WHAT TO EXPECT

 

When you bring a child to a foreign country, whether they are tiny or a bit older, they are exposed to  landscapes, people, sounds, smells, tastes and pace of life that are different to what they are used to and often parents’ fear that they will have difficulties settling in.

 

The first times a child who isn’t used to change will need a few days in order to move securely in this new world. 2-3 days are usually enough seeing as children are very flexible and they are with their own family. Experience has taught us that often it’s the parents’ fears which influence the integration of children… 

 

The experience at camp allows them to live an intensely emotional experience with the English language: great teachers and coaches have taught us that the key principles for learning something are PLEASURE, NECESSITY and AMAZEMENT. Without these it’s difficult for things to remain impressed on our minds!

 

So there it is, being immersed in a fun context with peer satisfies the PLEASURE element. Having to express oneself in English even to ask to go to the bathroom responds to NECESSITY and being catapulted into a context this new with children this different but yet the same … here’s the AMAZEMENT!!

 

The instructors in the camps who work with us know full well that a child’s first language isn’t English or Italian, but PLAY! This allows the children to acquire great mental elasticity in understanding even things which are linguistically beyond their capacity, trusting their understanding of the context, learning to read non-verbal cues (gestures and body language) and paraverbal communication (facial expressions, tone and voice volume).
If we add the emotional part of relationships with host families and new friends made on site to this … we have Bingo!

An experience like this stays impressed on our minds and is a strong positive imprinting to the approach to language and foreign culture.