Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[hYpO-aLLeRgEniC]

Nowadays, we contact with many countries over the world. So languages are important for dialy life. Especially, people who knows many languages will have more chance to get many jobs than people who knows only English. In my opinion, Thai students should be interested in being exchange students for 3 reasons. The first reason is you will get various experience. You will have chance to learn foreign culture and lifestyles. You'll be able to live without parents and also solve the problems yourself. You may have more confidence and personal development. You will be a representative to publicize about Thailand to foreigners. The second reason is you can learn more foreign languages. You'll be able to improve language accent, skills and fluency. You will have chance to learn the other languages besides English or the third language. The third reason is you will meet various people from many countries. You can make more friends. You will have host family of another nationality. You can make international relationship and you can learn anything from them and they learn from you. In conclusion, being exchange students get very good experience. Do you agree with this topic?
[Sutthipha Raomanachai , Thailand]
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[Anxious Heart]

My experiences with student exchange (with short ones, only two weeks):

The first one was, as some students from Mongolia came here. That was really interesting, 'cause my knowledge of this country came to the fact, that it is situated between China and Russia. So I learned a lot about a completely different culture and it was not easy. I don't know, what I had expected, but one should learn about other cultures earlier or later, but not at the age of twelve or thirteen. So it was hard.

The second one was bad... but that was first of all my own fault. Pupils from Fance came here and I don't speak any French. So my exchange student spoke German well, but she didn't talk much.... not before she found someone French-speaking... in that case she talked non-stop. I was sad about that, but what should I do?
Then I made another mistake: I decided to go to France in spite of my language problems. I recommend everyone, who wonders to do so - don't try it! It is really sad, when you sit in the kitchen with the whole family, having dinner and you don't get the gist of they're talking about. I never knew, what it ist like, feeling foreign anywhere.... there I got to know this feeling. It was horrible.

The third one was nice. As Germany was devided in two parts after World War II and is still devided in the heads of many people, our school (which lies in the former Eastern part) organized a student exchange with a school, situated in the former Western part. And there I learned, that student exchange is not only improving your language. We joked a lot, also about the deviding topic and I guess many of us went home with the feeling, that there are also human beings in the previous Western part, who laugh, joke and breath just like everyone else. I assume, that is the best strategy getting the Wall out of the heads.
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"An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind." Mahatma Gandhi