‘ THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME ’ IS BACK
Before the pandemic , Scotch ’ s Languages Department would send 30 students each year on exchange . Going to China , France , Germany , Indonesia or Italy , the selected students would have an immersion experience in the everyday life of the language and culture they were learning at Scotch . They would usually live with host families for four to eight weeks and participate in a multitude of experiences , such as Chinese history , French architecture , German humour (!), Indonesian traditions or Italian food .
Our exchange programs , some run with partner schools overseas and some through external agencies , would then enable their host partners to join them here at Scotch .
For our boys , the experience provided them with a full-blown linguistic and cultural immersion , and everything they had learned in the classroom became suddenly tangible and real . Not only did they gain confidence with speaking and understanding their foreign language , but the exchange experience often had a big effect on their lives . They fostered important life skills such as selfreliance and an ability to adapt and be curious about the world .
Now , finally , we welcome back these exciting opportunities for our boys and are also able to welcome students from other countries to our shores . In December 2022 and January 2023 , two Scotch students travelled to Italy , six to Indonesia and nine to Germany . In February and March , we also had five boys from our two German partner schools attend Scotch . More Germans will be coming later in the year , as well as students from Italy and Indonesia . The French and Chinese exchanges will also be revived in the months to come .
In the Languages Department , we are excited that this crucial part of the Scotch language educational program can once again happen after the tumult of the pandemic . We encourage everyone in the Scotch community to welcome our exchange students when they participate in Scotch life , and we wish all our outgoing travellers a wonderful trip , or Gute Reise ! Bon Voyage ! Buon Viaggio ! Selamat jalan ! Läxíng yúkuài !
DR GERT REIFARTH , ACTING HEAD OF LANGUAGES
THE EXCITING , LONG-AWAITED RETURN OF SCOTCH ’ S LANGUAGE EXCHANGE PROGRAM ă
ACTING HEAD OF LANGUAGES , DR GERT REIFARTH , CELEBRATING THE RETURN OF LANGUAGE EXCHANGES www . scotch . vic . edu . au Great Scot 41