By Ashley Cohen
Staff Writer
The friends of American Cultural Exchange is offering the opportunity for money teenagers in France to visit America.
FACES is an international exchange program that brings French teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 from different regions of France to the South Bay each summer. These students live with host families for 3 weeks. During this time they improve their English skills while experiencing the daily life of an American family by touring the city and meeting friends of the students.
“The students that are coming from France are so excited to be visiting,” Program Director Linda Bair said. “It’s a dream for many of them to come to the United States and experience our culture, especially that of southern California.”
Through the FACES program lifelong friendships are made between the student and host family. According to Bair, this unique cultural exchange is also helpful to Mira Costa students who want to travel abroad to France in the future because it gives them the chance to interact with people from that country and they become familiar with how such an exchange works.
“These French teenagers are eager to learn about the American culture just as much as sharing the French culture with their host family,” Bair said. “It can be a cultural shock for both the family and the teenager.”
About 15 French foreign exchange students visited the South bay last summer, including Sophie De Tocqueville who stayed with the Burns family. The whole family engaged in many activities including visiting Hollywood, shopping and playing volleyball at the beach.
“Sophie’s cultural perspective was very interesting because she was in awe of things we see everyday,” Meghan Burns said. “We were the same age so we had a lot of common hobbies but things like school and our daily routine were very different.”
The connection between the American and French students can become a lifelong friendship. This relationship is also helpful for Mira Costa students taking French because they can practice their language skills in a real life setting outside of the classroom.
“The experience was really meaningful because I have been studying French for 8 years,” Burns said. “To be able to actually put some of the things I learned in the classroom to use was really exciting. “
According to Bair, hosting a French teenager can be a fun experience for the host family. They can become familiar with the French culture and customs alongside the teenager who is learning about the American culture.
“Hosting a foreign exchange student is like traveling the world,” Burns said. “Not only do you become great friends with someone from a place you may know nothing about, but you also have the opportunity to get out of your regular routine.”
FACES encourages Costa students and their families to host a French teen while they are in California from Jul. 8 to Aug. 2. These French students want to participate in the daily routines of the American families and participate in normal summer activities.
“This benefits Mira Costa students because they can use this experience as community service as well as differentiate themselves from others when applying to colleges,” Bair said. “They will have a unique opportunity that few others will experience.”
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