How to make the best out of your Kinder Exchange.
Once you’ve matched with your Kinder Exchange and you start packing for this amazing adventure you may think “How can I make the best out of this experience?”
🧩 Immersion in daily life
Don’t be shy. Dive into new experiences with your host family. As you engage in daily tasks such as having meals together, helping with the cooking, grocery shopping, and so on, you not only do the tasks but also get firsthand exposure to their culture. This allows you to better understand the lifestyles of the locals. Take on the challenge of trying something new; learn to cook a local dish or singing a local song. Watch local TV shows, news, or movies together
with them (even if you don’t understand everything). This will help you familiarize yourself with simple phrases such as greetings, asking basic questions, etc. in their local language.
🧑🤝🧑 Making friends
You are paired with someone your age who shares similar interests. Of course, there’s going to be plenty to talk about. It may seem difficult to express yourself at first but take it slowly and get to know each other and how they spend their days. It will be useful for you to write down the activities you plan to do together in both the local language and your own language.
Keep attempting to learn new words and phrases and practice them whenever you have the opportunity.
🎯 Engage in activities
Remember, your pairing was selected with care, and the two of you have many things in common. Feel free to get involved in sports or hobbies, pay attention to how they involve themselves based on their culture, and pick up common phrases expressed during these activities. This is one of the strong tactics to integrate.
🗣️ Improve in the local language
Keep a small note of the new words and phrases you hear. If you have access to your mobile/ laptop, don’t hesitate to type in and translate the words and phrases. This way you can see and understand how it is written and how it is pronounced. Do not limit yourself, challenge yourself to speak. Make attempts to order food, ask for directions, or pay at the store by yourself. Of course, you can ask your host family to help
and correct you when necessary. Making mistakes is a normal part of the learning process, but it is important to try. Also, the locals would love the effort you put in to learn their language
🫶 Stay connected
It is natural to be thrilled about this new adventure and want to share it with your family and friends back home as quickly as possible but try not to hide in your phone the entire time. Make the best use of the time and experience you are living at the moment. Feel free to follow local language learning accounts and find out about festivals and events nearby which you all could enjoy together. Kinder Exchange,
Written by Christina de Lile