As a Language Assistant there is no guarantee of being placed in a city even if it was your first choice. Living in a small town could however be one of the best parts of your year abroad experience... I received my arrêté de nomination in early June and excitedly googled the name of my future hometown - Lunéville, Nancy-Metz region. So I found out that Lunéville has a population of 20,000 - just a little bit less than Nancy’s 105,000, the city I had hoped for. But over the course of the 7 months I really did grow to love living in a small town along with its (sometimes bizarre) idiosyncrasies.

Jade is studying French and German at the University of Leeds, and is currently in the last month of her British Council placement in Aachen, Germany. Here is her insider guide to the city, including advice on sights to see, what to do, travel opportunities, ease of access to the city, the weather, shopping and social scene in Aachen.

Emily is studying French and History at the University of Warwick and is spending her year abroad as a British Council Language Assistant in Narbonne, France. Here's her brilliant advice to future students about managing your year abroad expectations and actively making the most of your time there instead of waiting for things to happen...