Cultural Immersion & Transformative Learning Experiences

Undertaking an internship abroad offers you the chance to fully immerse yourself in a new culture - being exposed to new foods, music, cultural traditions, beliefs and world views, can be completely transformative. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immerse yourself into a completely new culture whilst at the same time developing your professional skills. You will be able to involve yourself with the local community and ingrain yourself with people that live in Colombia, resulting in a unique and authentic experience as a citizen rather than a visitor. Jumping into a new culture is not easy, but a challenge well-worth undertaking. You will push the boundaries of what you are capable of and grow in independence, giving you confidence to take on challenges in the future. These transformative inter-cultural learning experiences undoubtedly lead to personal, academic, and professional development.

Improve your understanding of the world

Cultural immersion allows you to expand your cross-cultural understanding and increase your global awareness, giving you the opportunity to better understand your cultural values and beliefs in a new context. Seeing the world through another lens challenges the certain belief system you have grown up with.

Exposing yourself to new hobbies and interests

Immersing yourself in another culture can expose to a whole new world. You could learn about new sports, culinary practices, art, and dances, all deeply rooted in the local culture. For example, in Colombia there is tejo & salsa. This exposure allows you to create & experience new ways of connecting with people from around the world and understand that each culture is unique.

Living like a local rather than visitor

On vacation, you rarely meet any locals, let alone have the chance to see how they live. By immersing yourself in a new language and culture, you can learn about other ways of life, beliefs, and traditions.

You may get to join in celebrations on Three Kings Day in Spain, Thanksgiving in the US, or score an invite to a beach BBQ in Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Australia Day. Who knows, one day you may even get an invite to the ultimate cultural event — a wedding. Being fortunate enough to participate in a wedding from another culture is an absolutely unforgettable experience.

Perfecting the local language

Language is connected to culture, and no textbook can teach you the local idioms, slang words and expressions that evolve over time & become 'trendy', 'popular', and then 'outdated'. Communicating daily with native speakers and having real-life & practical opportunities to use the language every day is invaluable to learning & improving language skills, and will motivate you to continue learning. Full cultural immersion is the best way to become fluent in a second language. Most employers now favour employees who possess foreign language skills over those who don’t. Whether you become fluent or are just able to pick up the basics, your language skills will make you more marketable to future employers.

Will things ever be the same again?

After experiencing full cultural immersion and the transformative learning experiences that come with it, once you arrive back home you may look at everything differently and feel like nothing is the same as before. It can be challenging, and this is often referred to as "reverse culture shock". Your outlook on the world & your belief system may have fundamentally changed, and it is important to reconnect with people & share your experiences and the things that you learned during your time interning abroad.

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For over 10 years, students, graduates, and young professionals have interned abroad with us in Colombia and become immersed in a new cutlure. Discover our immersive Intern Colombia internship programs and apply now.

This blog post was written & published by Intern Colombia