Case Study B - Luisa Kabala

Luisa is another Erasmus student discovering that for a small country, Ireland has a surprisingly high number of regional accents. She initially experienced a little difficulty understanding some of her Irish lecturers, but sharing a house with five Irish girls from all corners of the country has really helped her to overcome this minor linguistic problem.

Luisa was attracted to studying in Ireland by comments made by friends at home in Toulouse. They spoke of the beautiful landscape, lively traditional Irish music in the pubs, and the welcoming nature of the Irish people.

She is taking modules in History, Linguistics, Translation and Literature, all areas relating to her English Studies course back in Le Mirail (Toulouse University). For Luisa, NUI Maynooth represents a refreshing change of scene.

’It’s not too big and not too small; there is a good student size,’ she says. ‘It’s much more spacious than Le Mirail, and the campus is just amazing – full of all these beautiful old buildings.’

Luisa’s comments come as no surprise – NUI Maynooth has been a place of learning for over two centuries.

As a member of the international student society, Luisa meets with fellow international students every Sunday for an evening of movies and chat. The well-organised society also regularly arranges day and weekend trips to locations all over Ireland. The beautiful western town of Westport, Co Mayo has been her favourite destination so far.

Luisa recommends her fellow French students overcome any stereotypes that they may have about Ireland (rainy, etc), and make it their Erasmus destination. One gets the distinct feeling that the girl who hopes to work as a translator one day, will be a regular visitor to Ireland in the future.