im armenian and russian, but
live in america. i speak armenian,
russian, japanese, and english.
would i be a foreign exchange student if
i move to japan for college?
OKAY! so heres the problem.. im a 17y.o. exchange student in finland, ive been here almost half a year and can hardly speak any finnish. i want to speak finnish but i lose motivation really easily and i find it really hard to sit down and study, also this is the 1st time ive ever really studied another language and dont know how to start really.. i know the very basics of the language and thats about it.. is there any tips you have that can help me get better at studying and learning this hard language!? Please help me out 
Strength, Experience and Hopes
Maintain good communication with peers can be done by many people. But, to build effective communication with cross-cultural society of course requires special expertise. Many people admit that I have expertise in building communication. And I have a simple experience of cross-cultural understanding. When I participated in a student exchange program sponsored by the American Field Service (AFS), they gave me the opportunity to experience a home-stay with a family in Japan. I found some differences between Japanese and my hometown, Indonesia. About religion, time discipline, habits, and so on. And the most obvious difference is about their habit. When I arrived at their home for the first time, they asked if I wanted to go to the sento (public bath) or onsen (hot spring) to take a bath together. They explained to me that going to public baths is very common and that the invitation is a part of cultural tradition used to appreciate guests at their houses.
I was surprised at the offer. Previously, I had never gone to a public bathhouse. I never even thought to go there as I am not accustomed to taking baths, undressed, with others. While I understand that this is a way they show their respect for me as a guest and embrace me as part of their family, the offer made me uncomfortable. I attempted to explain the reasons why I did not want to go to the sento or onsen and amazingly enough I was to handle the situation without upsetting or offending them. Actually, I think that this is a unique culture and I like the way they keep it.
In the other hand, they saw a difference in how I dress-up. I am a muslim and wear hijab covering my head. They asked me why I always wear a kind of scarf on my head and because it was winter, they also asked if I wore a scarf over my head to avoid me from the cold. Yes, I did see two differences here, about religion and how to dress. But I think, it’s not a big deal. I tried to explain them that this is a principle that I confided in my religion. And I did not see difficulty to handle things like this, so does my host family. We maintain our principles, but we also respect each other.
Cultural differences sometime can pose a risk, at least will cause the non-current communication, uncomfortable feelings or misunderstandings. But in my experience when in the midst of their family, although only a relatively short time, I could overcome those differences and be able to communicate effectively with all family members. In fact, they were very impressed with my ability to adapt quickly and familiarly to the entirety of them. I think all the problems of cultural differences can be resolved completely if we simply learn to respect each others culture without demeaning each other. Because when we talk about culture, of course it’s not wrong, it’s not right, it’s just different.
From the cross-cultural experience that I have had, I believe that I can do this because this is an excess that I have to build a highly effective communication. I am sure, the potential that I have today, should be more developed again and even better if it could be applied directly to the formal education that would I take. That’s why I’d love to college with amulticulturall environment and majored in social.
Ever since we got a German foreign exchange student at my school, I’ve been fascinated withthe German language, culture and everything else. How do you contact people from across the world?
Thanks for the answers in advance. Ok, so here’s my stats/ECs and all that good stuff
SATs (yes I know they’re bad)
Reading 680
Writing 620
Math 610
Total 1910
GPA/Classes
Just finished my first quarter of senior year with a 3.88 out of 4.0. I think my overall GPA is about a 3.65
This year I’m in AP Biology and English, Honors German 4, Microeconomics and Precalculus
Last year, I was in AP US History and AP English, Honors German 3, Physics, and Alg II (finished the year about 3.67 GPA)
ECs
4 years cross country
4 years varsity wrestling
4 years lacrosse
6 years of judo
2 years of teaching judo to younger students
2 years of ceramics (won a silver key in the boston globe show and won the sophomore art award)
2 years of school chorus
3 summers of volunteering in a dementia ward
4 years volunteering at Special Olympics Soccer Tournament
2 weeks with a German exchange program
and a recommendation from the academic dean at my school.
So what are my chances at these schools: Fordham University, Fairfield University, UConn, UDel, URI, Villanova, Holy Cross, William and Mary, Loyola University (MD) and Trinity College (ct)
I’m looking to do a study abroad program in the next year hopefully.
I’m studying spanish right now and interested in the spanish culture so it’d be interesting to go to a spanish speaking country, but just traveling in general i think is exciting.
I can’t decide if I would rather go for part of the summer or during the school year.
I am looking for a program that is a homestay but also i dont want to be excluded to the family.
I would also like to do things with my organization and possibly take spanish classes to become fluent.
Please tell me if you have any experience with studying abroad and let me know which program you went with. Thanks (:
* Right now I am looking at the program Abbey Road
I guess that the question pretty much says it all, but I am thinking of applying to become a Rotary exchange student so I am looking for info to give my parents about it. I’ve heard that the year long Rotary youth exchange programs cost $4,100. I was wondering if they all cost that or if it varies by which country you go to. Thanks so much!!
Alright, so I’m most likely going to be flying internationally this summer for an exchange student program in Asia– I wear contacts, and I was wondering if internationally, they let you pack liquids in your checked baggage. I know they let you do it within the U.S., and I plan on putting it in a large plastic bag so yeah. I’m just freaking out a bit because if I can’t, then I won’t be able to bring my contact-solution and I can’t STAND wearing my glasses. :/
Help?
I’m going to be an exchange student from chile, the thing is that berkeley is not a possibility because i didn’t do well enough on the toefl, but all other choices are available. My first choice is UCLA, but i also need to have a 2nd and 3rd choice. What would you recommend?
I’m going to be an exchange student from chile, the thing is that berkeley is not a possibility because i didn’t do well enough on the toefl, but all other choices are available. My first choice is UCLA, but i also need to have a 2nd and 3rd choice. What would you recommend?
