Student experiences

Here you can find and read feedback after Erasmus+ staying at University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius from our incoming Erasmus+ students. We appreciate their choice to come to our university and we keep our fingers crossed to the future!

Stancho Stoyanov – academic year 2019/2020

Kerindo Abeid Sumara

REPORT OF ERASMUS+ STUDY MOBILITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS, TRNAVA, SLOVAKIA 28.03.2019 - 17.06.2019

Kerindo Abeid Sumara, M.A History Student, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

I am so glad that I had an opportunity to study as Erasmus+ study mobility student at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia for about three months. It was a great time to stay in such a beautiful campus and a religious town with very polite people. I could meet new friends; learn various life experiences in the campus and town and acquire new knowledge. This is a short report on personal observation about the programme and what I learned in the university. I will focus on three major aspects- departure from Tanzania and arrival at UCM, accommodation and food, and studies in general.     

Departure from Tanzania and Arrival at UCM

Going for an exchange programme in Slovakia was our first time in Europe. We needed to outsource every single document which would enable my departure from Tanzania. Applying for visa was a very tiresome exercise with a lot of discomfort from the consular members who demanded a lot of documents several times. But, I personally felt grateful for the help from the receiving institution whose people were ready and willing to provide assistance for every single document required to acquire visa. Our arrival at UCM was very interesting with a very generous welcome from students and teachers. It was awesome to have Michaela Tuska who came to pick us from the city bus stand to school. She was super warm and friendly and helped us for many things and became our good friend. We had a special welcome from the dean of faculty and teachers. We real appreciate the incredible warmth of their reception and generosity.        

Accommodation and Food

It was very great to find a cheap accommodation in the school with enough facilities; free laundry and nice kitchen. School dormitory with many foreign and Slovak students was a wonderful place to learn different culture and experiences and make friends.

The university canteen within the school provides many dishes at a very reasonable price. I found several dishes in each day in the university canteen. It was always nice for me take well prepared potatoes with chicken or rice with chicken which became my favourite food.       

Studies in general

Learning environment at UCM is very impressive. Classes are very clean, organized and up to date. Lecturers use powerpoint presentation to assist their teaching, incorporating students in a very friendly manner. In all classes students used powerpoints for their presentation. Indeed, I came from Tanzania where the use of technology in learning is still very low. I had to cope and learn how to use powerpoints in my presentations for the very first time as a student and was a great experience for me. The subjects and topics taught, especially in the department of English, were not so much different from what we learn in Tanzania. So it was easy to learn faster familiar topics.

Trnava City

Besides learning I used evening hours and weekends to visit various sites of the city. The sacral monuments standing in many places of the town, concentration of churches and architectural gems in the city centre with cool environs were such wonderful to see and enjoy. Beautiful shopping malls and supermarkets located in sides of the city provided an opportunity to spend my evenings.

Conclusion

I felt it was a great experience to stay and study in UCM for about three months. We appreciate an outstanding hospitality from students and teachers and politeness of the entire community. It was my first experience with a lot to learn especially new culture and living with people of different backgrounds who became friends and colleagues. I will be happy to see many students from Tanzania participating in this programme and will be ready to share experience and give support at anytime needed.

Miriam Henry Ntuah

ERASMUS+ PARTICIPPANT REPORT BY MIRIAM HENRY NTUAH

It was great to participate in Erasmus+ program at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Slovakia. I would like to thank everyone who did their best to make sure that we had a comfortable stay and enjoy leaning while at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius particularly the management and instructors. I also thank the students for being so generous to us especially Mgr. Michaela Tuska for her kind thoughts and support.

Observations on the program

The program is good especially for African students since it offers opportunities to learn a lot of new things which they would have not learnt in home universities and daily life in Tanzania. The program is useful in helping students create international networks, experience new learning environment and culture (language, wearing styles, food etc). Moreover, I have learnt presentation skills in a detailed way and I am happy that now I can confidently prepare interesting presentation on various subjects in my field of study and present them professionally. I got the chance to learn from people with diverse world views and I am happy that I also informed them a lot about my country. I highly recommend the program to other students when opportunities are available.

Satisfaction

I am satisfied with the way the sending and receiving institution facilitated our participation in the program. I am as well pleased with the learning environment such as good classroom condition, instructors-students interactions in and outside classroom, constant internet access and campus life at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius (students’ dormitories, kitchen, canteen, safety etc).

Jérôme Scandale

I just want to say that my stay at UCM but also in Slovakia was really amazing. I am very happy for having chosen this place as my Erasmus destination. I have no regret, this year was just great! The level of study was very good. The system is very different from the French one but I think it is better. Here I had a lot of presentations to do and I think it is something important which help you to improve your English. I had both lectures and seminaries classes, and both oral and written exams. Again, for the examination system, here it is different than in France but I also think it is better.

Katarzyna Kapis

I were very satisfied from the level of study at UCM. I obtained practise knowledge from lectures and other seminar works activites. Communications with the teachers was without any problems.

Dominika Candráková

Studium na vaši univerzitě bylo absolutně nejlepší, přesně víte na co je potřeba důraz a čím zbytečně studenty nezatěžovat. Opravdu jsem nadšená z učení paní inženýrky Jurinové, já zatím opravdu nezažila nikoho lepšího a děkuji ji za všechno, co mi vložila do hlavy. Někdy to bylo opravdu těžké, ale i přesto si toto uznání zaslouží. Bydlela jsem na kolejích M.Uhra, platila jsem 53Eur měsíčně za pokoj s balkónem, což je opravdu vynikající cena vzhledem ke službám, které koleje nabízeli. Chybělo pár věci, například v kuchyňce, avšak i to si člověk dokázal pořídit, nebo si půjčit. Přístup k materiálům opravdu chválím, také máme moodle, ale nějakým způsobem se nevyužívá, avšak u vás je na něm opravdu všechno potřebné, student se nemůže vymluvit, že neví, co dělat případně, když mu něco chybí, protože je na něm všechno. Jídelna taky – skvělé jídlo, myslím, že vhodná cena, akorát místa by to chtělo přidat, ale i s tím jsme si poradili, také chválím zaměstnance jídelny, vždy usměvavý a dokonce si mě později i pamatovali, což bylo velmi příjemné. Já jsem zamilovala celý třídní kolektiv, především teda prváků, se kterými jsem měla nejvíce předmětů. Kluci jsou opravdu gentlemani a jsem opravdu ráda, že jsem je mohla poznat. Myslím, že jsme si sedli, pomáhali si a stali se kamarádi. Vzájemně jsme se toho opravdu hodně naučili. Také jsem měla možnost poznat studenty z druhého a třetího ročníku a myslím, že opravdu jsme spolu neměli nikdy žádný problém. Se zahraničními studenty jsem také vycházela moc dobře. Doprava, taxíky za 2eura, to je teda opravdu lákadlo, avšak i tak jsem chodila většinou všude pěšky, přeci jenom není Trnava tak velká, aby se někam nedalo dojít. Jídlo stejné jako u nás, akorát dražší, ale s tím se počítá. Počasí a především západy slunce z balkónu bylo dokonalé, lidé milí, sport hned vedle kolejí a akce jestli party nebo vánoční trhy, kluziště a podobně bylo skvělé.

Alina Tsyhankova

Esmanur Kucukislamoglu

Manuela Diaz Gamez