I've been reading questions asked by kids about their Rotary interviews: What will make them a better sell to the organization? What is likely to impress the interviewers? Lots of times kids assume that knowing a second language will help.
It might, and it's a hint that you're well-rounded, but our experience has been that the kids don't usually know where they are going. Chloe's in Spain, but she didn't know she was going there until about six months before she left. Andy's in Italy, and he thought he was going to Spain until about two months before he left. It can never hurt to study other languages, but don't assume that you'll go to France just because that's the only language your high school offers.
I've mentioned before, however, that the kids might be penalized for not knowing the language when they get to their host country. Most European kids coming here have studied English. Many of them come here primarily to hone their English-language skills, even though Rotary exchange students are supposed to be on a cultural exchange, not only a language-learning or academic exchange. I'm excited that Chloe's new host father knows English very well, yet I barely think twice that I can't communicate in Spanish the simple fact that Alicia's asleep when her grandmother calls (Chloe's since told me that No está. Adios. is enough to get me by). So why does Grandma call back, one minute later, to repeat the nonsensical exchange? That's barely enough time to grab the Spanish/English dictionary, where I look up sleep, then realize that there's a good chance that I'll inadvertently tell her that we've euthanized her granddaughter.
Because their kids know English, many host families and schools assume that our kids should know their language. Surely it's arrogant to go to another country and expect everyone to speak your language? Yep, it is, but most kids don't expect that. Just because they can't yet speak the host language doesn't mean that they expect everyone else to cater to them in English. It's not their fault that our education system does not value, enough, the learning of other languages. If I was doing the kid-rearing thing over again, I'd make studying at least one or two other languages a priority, regardless of what's offered at school.
Another tip I've gleaned: boyfriends and girlfriends are a red flag to the people deciding who will be an exchange student. You won't behave this way, of course, but they've been through it too many times before: The girl goes to Japan, but the boyfriend wants her to stay home. She worries that he'll find someone else while she's gone, so she keeps in constant contact with him. He worries that she'll find her host brother's best friend exotic and therefore attractive. Through the constant contact, he makes her feel guilty for leaving him and so it's her fault that he went to a movie with that hot girl who sat in the back in chemistry class last year. She then fixates on what's going on at home rather than embracing her host culture. Just keep in mind that in most districts there are a lot of kids who want to be Rotary exchange students. Not only can the exchange committee afford to be choosy, it's in their best interest to be so. Everything else being equal, no boyfriend or girlfriend is likely to give you the edge. Maybe that's an advantage of being younger: you're less likely to have a serious boyfriend or girlfriend at fifteen than you are at eighteen.
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