Study in Ireland for a year - Galway worth considering?

arirang

Hi,

A good friend of mine is planning to study English in Ireland for a year, and we're trying to decide what would be the best place to go to. Dublin is the obvious first choice due to bigger diversity of schools available and of course being a bigger city, there's just 'more to do', but is it really the right choice? I am a Belfaster myself so I'm not too familiar with Ireland, so I would appreciate any and all advice for this.

My friend would ideally like to work part-time after classes, and I've heard horror stories about job hunting in Dublin. Is it perhaps better in Galway? She has some previous experience with typical student part-time jobs in retail and cafes, and her English is pretty decent (not native level, but close to fluent). How about apartment prices and availability? She'd prefer to stay away from house-sharing really. Anything else worth considering, would you recommend Galway compared to Cork or Dublin in general?

Thanks in advance, and hope to get some answers!

snubbleste

Well obviously you posted this in the Galway forum..so the choice has been made.

NoPasaran

Close to fluent is probably better than native level in the Wesht.

ScumLord

I think your friend would have an easier time with the Galway accent than the Dublin one. Galway has a good turn over of tourists too but she will be competing with thousands of other students. Sharing is usually the way to go for students. I'm sure she could even find a house of other international students.

The only thing that could ruin her study is that Galway is a party town, she may end up leaving with a culchie accent and a drinking habit.

dafunk

I'm from Dublin but live in Galway, I would recommend Galway tbh. It's much easier to meet people, more sociable, by far cheaper to live in and you have the beauty of the west coast to explore at the wknds, it would be a more authentic experience of ireland I think. Culturally there is not as much to do as in Dublin and I have no idea what the work situation is like for students in either town so can't say much about that. Haven;'t spent a great deal of time in Cork but by all accounts it's a great city to spend time in.

She could get accommodation by herself if she has the money to do that. When I left Dublin 6 years ago I paid 700 euro a month for a bedsit (bed, sink, kitchen and couch in one room), when I moved to Galway I got an entire house for just a little more and the same distance from the city centre. It's also very difficult to meet people in Dublin, that's the nature of big cities ...

To echo what ScumLord said however, it's extremely easy to get into bad drinking habits in this town.

Wompa1

Part time work will be tough to get in Galway

starlit

Id suggest galway or cork course and living wise but dublin might be better option job wise.

Mrs OBumble

dafunk wrote: »

It's much easier to meet people, more sociable, by far cheaper to live in and you have the beauty of the west coast to explore at the wknds, it would be a more authentic experience of ireland I think. Culturally there is not as much to do as in Dublin

This.

Plus Galway is 2.5 hours away from Dublin by express bus. I try to go up once a month for a dose of "big city"-ness.

Galway comes with a warning though: 'tis like the Hotel California for many people, as in you can check out any time you like, but ...

The only downside is lower job availability.

Mrs Garth Brooks

Another downside to Galway is it rains a whole lot more here than Dublin.

ScumLord

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

Another downside to Galway is it rains a whole lot more here than Dublin.

True, but when the sun does come out, there's no better place to be.

starlit

True about the rain though!

biko

OP has similar threads in Cork and Dublin, this is usually frowned upon but since we should promote Galway for foreigners I suppose we'll let it slide for a while

It depends on when she's due to come over. Dublin and Cork would be better for all year work I presume whereas Galway probably would be better during the summer months.