China offers a crash course in all sorts of learning. At turns humbling, enthralling, and exciting—the one thing all travelers to China can agree on is that you’re bound to be changed by the experience.
If you’re looking for a meaningful school trip abroad for your budding world citizens, WildChina Education offers customized programs that focus on the learning experiences most important to you and your child. And the team has (in our humble opinion) the best natural setting in which to curate your perfect trip.
Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why China makes a great destination for a school trip.
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Mandarin is the new English
With approximately a fifth of the world’s population living in China, there are more native speakers of Mandarin worldwide than native English and Spanish speakers combined.
Not only that, but according to The Guardian, recent studies show that learning a foreign language actually increases the size of your brain and that people who speak more than one language have better memories. Add the benefits of language learning to China’s emerging role as a global leader in business and economics, and it’s easy to decide on your child’s next school trip abroad.
WildChina’s educational programs are designed to jumpstart your child’s Chinese-language learning, whether it be haggling in the local market or crafting alongside traditional artisans. Immersive language learning is the best way to make leaps and bounds with your Mandarin language skills.
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Turning the cliché into an authentic experience
Do you remember being told as a child or teen how the most rewarding experience a person can have is giving to others? Students won’t truly know the rewards of giving and helping others until they’ve experienced it firsthand.
China is a world of contrasts, offering opportunities for learning you can’t find in a typical school trip abroad. Visiting China can offer a perspective on the global realities of the coming generation as a country both developed and developing.
In Guizhou, students on WildChina Education programs find themselves working alongside community farmers in the fields, pitching in on local construction projects, and building recycling receptors. In Beijing, students make crafts alongside adults with learning disabilities in a local community center.
Community service opportunities like these not only look good on college applications but are great for overall personal development.
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Working together
WildChina Education’s school trips abroad take your student somewhere entirely new and help build their cross-cultural communication and interpersonal skills. These ‘soft skills’ can be challenging to learn inside a classroom setting, especially in the comfort and familiarity of your own culture.
On WildChina Education programs in Xinjiang, students have to work together to set up and break down camp, hiking and traveling together each day. But, unlike your standard summer camp, students are out of the comfort of the familiar, making them more receptive and open to their place on the team.
They’ll meet Kyrgyz people and peek into one of the world’s few remaining nomadic cultures. They’ll also spend time with Hayed shepherds and get a rare chance to see a truly different way of living.
Even the most seasoned world travelers can tell you that time spent in China will help anyone become a more competent global communicator. Giving your child a chance to learn, travel, and collaborate with peers in China could have a huge effect on their future opportunities. With a history reaching back to the beginning of civilization, and a road leading into tomorrow’s world, it’s never too soon for an introduction to all that China has to offer.
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Convinced that a WildChina Education program would be the perfect school trip abroad for your child if you’re a parent or your students if you’re a teacher? Talk to a WildChina Education Trip Designer to start planning your perfect trip today.
