Plan your language trip!

Do you want to spend some time abroad? What about a school year in Australia, a language course in Canada or a horse-riding holiday in Ireland? But how do you make up your mind where to go and what to do?

If you’ve only got a week or two, maybe your school has a student-exchange programme you can take part in. Maybe you have family friends abroad or a penfriend you could stay with. What about a language course in places that aren’t too far away like Britain or Ireland?

The Fachverband Deutscher Sprachreise-Veranstalter has a list of accredited organizations and will give you a general idea of what you can do – and where.

If you’d like to spend your summer holidays abroad, you could go to a summer camp or do an internship or do volunteer work – maybe even in the US, Canada or Australia! Go to the Arbeitskreis gemeinnütziger Jugendaustauschorganisationen or the European Youth Portal, for work and volunteer programmes.

If you would like to spend a year away, you could go anywhere! The best thing for you would probably be to go to a high-school abroad. Or, if you want to take a gap year after finishing school, you could work as an au pair, be a volunteer or even find a proper job.

For accredited high-school programmes go to: Deutscher Fachverband High School or the Swiss organization Intermundo.

For gap years, try: gapyear.com , gap-year.com , gapadvice.org and Jugendnetz International.

Spending time abroad is often very expensive. Many organizations offer full or partial scholarships for their own programmes. You can also apply for BAFöG or other government funding.

It's also helpful to hear from other people who have been abroad. That's why Internet forums where participants ask and answer questions and write about their experiences are another useful source of information. Go to forums like Ausgetauscht.de or schueleraustausch.de to read about other people’s experiences of spending time abroad.