LC Exchange Guide+School Toolkit - Flipbook - Page 17
Trips abroad
There are typically two types of trips abroad
that students might go on, one is a school trip
and the other is a family holiday abroad.
School Trips
85%
68%
87%
of respondents in our survey
said their school organised a
school trip.
promote their school trip as
an opportunity to practise
language skills
promote their school trip as
an opportunity to experience
another culture.
There are many companies that offer school trips to Target Language countries, see overleaf for a selection. However
there are a number of disadvantages, they can be expensive, and although they can be great fun, they are not
necessarily a great opportunity for practising language skills or meeting locals. However it is a more straight forward
option for teachers than an exchange. One way to ensure that you get exactly what you want, is to organise it yourself.
Case Study
The Japanese teacher at Ashbourne Community
School took a group of students to Japan during
the 2018 Easter break.
The cost per student was €2,500, and there
were 13 students and 2 teachers (one language
teacher and one non‑language teacher).
Students covered the cost of the teachers, and
it was a 10 day trip. Students were told a year in
advance about the cost, and encouraged to get
a weekend/summer job and save for it. There
were no complaints about the cost.
They stayed in a hotel and spent the first 3 days
as regular tourists. They then spent a day doing
a school visit through an existing contact via the
language teacher. The teacher arranged for 3 days
of volunteer Japanese lessons for the students
through an NPO which the students really enjoyed.
They did a reasonable amount of travelling and
had a very full programme. Throughout the trip,
the teacher set the students tasks that they had
to go off on their own and complete. The teacher
went through the vocabulary the students would
need for the tasks.
An example of one of the tasks was for students to
find out where a particular place was, how to get
tickets to get there via public transport and pay for
it themselves with cash. The overall cost of the trip
was paid in advance and then the teacher gave the
students cash for various tasks, etc.
Both the students and the teachers had an amazing
trip. The trip was very focused on language and
culture, it was not just a school trip that happened to
be in a Target Language country. It was not organised
through a company as the only way to really tailor the
trip, and make it a real language and culture trip, was
for the teacher to organise it. It took place during the
Easter holidays.
How-to Manual for School Exchanges
15
