Study Abroad - Great Britain

Profile: Britain

Although Americans studying in Britain find the language (mostly) familiar, computers and software can have a more difficult time making the transition across the ocean.

Power issues

Both the power levels and the electrical plug types are different in Britain. To make matters even more complicated, there are at least three different types of electrical outlets in use in the United Kingdom, so an adapter that works in one particular room of one building may not work in the next room or the next building over. Read the power adapter on any electric or electronic equipment that you bring with you. If your device doesn't accept dual voltage (both 120 and 240 volts), make sure to buy an adapter kit that supplies the correct transformation of amperage, voltage, and frequency, as well as having interchangeable ends so that you can connect to any of the three socket types.

An illustrated list organized by country is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_mains_power_plugs%2C_voltages_and_frequencies.

Keyboard issues

A British keyboard's layout is generally similar to an American keyboard's, with letters in the same locations, but punctuation is in different places. The British keyboard layout is shown at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout#UK.

In addition, there are several different ways that computers encode and communicate characters with each other; if your computer is working with a different encoding than a web page or networked application, you may encounter difficulties in reading or interacting with a page. If the page shows some strange characters (like •¶Žš‰) in place of what should logically be punctuation or accented letters, you're using a different encoding than the web page or application (resulting in a phenomenon named mojibake).

If you're working in a web browser, you can try to correct the mismatch by selecting another language from the languages shown under View -> Encoding or View -> Character Encoding. Many browsers also offer an auto-select option; however, depending on how the web page's author created it, the auto-select may not produce correct results and you may need to try one at a time.

If you're working in an application such as Microsoft Office or Outlook, check the Help section for information on "character encoding" or "keyboard layout" for assistance.

Network issues

In the United Kingdom, ADSL is nearly the only method of high-speed network access available; some areas offer wireless networking, but ADSL-based Internet service providers have the vast majority of the market. However, you need both an ADSL modem and a telephone connection that is owned by British Telecom (BT) in order to make a connection to whichever ADSL ISP you choose. For more information about ADSL access in the United Kingdom, see the ThinkBroadband FAQ pages .