Summer Abroad Programs for High School

Have you/he considered a semester or school-year program instead of just 6 week summer? When my daughter and I looked at the AFS programs, we were struck by the price-per-day difference -- she ended up doing an entire school year in Finland for very little more than a summer but had enough time to acclimate and actually live IN a town, not just visit. (AFS used to have a program for Germany which had good scholarship support.)
For a short- travel-based program, have you asked your son's high school counselor if they have feedback from former students who did similar trips? As a parent, I was very pleased with the structure and support AFS gave to its family-based program.

Many of the universities now require it as part of their curriculum. I say this because if your son is going off to college you may have to pay for this again. My daughter did a summer in Italy and a full semester in Germany as part of her university degree. So, i am not much help for you, but i think getting your kids out into the world is one of the best things I think a parent can do.

He really would do better if he waited until he goes to college. The credits go farther than in high school.

I was 20 years old when I spent the summer at the University of Innsbruck. Maybe his college has such a program.

I'm thinking along the lines of waiting until he's in college and can do a full semester as well. I know any number of young people who did that as part of their UNI degree, and I do think it'll be a bigger bang for the buck than doing it in high school, unless it's a longer AFS or similar stay.

That said, there are some language immersion camps in the U.S. with 4-7 week stays. I can't recommend any personally but Concordia and Middlebury-Monterey keep popping up. They're pricey, though; you could take a family vacation to Germany for the $$ of MM's 7-week program.

My daughter did a 7 week program with Indiana University Honors Program in Foreign Languages between junior and senior year in high school.

IUHPFL

It's only for Indiana residents, but maybe one of your state universities has a similar program. This was such an excellent program. This site has a lot of great info.

We're researching summer study abroad programs in Germany for our son who will be 17 and finishing 11th grade in Summer 2017. We're thinking 3-4 weeks. I'd appreciate any suggestions or reports on good programs.

A friend of mine is co-organizer of a well know language summer school in a small university town in Bavaria. While bigger cities are more attractive to young people your son will certainly safer and better integrated in a place like that.
http://www.ku.de/en/international/summer-school-eichstaett/

Our son participated in a German exchange program called The Friendship Connection which his high school German teacher was familiar with and distributed info on the program. It was our son's 3rd year of studying German. (You can check our their website at www.friendshipconnection.org ) In about mid- March of his jr. year we had a German student come and live with us for a month and attend high school. Then in mid-June, after school was out here, our son went to Germany and lived with the same boy and his family for a month. School was still in session in Germany and shortly after he arrived he got to go on a 1 week class trip to Barcelona, Spain. It turned out to be a wonderful experience. We had a trip to Europe planned so after our son's stay, my husband and I along with our younger son, flew to Germany and got to meet and stay several days with our son's host family. They were lovely people. Our son spent the fall semester of his jr. year of college in Vienna at the Vienna University of Economics & Business. He lived in a dorm with all foreign students, none from the U.S. or his college. This also proved to be a wonderful experience for him. We had traveled to Europe a number of times with our 2 kids but for him to do it on his own was very empowering.

As a longtime active volunteer with AFS, I see firsthand the benefits to students going abroad even for summer programs, although I'd encourage a full school year effort. Foreign students enrolled in our high school for the school year add much to our community and friendships for lifetimes are formed. Visit the AFS website to learn more both from a student as well as adult volunteer viewpoints.

"but for him to do it on his own was very empowering." How true! A great experience in immersion to perfect your linguistic skills when everyone is focused on the same linguistic goal. Plus, you learn about yourself emotionally and develop the self confidence to travel solo, not having to depend on someone else psychologically.