Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Is it a bad idea to be a foreign exchange student in a country whose language you dont speak!?
Is it a bad idea to be a foreign exchange student in a country whose language you dont speak!?
I REALLY want to do a foreign exchange thing next year but I can't decide where! I thought I would to go England for a semester but my friend told me that they are paid to host kids so sometimes they just do it for the money and you aren't really welcome. I am hosting a boy from Italy right now and he said I should go to Italy because I love the country. I speak NO Italian though!!!! And then I thought Argentina might be super cool too but once again I DONT SPEAK SPANISH! Is it a really bad idea to go to a country for a year and speak none of the language but get language lessons there and learn it along the course of a school year!?
Studying Abroad - 1 Answers
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1 :
1. Some programs--completely and utterly regardless of in what country--will pay a stipend to the family for hosting. Not all programs in England will do this, it depends on the program and how they arrange things. Even if they don't pay there is always still a chance you could land with an incompatible family. 2. It is not a bad idea to do a foreign exchange in a country where you cannot understand the language DEPENDING on the type of person you are. For some people, it is a very bad idea. You have to realize that when you study abroad in a foreign country where you do not know the language you essentially become "disabled." You are mute for you cannot speak the language, you are deaf for you cannot understand the language, and you are blind because you cannot read the language. You become completely dependent on those around you, and even after a year you will still not have total mastery of the language. And for some it is not possible to handle this problem and handle it well, particularly people from countries such as America where self-support and independence is highly valued and encouraged, and you end up pitiable when you find yourself completely dependent on those around you. So you have to really understand yourself before you do this. Do you think you can get by in life losing the three most important parts of yourself? It will be a while before you will become able to express yourself to a degree adequate enough to yourself, and only then if you try very hard to do this and actively seek out learning. If you don't think you can take this, there are other countries than just England and the US that speak English. There is also Australia, Ireland, or Canada.
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