Study tours aren't just for youngsters anymore

Last April, 35-year-old Shen Lingling decided to quit her job and do a gap year for a 12-month study tour program in Chicago.

Most of her friends were amazed. But she found it a good way to brush up her English and have enriching travel experiences around the United States.

"My career had hit a bottleneck then. I thought it was time to take a rest and experience a new lifestyle. I want to challenge myself, so I started from my weak spot - English," says Shen, who is hunting for a new job in Shanghai. She is about to go to London to have another "learning vacation" for one month.

"I want to explore more of the world and keep learning. You can probe your self-identity again in the process and realize that you're not as knowledgeable as you thought," she says.

Shen joined the program of the Switzerland-based international-education company Education First, and spent around 200,000 yuan ($32,300) on tuition and dormitory fees in Chicago. It was worth the money, she says, because she's made great progress, broadened her horizons and enjoyed her life in the US.

"In China, a study tour is not exclusively for teenagers anymore. More and more office workers have realized the importance of foreign-language competency in their careers," says Linus Jonsson, EF's China country manager of International Language Centers.

He says the participants didn't have the opportunity to study abroad and explore the world - and themselves - when they were younger. Now they are financially independent and have sufficient time.

EF's long-and short-term adult study tour program in seven languages, including German and Japanese, attract participants from various industries. About 80 percent are women, and most are between 35 and 45. The average cost for tuition and homestay fees is $700 per week, with a variety of destination and accommodation choices.

Shen took an English-proficiency test first and attended English-language courses and interesting optional classes with classmates from different countries in the world. The school organizes activities on campus and sightseeing tours, and makes them aware of events in their chosen city, such as concerts and soccer contests.

"If your language proficiency is good, you can travel around and have fun during a study tour. If not, you should study hard before traveling," she says.

For the first three months, she was helpless, just like a baby, she says, because she struggled to communicate with others and even to order meals. She often got lost.

"I didn't ask for help from other Chinese, because I was resolute in improving my English," she says.

After seven months' hard study, she began to explore other cities in the US on weekends, such as Miami and Seattle, and put what she's learned into practice. She found that Americans are more direct and open-minded, while Chinese are a bit introverted.

She also mingled with international students from European countries and South America at weekend parties, and was intrigued by their exotic cultures and values.

"I visited some countries before, but those trips are different from study tours. During traditional travel, you can only see the beautiful scenery and take photos to prove that you've been there. Study tours allow you to understand the local cultures, traditions and lifestyles," she says.

Wang Yulong, 34, a State-owned enterprise worker in Beijing, agrees.

"It feels terrific to explore different cultures and rub shoulders with people from other countries. The locals and my foreign classmates were very polite and modest and helped me a lot," says Wang, who joined a three-week program in Los Angeles in February.

He likes the course design and the Western way of teaching. While students in China listen to the teacher most of the time, all classmates in the program actively joined the discussion and debated with others in class.

"Everyone treated me like a local," he says.

Jonsson says study tours are not uncommon in the United States and European countries because of the popularity of gap years. In China, people have started to pay attention to the quality of such experiences, hoping to learn something, see local life and communicate better across cultures.

Dai Yu, marketing director of the tourism department at Ctrip, a major Chinese online travel agency, says languages such as French, Italian and Spanish are becoming popular in the agency's study tour programs as well as English.

Dai adds that an increasing number of adults are choosing skills-learning and volunteer projects, such as diving, coffee brewing and visiting orphanages in Thailand.

xulin@chinadaily.com.cn