I was an exchange student growing up with the Rotary Exchange Program…
I was thinking… Is there anyone out there who would like to do a country house exchange, or cultural exchange host for 1 month next summer/? I have 2 kids… currently 1 and 2 and half, and I would like them to go to a non english speaking country preferably… but very open to different ideas
If you like the idea… want to look at either going to Canada (home)or Panama (we have a condo there which we use in the winter) or are from Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica… and want to plan play dates we could easily travel in the winter… I want my kids to get some language exposure with like minded parents …
Theres lots of time to work out details… next year or the year after… I think it would be great to do family exchanges… we can start talking and emailing exchanging pics…see if theres a match.
What better way to see a country then with the locals. What better way for a child to learn the language then through play.
I was a rotary exchange student too and picked up portugese in Brazil from not knowing ONE word. I would be keen to do an exchange with you since I am teaching my son Spanish- again from scratch. I am one month away from having my second one, so I would say next year would be a better idea. I love the idea of full immersion. So come and spend a few weeks with us in Thousand Oaks, California and we could follow you to Costa Rica or where ever you deem fit! Sounds like an awesome idea. Anyone in China want to jump in on this band wagon. I am also trying to teach my son Mandarin (simplified).
I should let you know that the condo in Panama is a vacation home… we are not native panamanians… I know spanish from my exchange, and then worked in latin america for 8 years before having kids… so I am very fluent in spanish… but my native tongue is english and I am canadian.
California sounds great and close enough to skip down to. I was in San Diego for a day about 10 years ago and loved it… I will PM you with my details…
That is so funny, do you know my first name is Mandy too? The two Mandies, english speaking and teaching their children spanish. Do PM me in a few months. Right now, I am concentrating on having my baby - 4 weeks to go
Good luck with your baby and look forward to keeping in touch… I would love a chinese family too… or any asian, european, south american… lol lets say just about anywhere… my original exchange was to mexico.
Its been a while but I didnt have much success the first time… Excuse me but I am going to try bring this topic to the front again… Call it selfish but I think its a good idea and am hoping for an outcome…
That being said… as of january 11 there will be 3 boys in our famiy… however we would like to still maybe host this summer and vacation somewhere the following summer. My children have been exposed to spanish, french and chinese to date. We will not close off any options though.
lol I have family that lives in kenora… we keep saying we will take a trip up there one summer… I would like to drive it to see the country side… So now that our last little should arrive this upcoming year we should be able to finally plan that road trip in a year or 2
