Over the course of many years, many have learned foreign languages through foreign exchange programs where language learners spent a week or more in host families’ homes in other countries to learn languages and in return welcomed exchange counterparts into their own homes. Foreign exchange or swaps are considered to be among the best ways to learn languages and culture since the participants will be fully immersed in the natural environment where the languages being learned are spoken.

In the United Kingdom, foreign exchange programs are under threat from the new regulations of child protection. Exchanges are collapsing in the UK because many parents do not want to undergo strict criminal record checks which the British government is imposing for anyone who looks after a stranger’s child overnight.

Claudia Freeman, the head of languages at the Perse School in Cambridge, is one of the many language educators that think that foreign exchange is one of the most effective ways of learning foreign languages. Freeman stated that it is “absolute madness” to enforce the strict regulations and is worried about having to cancer trips abroad because of the child-protection legislation introduced after the murder of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Freeman cites a letter from the Department for Children, Schools, and Families advising her that “host families in England involved in providing accommodation for foreign students on school exchange visits are strongly advised to undergo enhanced CRB checks … which become mandatory next year. This is in line with guidance to schools on volunteers involved in activities requiring an overnight stay”.

All over the UK, schools that conduct foreign exchange are faced with the same issues. Freeman is having a hard time finding accommodation for teenagers from European countries who will be learning languages in the UK. Freeman said that the government seems to want to do away with school exchanges completely and schools are being pushed to study trips in youth hostels where there have been attacks and murders such as the case of 13-year-old Caroline Dickinson who was a Cornish teenager raped and murdered in a youth hostel in Brittany in 1996.

Sam Cunning from the Hall prep school in London is among the many teenagers who would want to learn and improve their foreign language skills. Sam and his class were supposed to stay with families in Lille in the next spring in order to learn French language and culture and in return will accommodate their hosts for an exchange visit. However, the said trip is cancelled said the school’s French language teacher Rob Clarke. Clarke said that about seventy parents need to be CRB checked which is just not practical. He also disagrees that new checks on host parents are necessary since in the past fifteen years of exchanges there have never been reports of any impropriety.

Foreign exchange programs have brought many changes in its participants and have made them learn more than just their target languages. Duncan Byrne, a language teacher at the Aske’s Boys School said that the most important thing about the foreign exchange trips is that the participating youngsters can make friends for life.

The new regulations might totally put an end to exchanges with host families and pave way to hostel programs which may no be totally safe. If and when the regulations will be implemented, there is little chance for the youth to be exposed to other languages and cultures without having to go through a lot of scrutiny.

What can you say about the new child protection regulations and their possible effects on foreign exchange programs? Share your views with us.

It is that time of the year again when people are feeling the magical air of Germany’s Oktoberfest. It is one of the most colorful and authentic German festivals that has captured the hearts of people from all over the world. It is also one of the best times to visit Germany’s lively city of Munich not only for the Oktoberfest but also for German language learning.

The Oktoberfest is not the only event that happens in the city of Munich but it is the most recognizable and popular event that has brought people to the city and even inspired other cities worldwide to recreate their own version of the festival. Munich is the capital of Bavaria and was founded in the earlier part of the twelfth century. The city has gone through a rich history brought about by various influences from different cultures. It became a developed city just a couple of decades after its founding and it went through many changes in culture, governance and architecture due to the Counter Reformation, Gothic Revival, the Renaissance and several wars.

Munich has recovered gracefully after the Second World War and nowadays, its local citizens enjoy a prosperous economy and a high quality of life. Unlike other cities in Germany, Munich has a relatively low crime rate and has a high employment rate. It is also a wonderful tourist and educational destination since it has a wide array of attractions and many notable educational institutions. Tourist spots, universities and German language schools are among the most in demand in Munich!

The Oktoberfest is by far the most attractive event in Munich. It begins at the end of September and it is one of the largest folk festivals in the world. It is a huge fair that occurs for a span of two weeks and it showcases a lot of colorful parades, live music, and Munich’s best beers. About six million people attend the Oktoberfest annually that’s why it is a very popular and important event. You could visit Munich during this time of the year and even hone your German language skills in a German language school! You would learn to appreciate the event more if you could communicate with the natives in their language plus, you will have the chance to become bilingual!

If you would like to see more of Munich aside from its glorious festival, you can learn more about German culture through its other famous attractions. The Cathedral of Our Lady or Frauenkirche is the most famous landmark of Munich and it can be found in the city center. If you have a thirst for knowledge and would want to be in one of the oldest and largest science museums in the world, the Deutsches Museum might just give answers to your questions. If you would like to visit the places where famous people such as Mozart, Wagner, Mann, Rilke, Klee, Brecht, and Kandinsky among others used to live and became inspired with their works, Munich has it all for you!

Munich also has parks and green areas such as the Hirschgarten, the Tierpark Hellabrunn zoo, the Olympic Park which caters different sporting events, and the Allianz Arena that holds exciting football matches. Munich is a wonderful place that has combined the traditional with the modern and it surely will be a great place to learn German.

Whether it is the time for Oktoberfest or not Munich is still very much worthy of your visit to learn more about the German language and culture. Learn German in Munich and find out for yourself why the city’s motto is “Munich loves you!”

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