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Foreign Exchange News by Patrick Venner
My name is Patryk Venner and for the second year in a row, I took part in the Spanish exchange. Two years ago, when I went on the Spanish exchange, I didn’t know what to expect. I had never been to Madrid before and didn’t know what life was like there. As a Spanish exchange student, you live with a Spanish family, attend a Spanish school and go on day trips to a variety of places. Living with a Spanish speaking family and having a Spanish student as your friend gives you the opportunity to put your Spanish speaking skills into practice in real life situations. Attending a Spanish school gives you an insight into the lives of teenagers living and studying in Spain. Going on day trips gives you a flavour of Spanish culture, traditions and history.
My personal highlights over the course of the two exchanges include visiting both the Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid stadiums, eating octopus in a restaurant and being a student for the day at the Spanish secondary school. My fluency when speaking and my range of vocabulary have improved as has my confidence in using Spanish in many different situations. My advice to students who are thinking of joining the exchange is to go for it. Make sure you contact your exchange partner before you go to break the ice and when you get there, smile and be sociable with your host family. Suerte!
