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    • CommentAuthoracramer13
    • CommentTimeFeb 13th 2010
     
    I know theres a lot of information on the AFS homepage about countries and such, but I was wondering what people's actual opinions were... I'm a freshman this year and am very interested in doing a semester program next year (sophmore). I know I am young, but I don't want to go junior or senior year because of college stuff going on. I have taken Spanish since sixth grade, so going to a Spanish speaking country would be easier, but also if I went to a non-spanish speaking country I'd learn a whole new language. I am also wondering if I should go during the fall or the spring, a fall program seems sort of last minute, but I'm open to anything. Also...scholarships? A likely chance of getting one? Just looking for past/current/future AFSers thoughts. Thanks!
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    I'm going as a sophmore too! I'm studying Spanish and going to Argentina for a year, I would recommend studying Spanish because it is a very widely known language and very useful in life. I believe it is the 3rd most spoken language in the world, after chinese and english. Also a country that speaks Spanish is much more likely to be more similar to the U.S. While there are differences, I have been to Mexico and Spain, and loved both. They are different, but I learned so much in my short amount of time there and saw some similarities. As for scholarships I applied for a merit scholarship and got some money, all you need is a good letter recommendation from a past or current language teacher and there is a good chance of getting a decent scholarship. As for when you go it really depends on where you go, I mean if you stay in the Northern hemisphere and went somewhere like Spain or Mexico the seasons would be the same, but if you go the Southern hemisphere to a place in South America like myself, the seasons are switched. Also you have to decide if you want to experiance the hoildays abroad, which would be cool, or maybe your birthday, or some other hoilday. I'm going for the year, and while I'm sure I will miss my family at the holidays, my birthday, etc, you can always be with your family at the holidays, but only really experience a new culture once. It's something to consider, but remeber if you decide to miss the holidays at home or mom's birthday, or whatever, it isn't because you don't love and care for your family, but you want to experience something different and that's normal and ok. It's what I'm doing. Good luck, hope this helps!

     

                                                                                                                                                                                      -Lydia

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