University of Silesia - US (reviews)

I feel that many professors and PhDs who teach courses place great emphasis on ensuring that students leave the class with a thorough understanding of the subject. They’re always willing to help clarify any comprehension issues. Many of them speak with fascination about the subject matter. While I’d love to learn more about one subject, I understand that it’s more of a PhD topic. The review was written by a Polish person, so it’s possible that the experience for international students might be slightly different due to the change in instructors and the adaptation to English or another language.

My experience at this university has been overall very positive, especially within the Language and Culture programme. What stood out to me the most was the wide selection of additional languages offered alongside the main field of study. Students could choose from options such as Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Chinese, or even less commonly taught languages like Hindi or Bengali. The fact that all of these began at beginner level made them accessible even for those without any prior knowledge, which I personally found extremely helpful.

The programme itself was well-structured, though there were areas that could be improved. Many of the specialised courses—particularly the practical language modules—were introduced later in the degree than I expected. In my opinion, starting them earlier would allow students more time to develop confidence before moving into advanced or translation-oriented classes. Despite this, the quality of teaching was generally very good, and most lecturers clearly cared about student progress.

A real highlight was the cultural component. Along with the language instruction, we were introduced to the history, traditions, and modern context of the regions we were studying. This made the learning experience far more engaging and allowed me to appreciate the language on a deeper level. I especially enjoyed the comparative culture courses, which helped connect different regions and broaden my global perspective.

Not everything was perfect, of course. Some courses were quite theoretical and lacked practical application, especially in the second year. I would have appreciated more hands-on activities, such as workshops, conversation groups, or small translation projects earlier on. Still, by the final year, the programme offered both spoken and written modules, which balanced things out.

Overall, I don’t regret choosing this university at all. The opportunities to explore new languages, immerse myself in different cultures, and shape my own academic path made the experience worthwhile. If I had to choose again, I’m confident I would make the same decision.

The University of Silesia was very good and offered interesting translation programme. Each of them in addition to the English language was offering the second language which you could choose as per your preferenece because it was started from beginner level. Languages to choose were: Chinese, Japanes, Arabic, languages of India (with main focus on the Hindi language), German and later also Korean. It is not a typical offer that you can find anywhere else. The quality of studies generally met my satisfaction but translation programme could be better. Translation related subjects were started on the 3rd year of studies whereas it would be better to start it a year earlier. During the 2nd year there was only a written translation programme with a lot of thoery but not much practice. Oral translation was started on the 3rd year but a plus was that there were both types available consecutive and simultaneous. I am not sure how about translation in next years because I did not have a chance to continue my field of studies of translation with languages of India and had to choose Business English instead. Because of that I did not learn much of translation. The second language with elements of culture was a plus and was interesting. Although when it comes to languages of India I would prefer having Sanskrit or Urdu as the second Indian language not Bengali but this can be more of my personal choice rather than a complaint of any kind. Just in my opinion these two languages are more related to Hindi and Indian culture than Bengali.
When it comes to English and its subjects it did not vary from programmes that can be found at other Universities and quality of teaching was good enough.
Overall experience was really good and I do not regret choosing this University. If I was to make this choice again I am sure I would.

I study at the specialization “Music in Multimedia” in the Institute of Music. The Institute is not in Katowice. All the students of any music specializations are studying in the city of Cieszyn. That’s a cozy little city/town at the border near the Czech Republic.

I like that in Music in Multimedia we have a lot of freedom. And it’s good because we are composers and we need that freedom. It means that nobody says that our music is “bad” or “good”. Teachers just say what we can make better in this or that context.
But sometimes there can be too much freedom. It means that I don’t feel motivated to do some great job, because nobody will actually notice it. And also we have some musical equipment at the school but we cannot use it.

Although we can change the study program. Our propositions are valuable to the teachers.
The students here are friendly.
The school is kinda international but not that much. It could be better.

If you show the desire to become a good composer and you always improve yourself in that field someone (teachers, headhunters) might notice you and it’ll be good for your future career.