Pauline from Belgium

1.  Why did you choose to come to Canada/Red Deer?
I wanted to learn English but wasn’t particularly attracted by the USA and wished to travel the world. Canada seemed to be the perfect country to achieve my dreams as an exchange student. Red Deer is a little town close to the mountains. A perfect place for someone who loves hiking surrounded by a big range of wildlife and amazing views.

2.  How is school different here?
In comparison to my country, Belgium, I found school way easier. It wasn’t complicated at all for me, really bad at English when arriving, to keep on track with my courses. I actually got pretty good grades.
Also, the teachers are really friendly and welcoming, and you get a wide courses range, which is great.

3.  What do you like about our program?
I liked the fact you meet a lot of people from all around the world. You visit places you’d never have gotten the possibility to…
My English improved A LOT while I was there and I can tell that it was one of the best experiences in my life.
The staff was always there to help us if we needed to.

4 .  Do you have any advice for future students?
I would recommend making contact with as many people as you can. Never mind if you are shy, they will not come to you if you don’t try by yourself at first. Canadian people are known to be friendly, there is no reason why they would reject you.
Same regarding the other exchange students, they are in the same situation, and in my experience, you get pretty quickly close to them.

I would also advise them to not talk to the other exchange student in their native language. Never. It’s the worst thing to do if you wanna learn another language.
I’ve been watching some of my friends doing it and I can tell their English didn’t improve that much at all.

Enjoy as much as you can. You won’t live that twice.

5.  Anything else to add?  ie favorite thing, experience,etc
GO TO THE MOUNTAINS !!!!