While staying in Luxembourg, I've tried using my very basic Duolingo French skills. You don't know how beneficial learning a different language from your native one is until you study abroad. Reach out to people that you think would be fun to travel with and talk about the things you'd like to focus on throughout the program during the first few weeks to find people with similar goals! The friendships that you make while studying abroad are unique, as this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and the people that you meet along the way are definitely an of that. Reaching out to people in your program and around you as well as your housemates is the foundation for being confident when reaching out to strangers in places you visit, from hostel bars to cooking classes. I became more connected with my roommate, one of the people I knew before the program after living with her and traveling with her every weekend. But as time went on, I met so many incredible people with different personalities, cultures, and interests. I only knew two people going into the program out of about one hundred and twenty people. Going into the semester, I was nervous about making new friends in my study abroad program.