hi Lot_Tea
I recommend www.findaphd.com because that's where I found my phd.
Alternatively look at jobs.ac.uk under "phd".

best of luck
love satchi

but that's because that's part 2 :-)

love satchi

hi reenie
yes I can play the piano :-)

love satchi

hi fernando
my advice is to look for opportunities that are available NOW. I chose my phd based on the research -- and then I found out which university it was. Just start looking and you may find something you like.

best of luck

love satchi

hi Fernando
so one of the reasons you want to study Portuguese is because the university in Portugal will not ask you to do an IELTS again? I mean, there won't be an English requirement if you study Portuguese?

treeofLife is right about doing phd in English -- but Portuguese is also not your first language, wow it will be a challenge for you either way I guess.

just out of curiosity -- what about a phd in Thailand?

When there is a will there is a way :-)

love satchi

hi Fernando sawadee-ka welcome to the forum! Thanks for sharing your ambitions with us.

1. Let's say you study Portuguese in Portugal and after such-and-such a time, you have an excellent command of the Portuguese language. If so, you will be more likely to recognise differences between European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. There will not be much problem about language difference if you are already good in Portuguese in Portugal (when you go to Brazil).

But it will only be a BIG problem if your portuguese is weak.

2. To be honest, I would not do a phd in Portugal or Brazil. I guess to go there, you'd also have to consider the university and who you'll be working with, what project etc. It's hard to say which is good without relating to any particular topic.

3. Don't know this one. But I can say that it is hard to get a job in the UK with a phd. Having a PhD does not guarantee us a job.

4. What exactly do you mean by tough policy? Is it immigration? I think it will be almost the same anywhere in the world. I can say though-- that in the UK, it is tough because the border agency changes its rules/policy/whatever-it-is-called very often. For example, if you're applying to extend a student visa, you need to check back at the website to download the latest form, why because they keep changing it. Then they make you go back to the university and sign attendance all because you are an international student.

5. I think most of us have experienced a long plan of study like you, or have gone through it.

6. Did my phd in UK.

I've tried to answer your questions, now I have one to ask you :-)

How passionate do you feel about learning the Portuguese language? It is difficult to learn a new language--and if you do a phd in a foreign language you might be expected to write a thesis in that language. I once met a Japanese phd student who did his phd in MALAYSIA in the Malay language. It took him 7 years to write the thesis because he had to study the language before he could write it.

The choice is yours--and the world is at your feet! If you go to Portugal, post here and let us know! happy new year :-)

love satchi

hi hazyjane, wowzers, Ian (mackam_beefy) and metabanalysis

thank you for your replies! Very much appreciate it. Ian the deed poll website is a great help thanks veyr much. At this moment I think I have at least made a little progress about my name change decision --

first -- I'm going to drop my first name.

second -- but I still haven't decided about Dr Satchi or Mrs Blanc yet.

love satchi

HI everyone
I've just watched the hobbit (desolation of the Smaug)
wow that was one MEAN badass dragon!!!!

I really enjoyed this one, the hobbit is better than LOTR (for me!)

another piece of good news is my bf bought me a piano today as well!
yay I'm so happy

love satchi

hi Incognito
Happy Birthday! I'm sure something will come up soon. I myself still haven't landed a job yet. How bout doing something nice for yourself, and then you'll definitely feel better.

Tell you something -- my bf forgot my birthday -- when he realised what day it was, he rushed out to get me a card and forgot to sign it!!! It was so funny. My dad also forgot my birthday! The only person who sent me a happy birthday text was my bestfriend :-)

please do treat yourself -- and share it with us (about it) if you like!
love satchi

hi TreeofLife, Ian, HazyJane, wowzers and everyone

many thanks for your replies :-) I think Satchi-Blanc is a bit long.

Another reason why I started thinking about name changes is because I don't like my first name -- I know this sounds daft -- but I would really like to lose it if I could -- and people who don't know me will refer to me following what my name reads as -- for example I recently went for a job interview and straightaway they used my first name to call me -- which is not wrong of course. So let's say they gave me the job -- then I would have to tell them not to call me by my first name because it's not my preferred name -- but then on every document that first name will still be there.

So I thought since I'm getting married in 2014 I was thinking of dropping my first name as well (I haven't mentioned this in the start of the thread).

What are your thoughts about dropping first names then? I am seriously thinking of this, in fact having my own first name deleted from my documents matters more to me than using my soon-to-be married name!

I think it's really awful not to like your own name but I have been stuck with it for so many years and yes I would like to get rid of it (sorry, don't mean this to be a rant).

Another question I have is -- suppose I change my name -- that is dropping my first name -- do I have to tell people then -- I don't use that name anymore? Is there a nice and subtle way to go around this without sounding like a nutter?

thanks very much
love satchi

hi everyone
thanks for your replies :-) timefortea I think Dottoressa is really cool. I think it's the same in Spain isn't it, everybody is a profesor if they are teaching in a university?

Ok this part about using our married name in our personal life if I did not change my name Dr Satchi but use Mrs Blanc for my personal life that means I don't have to do anything legally. I just leave it as it is?

thanks very much
love satchi

hi everyone
I will be getting married next year and I have a question about names.
If satchi is my family name and I am Dr Satchi
and say I married Blanc, would I become Mrs Blanc or Dr Blanc?

I'm not sure whether to retain my name or to add it or??
What is the norm now for phders?

Thank you
love satchi

hi frequentflyer
welcome to the forum. I have been in a similar situation -- me with phd n the bf with his job -- quite frankly I feel that my wonderful supportive bf cannot really understand the stress of a phd because he hasn't been through it himself.

I think we survived my phd because I did not fully immerse him in it, he wouldn't have understood if I kept telling him about it -- he would have got frustrated if I told him everything about my phd (how stressful it was for me etc.). Whenever I was feeling stressed with my phd, I used other ways of dealing with it (instead of telling my bf everything), I found that this helped in our relationship, he wasn't stressed because he couldn't exactly see the extent of how stressed I was.

It's not that I was hiding things from him--its just not giving him too much phd stuff -- too much that he wouldn't be able to digest.

We also did have some kind of "routine" that worked very well for us. That was me doing my phd stuff (writing etc.) whenever he was out at work -- so that whenever he came back from work, I could at least devote more attention to him (keep him fed and watered!).

People who haven't done phds cannot understand why we still want to look at our theses at night -- when we had the whole morning and afternoon to do it.

To make your relationship work it has to be a two-way effort. Yes it feels like your bf is feeling overwhelmed with it all. Perhaps you could both take some time and space to rethink your relationship -- try again (another "strategy" perhaps) and just go from there. Whatever it is, don't lose heart.

love satchi

hi Shashi welcome to the forum
Have you had a look at www.findaphd.com ?
I'm sure you will find something soon

best of luck
love satchi