Student accommodation
International student
An international student is someone who takes all or part of their education in a country other than their own. In a Spanish residence that covers both someone here for a whole degree and someone on an exchange semester, and with them come a different language, paperwork and calendar.
Also known asforeign student · overseas student · exchange student · estudiante internacional
What changes for a residence
Two things set them apart from other residents, and both affect the building. The first is paperwork: someone who is not an EU citizen studies in Spain with a study stay permit, valid for the length of the course they are enrolled on (Organic Act 4/2000, art. 33); EU citizens are governed by their own rules (art. 1.3). The second is language: most foreign students run into difficulties with the language, and the rules, the dining hall timetable or a notice about the water being cut off have to be understood all the same. What it is worth planning for:
- Arrivals outside the usual calendar, mid-year or with the Erasmus semester.
- Written information in their language, or at least in English: rules, timetables, who to tell.
- A point of contact for the first weeks, which can be the floor tutor.
Worth knowing
The language barrier is not always visible. Someone who does not understand a notice does not always ask, and finds out once it has passed: the dining hall cut-off time, the deadline to report a night away, the date of an inspection in their room. How Bedel deals with it is explained in languages.
Sources
Related terms
- Student residenceStudent residence is the generic name for any building that houses students for the academic year with services included: a colegio mayor, a university residence or a private building run by an operator. In Spain it is a label of use and of marketing, not a legal figure of its own.
- ErasmusErasmus is the European Union programme that promotes and funds academic mobility: it lets university students spend between three and twelve months studying in another European country. It began in 1987, is named after Erasmus of Rotterdam and since 2014 has been called Erasmus+.