Studying a foreign language is not easy to learn since it is not a mother language for the country where a person lives. A foreign language such as English is hard enough since it has a lot of tenses, vocabularies and idioms. Some people think that studying a foreign language in the country where the language is spoken is the best way to learn the language while others think that learning a foreign language in your country is preferable. Both situations have their pros and cons.

The first pro for studying a foreign language in our own country that it is cheaper, which means the cost to pay the tuition for learning other language such as English is not as expensive as the cost learning English overseas such as in the United States. Learning English in the United States will cost you more since you need to consider not only for the tuition but also the cost living such as food, rent a house and transportation. For example, I am an international student from Indonesia who is studying English at University of California, Riverside (UCR), and it is true that my expenses are more expensive that the cost if I study English in Indonesia, my home country. However, the benefit study English in the United States is you get a lot of experience in using the idioms or slang language since you interact to Americans often. For instance, in the class, you will have Americans as your teachers, and sometimes they will give you some useful idioms that Americans always use in their daily conversation.

Besides the financial issues, creating a new habit to start speaking English in our everyday lives is another pro to studying a foreign language where the language is spoken. For example, I always speak English to communicate with other international students at UCR. Moreover, I speak English to negotiate in trading such as buying food at the groceries stores, and I use English to learn something new in class. However, studying English in Indonesia is not as effective for me since I cannot practice more in my daily life such as interacting with my parents. Therefore, studying a foreign language in the country where the language is spoken is preferable.

Just as financial issues and creating a new habit in speaking a foreign language, learning other cultures is another pro to learn a foreign language in the country where the language is spoken. In my opinion, if a person wants to learn a foreign language, he should learn the culture of the language to get the better understanding on how to use the proper language in a certain situation based on the culture. For example, I have learnt English in Indonesia before without learning American culture. Therefore, sometimes I don’t know how to use my English in a proper situation. Nevertheless, studying a foreign language is better in the country where the language is spoken.

In conclusion, although studying English in the United States is more expensive, in my opinion, it is worth it since I can learn much more in the United States such as the culture, the using of idioms and slangs and the quicker improvement in English speaking and listening ability.