Take your linguistics studies international to analyze how languages are structured, learned, and used—linking phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics to real-world communication across cultures. International study immerses you in diverse speech communities and language policies, expanding how you design fieldwork, document languages, and test hypotheses about acquisition, processing, and change. You’ll advance in experimental and computational methods, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and historical linguistics while tackling projects on endangered language documentation, variation and change, and speech perception and production. Build your portfolio through corpus creation, elicitation and field methods, lab phonology, and collaborations with community partners—strengthening analytic rigor, ethical practice, and the ability to translate linguistic insight into education, technology, and language preservation.
My internship in Chile with Labfon was one of my favorite experiences from my time abroad because I learned to be proactive in my education. I now have greater belief in my own abilities when challenges arise.
During my internship, I harnessed specific hard skills that I will use for the rest of my undergraduate and professional career. I also developed a multitude of soft skills, including critical thinking, creative problem solving and time management. Balancing the exciting newness of exploring a new city and country while maintaining academic responsibility has helped me develop worthwhile habits.
Completing my internship validated all that I learned as a linguistics major and motivated me to work harder in school. This real-life scenario with real consequences opened my eyes to the value of being punctual and managing my time in a way that helps me feel prepared for every facet of my day. I know it will be a challenge to adapt to work culture at my future jobs, but this internship prepared me for that by giving me the confidence and patience to improve my craft one day at a time.
I knew I wanted to study abroad in Barcelona before I even started college. It's clear that the UCEAP structure offers a uniquely immersive experience that allows students to quickly become part of the city's daily rhythms. One of my friends joked that my study abroad experience checked all the boxes, and it's hard to argue. I downed calçots, danced in correfoc sparks at local festivals, saw Leo Messi score at Camp Nou, watched New Year's fireworks light up the Acropolis, and shook hands with the Catalan president at a book signing. It's impossible not to think back on the year as the most important time in my life, and I am grateful for it every day.
Working in a professional setting in another country is eye opening in terms of being able to explore different environments and how they function. I now have some background interacting and communicating with professionals in another country and language. I am inspired to pursue opportunities that involve working with the language learning process and I am looking forward to applying this direction to my career path.
