2_1_DiscoverGermany_August2014_Issue17:Scan Magazine 1
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Discover Germany | Special Theme | Learn a Language
Special Theme
Learn a Language International Experience has years of experience arranging individual exchange programmes and study abroad programmes for students. Studying overseas grants you access to landscapes far more exotic than those of your home country.
Creating world citizens “Of all the joint ventures in which we might engage, the most productive, in my view, is educational exchange,” proclaimed Senator J William Fulbright. Admired as a pioneer of integration, Senator Fulbright’s vision is still going strong - largely due to Germany’s International Experience. TEXT: EMMIE COLLINGE | PHOTOS: INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
The family-run organisation, now active in more than 10 different countries, set up International Experience (iE) at the turn of this century. Providing the framework, support and enthusiasm for international exchanges for teenagers, iE cooperates with countless institutions across the globe to organise extended stays of anything from two weeks to two years at educational establishments overseas. Now a little under 15 years old, 600 students return each year from an iE programme as ‘world citizens.’ Founded by the tight-knit Gillner family and inspired by the antics of their father, Thomas and Kevin Gillner grew up with tales of their globetrotting parents. “Our father was one of the first Fulbright ex-
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change teachers that went to the USA in 1960. Based on his experiences – and the experience of Senator Fulbright pacing up and down our living room many times – we designed the iE programmes as a legacy,” Thomas explains. The programmes vary widely: from short-term language camps to one or two semester stays at either public or state schools; boarding schools or host families; academic or athletic; high school or university. “The company’s focus is on the safety and wellbeing of the students,” he smiles warmly,“and is very much in line with the way we would like our own children to be prepared and taken care of.” He recounts his daughter’s recent experience of a fulfill-
ing year at a private school in North Carolina. Thomas elucidates: “Visiting another culture on holiday is one thing, but immersing yourself in one is what we are preparing them for. They can learn more about what drives and motivates people in other countries. What has shaped a certain society to have certain beliefs and attitudes?” With his son poised to embark on a semester abroad in either South Africa or New Zealand, it’s clearly not an easy decision where to go. A firm favourite with ambitious German pupils is the United States of America, explains Gillner, as two thirds of the students undertaking an iE programme choose it. In terms of language, it’s an invaluable opportunity to pick up the nuances, but iE are keen to recommend other English-speaking countries. Ireland and Canada, for example, boast charming accents and entirely new cultures, and iE also organise English language camps, which can be combined with sport, in Italy, Ger-