The key objective of the program ventured into giving the participants a platform wherein they can improve their English language skills. The program this year was a mixed bag of participants from Italy (08) and Japan (1) with the key objective learning English language skills. It comprised of devising class room methods by our partner school DLF Public School-Ghaziabad, who organized a rigorous curriculum ensuring that all the components of English language: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Vocabulary were sufficiently covered so as to procure a noteworthy escalation in their English language learning. The participants were hosted by Indian host families in Delhi NCR.
(Photo Above: With family, In Group & In front of Taj Mahal)
With a view to ensure proper guidance for the participants, AFS India, in coordination DLF Public School, Ghaziabad, our partner school for the program, had organized the following:
- Orientations: A variety of orientations right from the inducting the host families about the inclusions of hosting, arrival orientation to give the participants a warm welcome and helping them understand the expectations from the program, host family and host school, mid stay orientation to determine the growth of the participants while on program and lastly end of stay orientation to assess the take away points of the participants from the program. The host family experience of the students helped the participants to gauge the colorful Indian culture with its varied customs, the joint family way of living, the Indian parentage and many such myriad forays into the Indian culture.
- Cultural Visits: With a view to ensure that the participants also had an insight into the Indian culture, we also organized visits namely:
- Delhi Darshan: A visit around the famous and noteworthy monuments/heritage places around Delhi which mirrors the history of Delhi. The participants really enjoyed the visit and were very happy to have a deeper understanding of the Indian culture, history and way of living.
- Agra Visit: A visit to the Taj Mahal, Agra counted as one of the seven wonders of world as well a Heritage sight was organized for the participants. A special guide to instruct on the history and construction of Taj was appointed for the participants and it was really good to see the participants making the most of their trip to Taj.
- English Lessons: The partner school took special precaution in ensuring that the students were well instructed on their English lessons. The students were assessed on arrival for their English language skills and based on that special curriculum was designed so as to gain maximum learning in the language skills.
Overall, the program turned out to be good and AFS India had a wonderful time hosting the participants. We are happy to note that all the participants had a very learning oriented experience where-in they gained not only English language skills but also got a chance to delve into the Indian culture