IL DIPARTIMENTO
What are the main ways that Viveras is useful for
students about to go on their years abroad?
We want to make all the scary parts of the year abroad a little
bit easier. While there is an element of excitement when arriving in a completely new place and getting to know the culture,
it is hard, even if we can sometimes think of it as a year-long
holiday! We felt that it was so difficult for information to be
passed from people who were returning from their year abroad
and people who are going on their year abroad, especially
as fourth years are returning after third year students have
already departed. The advice they have to pass on could make
those hard aspects of the year easier but it was just getting lost.
We wanted to collect all that information in one place so that
students could interact with each other, not only Bristol but
students from all over the UK and, even further, across Europe.
We provide a platform so that students can find out more
about where they are going and find somewhere to live but
it’s a social network, too. You can use Viveras to get in touch
with other people who are going to your new city or ask home
students who know the area for advice and even arrange meetups when you arrive. We wanted to create a one-stop-shop for
all things Erasmus. We try very hard not to pigeonhole the
site and make it just a website for language students. There
are students from many disciplines who go on years abroad
and they all have the same requirements that Viveras is able to
provide. One of the things we’re currently planning to set up is
a platform for people to share job information, as well.
One of the things that I think puts people off choosing the
Erasmus work programme is how difficult it is to find work,
especially in Italy where everything seems to be done on wordof-mouth and getting a placement without a contact is near
impossible.
Photography: Jon Rawlinson - Flickr
What we want to do is set up a way for students who’ve
worked on Erasmus to pass on their