What an exciting start to the week! ThirdYearAbroad.com won its place as one of Smarta's 100 most exciting, promising, disruptive new businesses, by 'spotting a good gap in the market' and 'making the important process of learning a language easier and more appealing for young people'. We're all very pleased, and still working really hard to try and make the site as useful as possible for all travelling types! We've currently added some crucial case studies, so have a look at our 'Been there, done that!' section and have a read through real stories - you never know, some of them might sway your plans of where to go for your overseas adventure!

If you're planning your year abroad and want to brush up on your Italian skills at no extra cost, how about practising online with a native speaker? There are many websites dedicated to connecting people from different countries, as well as offering exercises to improve your skills, language games and other ways to while away the hours while subconsciously thinking in Italian...