Life allows you to check off finished activities, track your semester’s progress and add new obligations as they come. It is an extremely easy and fun tool to use and you should sign up with it before heading abroad.
Preparing to Study Abroad (Conclusion)
Spending time studying abroad will be very beneficial for your future academic efforts and professional career as a whole. Make sure that you download and use the tools we’ve outlined to make the experience more seamless and productive. You will be able to spend more time with friends and see new things abroad if you use these tools to manage your college assignments.
