© Adventist Colleges Abroad   

Orientation Sessions

Host campus personnel will try to ease students' adjustment. Perhaps the most important factor along that line will be the initial orientation session that is held with the residence hall deans and officers of the school. It is very important and required for ACA students to be present for these orientation meetings, as many misunderstandings can be avoided throughout the course of the term if one carefully listens to the information that is presented in English. In addition, printed material will be given to reinforce and supplement what is said.

It is important for all ACA students to be sure that they clearly understand all the rules and regulations of the school and the procedures for getting help when needed. All host campuses have a weekly information sheet that they make available to at least their language and culture students, if not all students on campus. These have very important announcements and should be carefully read and understood so that students do not miss out on important activities that are occurring on the campus, especially examinations and other special events which will be occurring.

Each ACA campus has prepared a list of persons on campus that can help ACA students with certain kinds of needs. When students arrive on campus, if this material is not given to them during the orientation procedure, they should request it.

How to Make the Most of Your ACA Experience
Material in this section was prepared by former ACA students

The school term will begin with students taking a placement exam to test their knowledge of the language. (Total beginners are also welcome in the summer programs.) From the results of the test, they will be placed in a certain level of the foreign language programs. Class schedules and course selection are determined predominantly by the level in which students are placed. Students with previous advanced courses in the language who wish to challenge a higher level language course than the one indicated by their placement test may do so for a period of one week, maximum. Their performance during that time will determine whether they may continue at the higher level or be placed in their regular courses. Decisions in this matter belong to the Department.

Right from the very first day, all classes will be taught in the target ("foreign") language. Students don't need to be scared of this because teachers realize that students' language skills are limited at this point, and besides, everyone else is in the same boat anyway. Students may feel like it's a "sink or swim" situation, and that they're blubbing away to the bottom, but they need to hang in there. In a matter of days or weeks, students will notice that their comprehension is growing. To get over this awkward stage quickly, students need to make vocabulary lists of words they use or hear in common situations and memorize them.

Soon understanding teachers in class will be easier, and students can start attacking the really difficult listening situations like church, radio and television. After all, students listen to their teachers four or five days a week, and they can more or less depend on the subject being discussed, but the possibilities for sermons and radio/TV talks or programs are limitless. Some Americans and Canadians are intimidated by this and limit themselves to always eating with other Americans and Canadians--or attempt to skip worships, Sabbath School or church services--because it is really too difficult after all. By so doing, they are denying themselves one of the key opportunities of studying abroad, the opportunity to listen to the language.

Students' vocabulary will be broader, they'll speak with ease sooner, and they'll make more friends if they put themselves in a variety of situations where they can listen to the language. That's why going to all the activities and attending worship regularly is so important.

By the end of the term, students will be reaping the result of intensive language study applied in their everyday life and travel. Students get out of the summer what they put into it, both scholastically and socially. By having been adaptable and open to new ways, they will have learned a lot about the culture of their host country.

Classes end with final examinations.

Finding Out More About. . .

Back to Summer Programs