Studying abroad is a great way to set yourself up for the future. However, there’s no doubt that it can also be challenging. With some of the most popular study-abroad countries like China and Japan—where locals don’t often use universal languages like English—linguistic barriers can be a significant hurdle you’ll have to overcome.
That’s not to mention the culture shock, homesickness, and financial challenges you’ll likely face when earning a degree outside your home country. All these things can be even more difficult if you experience hearing loss.
Currently, more than 140 million people are hard of hearing. If you’re one of them, you may be worried about how they’ll amplify the challenges you’ll face when studying abroad, especially if your condition already made it hard to learn in the schools you’ve attended in the past. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to make things easier as you embark on your new academic journey overseas. Here are three things you can try:
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Choose an Accommodating University
Start making things easier for yourself as you choose which university to attend. Ideally, the institution you enroll in should offer accommodations specifically suited to students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
That can include providing interpreters or captions during lectures, seminars, and other academic events, as well as faculty members versed in the sign language you’re familiar with and can communicate with you more easily.
Some go even further by following recommendations to collect student feedback before creating more inclusive school policies. That’s illustrated by the higher education institutions that work with the Deaf Federation of South Africa.
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, for example, collaborates with this organization in running its Student Affairs Division’s Disabilities Unit, which works to provide all hard-of-hearing students and faculty equal opportunities to immerse in all aspects of campus life—and gather their input for further policy development.
Looking for these services will be especially crucial given that you’ll have to deal with the challenges of hearing loss while you’re far from home.
Though you can assess how accommodating a university will be to you through its website, it may not contain all the information you need to determine the challenges you may face while studying there. That said, consider using it to draft some questions about accommodations, ask them during your admissions interview, and make your final decision before enrolling.
Streamline the Learning Process with the Right Aids
Despite choosing an accommodating university, you may still face challenges while learning. Having the right aids at your disposal can make things easier.
It may be difficult for you to hear what’s going on depending on where you’re seated in the classroom, even if you wear hearing aids. Background noise from your classmates can also cause feedback, and long lectures mean your aids can cause discomfort after a couple of hours. In these cases, hearing aid glasses could be the right tool for you.
The ones from Nuance aim to provide comfortable support in an invisible eyewear design. They use directional beamforming technology that can help you focus on the speaker you’re facing at any given moment while cutting out background noise, so you can hear and hone in on a lecture without getting distracted.
Studying abroad also means you’ll have to deal with things like accents, which can make things harder to understand, even if you can see and hear what’s going on. On top of that, you may also find it difficult to keep up with the pace or content of discussions despite the presence of PowerPoint captions or an interpreter.
Transcription tools are one aid that can help you get everything down for review later on. Live Transcribe, Google’s mobile transcription software specifically designed for the hard of hearing, shows just how accessible that can be.
After downloading the app for free, your Android phone’s mic will transcribe the audio from your surroundings, so you don’t miss anything despite the speed and complexity of your lecturer’s accented speech.
Don’t be Afraid to Communicate Your Needs
Even if you’ve chosen the right university and have useful aids at your disposal, it can still be overwhelming to study in an entirely new environment.
Your hearing loss may also be the kind that can’t be corrected by hearing aids, which may make things more difficult. That means it’s important to communicate your needs, regardless of the severity of your condition.
One thing you can do is inform your professors about the kind of hearing loss you have, how you wish to be treated in class, and what you can work out in terms of accommodations. If you miss a question or answer during a lecture, don’t hesitate to ask your teacher or classmate to repeat what they just said. You can also talk with others to copy and fill in any gaps in your class notes.
More importantly, watch after your well-being while you’re studying abroad. Learning overseas can heighten feelings of depression and anxiety through homesickness, and hearing loss can exacerbate feelings of isolation by limiting your opportunities to interact with others.
Letting people know that you’re hard of hearing is a great first step that can help you socialize in your new environment and combat feelings of loneliness, especially far from home. Institutions like the University of Florida also offer student counseling and wellness services for when things get too much to bear, so be sure to make use of them if they’re available—the professionals here can give you tailored advice on how to cope when studying abroad with hearing loss.
