February 15, 2022

I came across this interesting infographic the other day. It’s a few years old (2016), and I do wonder if there might be some differences in statistics after 2+ years of the pandemic, with so many students having spent considerable time in distance learning. But even so, it’s an interesting chart with information parents might

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December 23, 2021

This post is by guest author Samidha Raj of PlanetSpark.It is indeed a small world in modern times. We are all interconnected and interdependent, much more than even just a few years ago. Studying abroad, travel, and other forms of international engagements pose a vital need for learning foreign languages for everyone. It’s never too

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November 4, 2021

Are you an exchange student thinking about gifts for your host family for this holiday season? Perhaps you’re a host parent or host sibling and you’re trying to think about something for your exchange student?  Here is our 2021 gift idea list! I’ve listed some specific examples in particular categories, but these are just starting points

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October 30, 2021

Even we experienced coordinators learn something new all the time about the countries and cultures we deal with — today, I learned about Halloween in Italy.Halloween is not a recognized “official” holiday such as we have here in the United States, but you could say it exists in a different form. People will dress up

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September 2, 2021

”We are currently hosting an exchange student. We are not enjoying it. The student is not as she described herself in her application. There are so many problems and we can’t even talk to her now. Our home feels awkward and we are anxious for her to leave. What can we do? Are we crazy

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August 24, 2021

What are the most widely spoken languages in the world? We shared a while back an infographic showing the 10 most widely spoken languages; now we have one showing the top 100. While many people might be able to guess that English, Chinese, and Spanish are among the top spoken languages, there are probably some

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July 16, 2021

In the past few days our organization’s first group of students have arrived around the U.S. into the waiting arms of excited host families. Seeing all of the student arrival posts has made me incredibly happy … and very sad. The districts in our own region have pretty universally opted to not accept exchange students

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May 14, 2021

Infographics are always a fun and useful way to summarize a few quick facts visually — for many people, it’s an easier way to absorb information. That’s why we sometimes like to mix things up here at The Exchange Mom, by using visuals such as the one below.  So here are a few such quick

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