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Switzerland
Did you know, the oldest known farming settlements in Switzerland, which were found at Gächlingen, have been dated to around 5300 BC?
Enquire about SwitzerlandEligibility Requirements
- You must be between 15 years and 5 months to 18 years
- Enrolled in an NZ school
- You can’t have graduated school in New Zealand
- Language requirements: German Intermediate / french Intermediate (Test on arrival)
- Highly academic top 20% in NZ
- Vegetarians are hard to place
Visa is issued in Switzerland
Notes
Peace Camp Available for August-December Trimester Dates.
What's included in your experience
- Airfare
- Airport Pick-up
- Host Family Placement
- Housing
- Meals
- School Placement
- Individual Contact Person
- Medical Insurance
- 24/7 Emergency Support
- School Transport
- Assistance with Application Process
- Visa Application Assistance
- Pre-Departure Orientation
- Orientations during your time abroad
- Continuous Support
- Worldwide Presence
- 70 Years Experience
What you are responsible for
- Vaccinations
- Cultural Tours
- Visa and Passport Fees
- Stipend
- School Uniform
People & Community
You’ll most likely live in a German-speaking region in a suburban town, but some students are also placed in rural or urban areas. Swiss families can be very diverse but most are hard-working and thrifty, with only one or two children. Most families in Switzerland have pets, a cat or a dog. On weekends, people often take trips to visit extended family or friends.
School
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Swiss students are highly motivated and disciplined when it comes to academics and the school system is very competitive. You’ll most likely attend a Matura school, a high school that prepares students for the University. A typical day starts around 8 am and ends around 6 pm, with days ending earlier on Wednesdays around noon. There are seven compulsory core subjects which include national and foreign languages, maths, natural sciences, humanities and social sciences, and visual arts and/or music.
Language
With four official languages (German, French, Italian, and Romansch), Switzerland is an ideal place for international education.
A Swiss-German dialect is spoken in the German-speaking areas of Switzerland. French is spoken in the western part of the country and Italian in the south. Romansh is a language that derives directly from ancient Latin and has survived and developed in the isolation of Alpine valleys. No matter where you will be staying, you should have some prior knowledge of the language – at least B1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for German, French or Italian. You will also have the chance to attend an intensive language course in the first weeks of your program, and AFS Switzerland will offer you an online Rosetta Stone language course.
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Food
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Healthy meals are important to Swiss families Swiss cuisine is mainly a union of French and German alpine cuisine. One famous dish is fondue, in which Emmenthaler andGruyère cheese is melted with white wine and eaten with bread cubes. Rosti (a crispy, fried, shredded potato) is the Swiss-German national dish. Swiss chocolate is world-famous and beloved by all.
Peace Camp Info
The PEACE Programme or PEACE through Exchange and Active Citizenship Education is a secondary school trimester programme which aims at empowering and enabling young people to become active citizens. The participants stay with host-families and go to high school in a European country. At the end of the programme, all participants of the PEACE programme come to Belgium for a five day long camp with a focus on Active Global Citizenship in Europe.
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