As Students go Abroad, New Plans for Exchange Programs Surface

By CHARLOTTE KANE '19

As every academic year winds down, groups of Milton students and faculty travel to Europe to participate in either the French or Spanish exchanges. The Spanish exchange pairs students with a counterpart from Milton’s partner institution Colegio El Pilar in Madrid; students spend the month of June living in Spain with their partner’s family before hosting them in September. The French exchange follows a similar model except the students visit Milton first, and each visiting period is only two weeks long.

Modern Languages department chair Bill Hamel explains that “in a perfect world, all Milton students would travel abroad for a month” to immerse themselves in the language they studies in the classroom. However, the current model leaves it up to students to decide if they want to participate in exchanges, so this self-selected group is usually comprised of the most motivated language students. The selective application process for these programs involves an essay, language teacher and advisor recommendations, and an interview. Although Hamel would like every applicant to attend, he notes that realistically, the groups should contain only about 14 students, so the department makes tough decisions to choose “the most qualified students” for the trips. Competition has increased for the Spanish exchange, as in the past year the department decreased the group size from 25 to 14 students.

Hugo Caraballo, a former chaperone, explains that safety and logistics were the main concerns motivating this change. He says that larger groups can be harder to manage when using public transit and going on excursions, making the trip less safe. Furthermore, larger groups require more chaperones, and “having four teachers in the department out at one time can be very difficult logistically to manage”. El Pilar runs a few other English exchanges, making a smaller pool of potential counterparts for Milton to choose from.

Along with the problems that large groups bring, Caraballo also explains that students who travel have to be mature because “they have no safety net” when living without their parents. He also says that chaperones need to better support their students while abroad, and smaller groups can make it possible for this kind of support. At the same time, students “have to force themselves to speak in the language consistently to get the most out of the experience,” and, in this respect, the attitude participants bring to the exchange can be more important than their previous knowledge.

While students apply to the exchanges for a variety of reasons, most have similar motivations. Lily Wright (‘19) remarks that she “hadn’t been to Europe before and wanted to spend time with friends from Milton, experience a new culture, and explore the world a little bit more.” Vijaya Anisetti (‘18) explains that she had some reservations about applying as a junior since the groups usually have more sophomores. However, she decided to try because she thought it would add to her Milton experience and that she “didn’t want to pass up such a great opportunity and regret it.” Both Wright and Anisetti encourage any student who may be interested to apply for the exchanges.

The Chinese department is currently working on an exchange for their students. Hamel says the coordinator, Shimin Zhou, has already visited a school Shanghai in order to sort out the problems that working with a foreign institution entails. The exchange would start with Chinese students visiting during their winter break in January or February, while Milton students travel to Shanghai at the same time that the french and spanish exchanges depart. Hamel is optimistic that the department can roll out “some portion” of the program next year; in other words, if they cannot sort out the protocols in time for Chinese students to come in January 2019, Milton students would travel first before their counterparts travelled the next January.

Unlike the other two exchanges, which only accept either Class III or II students, the Chinese exchange plans to allow any Chinese student to apply, regardless of class year or knowledge of the language. According to the Foreign Service Institute, Spanish and French generally require a native English speaker only 600 hours of practice to reach proficiency, while Chinese usually takes a whopping 2,200 hours. This disparity in learning time, Hamel comments, is why the department does not want to hold back less advanced students from gaining the time and immersion that can be vital to learn a language. Furthermore, the Chinese department is much smaller, so it does not have the “luxury” of allowing only advanced students to participate.

Hamel describes the exchanges as “opportunities to build both cultural and linguistic skills”. A student who went to Spain last year remarks that although she was shy about her speaking, she “learned how to listen and understand the language really well.” Another student explains that in Spain, she “struggled a lot” with the language initially, but “learned how to interact with different people and express myself in a different language.” With such great reviews and a new exchange opportunity coming soon, the language exchange program is set to remain a key part of many students’ Milton careers.