The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

For student traveler» T--. .• * t • r . - ' I t . < . t > t . a , > | 1 PLA1NDEALER - PAGE 7 -FRIDAY, APRIL 6,1979 (fi^You're sixteen years old and you come from a middle-size city in the United States. Your mother is a teacher and your father owns a chain of hardware stores. In high school you've discov­ ered French--after three years of study you realize that the next step is to actu­ ally go to a French-speaking country and spend some time there. But how do you ac­ complish that? If you just go ' as a tourist, you'll see the museums and the cathedrals, get some flavor of the culture perhaps--but will you come away really enriched, and with a much greater facility in French? That depends, of course, on how you go. There is a confusing variety of choices confronting the young person who has decided that 1979 is the summer to travel abroad. It becomes increasingly dif­ ficult to see behind the entic­ ing photos and the glowing descriptions to assess the real value of the programs of­ fered. One suggestion is to check the sponsoring organization on a number of important points: How large is each group? How carefully are leaders selected and trained? Is there any kind of in- country representative? Is language training available? If so, how good is it? What is the underlying philosophy of the organization? Using these questions you can quickly narrow down the ^.selection to several non­ profit organizations, dedi­ cated to providing dynamic experiences abroad ... ex­ periences which help partici­ pants on the road to maturity, independence and cross- cultural awareness. Before making a final deci­ sion, you may want to check with one or more previous participants, and these organ­ izations are usually glad to provide several names. One of the organizations that will emerge from such an investigation is the Experiment in International Living based in Brattleboro, Vermont. Founded in 1932 by Dr. Donald B. Watt to provide opportunities for inter- cultural learning and under­ standing, The Experiment builds its programs around the homestay. Each participant spends at least three weeks with a fam­ ily in the host country-- living as a member of the fam­ ily, not a guest. For those countries where a language other than English is spoken, intensive pre-departure lan­ guage training is available for those whose language skills are less than adequate for this experience. The sixteen-year-old with a desire to learn more about France and the French lan­ guage will find five programs to France listed in the 1979 Summer Abroad catalog. One, called Focus-on- French, is seven weeks long and provides an in-depth study of the language along with a homestay and group travel. Others include camp­ ing, biking or sailing for part of the period abroad. There are also programs using the French language that send participants to Quebec Province in Canada and to French-speaking Switzerland. Groups are small, limited to between eight and twelve participants. Leaders are highly qualified and carefully trained. They are very famil­ iar with the country and are > proficient in the language. There is an autonomous abroad in focus The grandeur that i* Rome Experiment in International Living in France; its repre­ sentatives recruit the home- stay families, suggest the bal­ ance of the itinerary and maintain touch with each of the groups in the country. Experimenters are told to "expect the unexpected," which can and often does oc­ cur. This is part of the learn­ ing and growing process, and is one of the values of the program. The in-country na­ tional office is there to help, if needed, when the unex­ pected does happen. Altogether, for the sum­ mer of 1979, there are sixty- three different programs, to thirty-one countries. The Experiment also receives in­ coming high school and col­ lege students from abroad, providing English language instruction, homestays and other learning experiences. The Experiment is much more than an agency for summer programs, however. There are also a variety of semester abroad, or year abroad, programs for both high school and college stu­ dents. Each of these is supervised by an Academic Director, and arrangements can usually be made with the home school or college to re­ ceive academic credit. In 1964 The Experiment established an academic arm, the School for International Training, which now has three degree programs (Bachelor in World Issues, Master of International Ad­ ministration and Master of Arts in Teaching), as well as on-campus intensive lan­ guage training. Recognized for the excel­ lence of its techniques for language training, The Ex­ periment also contracts to outside agencies to provide special services in this area. A current contract for the Peace Corps, for instance, involves developing teaching materials for seven obscure languages. A MASS OF FLOWERS in the spring, the graceful Spanish Steps lead up to Trinita dei Monti, one of Rome's loveliest churches. Below, a fountain by Ber­ nini sparkles as its jets send sprays of water up into the air. The heart of the "Foreigner's Quarter," the Piazza di Spagna is today a bustling square much frequented by visitors from the world over. Photo courtesy: Euro­ pean Travel Commission. I \k *J^>LnLng, CLXE.C OPEN 7 DAYS FASHION SHOW every Wed. from 11:30-2:00 Plus Prime Rib every Wed, for $3.50 tj^LnLng Breaktasl. lunch and Dinne ^ (OPEN FROM 7 AW DA#. Bring Wds;o meetlheEas»er Bonny onEa^ Sondoyfro^8 Visit Our and See Our New Porcevel-Zaphir Collection! Just arrived in our Soft Pastel ^ Pc. Kni ts Start f r o m ing $ 45 95, 3307 W. Elm Street, McHenry, III. (By the Bridge on East Rte. 120) Phone (815) 385-1172 GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE!