My best learning experience as an exchange student - Natalia Andrea Gómez Rueda

The best way to learn a foreign language is to study it and to speak it in a foreign country. A student exchange program is a program where a student chooses to live in a foreign country to learn, among other things, language and culture. Being in another country forces to learn, what is necessary to survive, for example the ability of communicate as speaking or even improving with the people around. It’s necessary because life depends on it. Doesn´t matter to make a lot of mistakes, them can help you to improve language. So could a exchange student program be a good learning experience?

The last year I was exchange student in the northwest of United States, specifically in a Michigan’s town for almost 6 months.When I arrived there I was confused, I didn´t understand people speaking fast. Initially my host family tried to speak slowly. My first day of school was kind of ´´akaward´´ , I had to introduce myself in front of many people, I made a lot of mistake and naturally my accent was very ´´latino´´. Then student was asking me about my country, how it was like, etc. In the meantime people was talking, I was listen their pronunciation, so to improve mine. Obviosly at first I had to ask them about words that I didt get and then they explained them to me .

Everyday I learned a lot of words. It’s so good to practice new words by speaking. After a while of going to school, of taking classes and speaking with many people, I understood english better. Also I watched a lot of movies without subtitiles so I used to do not look them anymore. All those things help me to improve my language skills, likewise the necessarity of communicate to make friends at school, forces me to study english by myself , so people would like talk more with me because they could understand me better.

Conclusion
It was a pretty good learning experience I will never forget. It not only helps me for improving my english but also, gaining a sense of responsibility, gaining independence, knowledge of another culture, traditions, food, exploring differences between countries, learning more about myself, my friends and my family and a better understanding of my homeland.