Zealand, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Since each program differs in duration, content and age criteria, please contact the AFS for detailed descriptions of each program.
Common components of all AFS secondary school programs are:
AFS students live with host families selected by AFS. The family homestay provides the opportunity to learn first-hand about the culture as well as to enhance language ability.
The participation fee includes international travel, medical insurance, orientation, and materials for language instruction. Visa fees are the responsibility of the participant. Special travel arrangements, if requested, are at the participant's expense.
Orientations are provided for students before departure to and upon arrival in the host country.
Applications must be submitted with a non-refundable HK$200 application fee, and a photocopy of the last year's school report (1 year). AFS will contact you to arrange participation in an interview and orientation.
Population: Approx. 5.2 million
Capital: Copenhagen
Language: Danish
Religion: Protestant
Currency: Danish Kroner
Denmark is one of the smaller Scandinavian countries with strong historical ties to especially Sweden, Norway and Finland. The country is situated just north of Germany, where it has a Danish-speaking minority in the northern part. Denmark is a member of the European Union and prides itself with one of the most developed social welfare systems. It is a very egalitarian society with school, further education and health being based on an elaborate public system. The economy is very strong due to a high degree of industrialisation and an educated workforce.
Denmark consists of the mainland Jutland, a peninsula bordering with Germany. The second largest Danish city, Aarhus is situated on the east coast of Jutland. The many Danish islands include the two largest, Sjaelland with the capital Copenhagen (approximately 1,4 million people) and Funen with the third largest city Odense. The climate in Denmark in temperate with cold and often wet and windy winters. The summers are mild with some warm or hot days at times.
AFS in Denmark
AFS in Denmark (AFS Interkultur) has been in existence since 1957. There are 50 chapters and commitees throughout Denmark, The Faroe Islands and Greenland. AFS Denmark counts around 2000 members. There is a National Office in Frederiksberg, near the Danish capital Copenhagen. The office employs 11 staff. The school based program offered includes a language camp on arrival for about ten days, orientation camps during the stay and an end of camp stay before the departure. AFS in Denmark sends out a monthly Newsletter to students with information about various activities and their camps.
Host Schools
Most placements in Denmark are in public schools. The Danish education system offers various different types of high schools. High school starts in year 10 or 11. All schools are co-educational and the relationship between students and teachers would be experienced as very informal by Australian standards. However, a very high level of maturity and responsibility is expected from students, and most schools, especially the "Gymnasium" (grammar school), are very academically focused. Participants can also be placed in year 10 of the Danish comprehensive school, which covers Kindergarten to year 10.
The school day starts at 8 a.m. and normally finishes between 1:00 and 3:30 p.m. Extracurricular activities are not very common, but catered for by other organisations and clubs outside the school system itself. Most Danish teenagers are engaged in sports or other activities after school and very popular sports are soccer, handball and badminton, which are played by both girls and boys.
There are many different types of families in Denmark, with one or two parents, married or unmarried. It is very common and generally accepted to live in de facto relationships and young couples mostly live together for many years before they eventually chose to marry (or not). There is a high level of informality in the relationship between parents and children and between siblings, and children are encouraged to be independent from a young age. Teenagers generally enjoy much freedom but are also expected to carry responsibility, for example for schoolwork and household chores. Many families are busy, with the vast majority of families being based on two full time jobs, and household duties, including cooking, are normally shared between both parents and children.
AFS Denmark's Web Site : http://www.afs.dk
View letters from students to Denmark.
Argentina / Australia / Austria / Belgium / Brazil / Canada / Czech Republic / Chile / Denmark / Finland / France / Germany / Hungary / Italy / Latvia / Japan / Mexico / New Zealand / Norway / Spain / Sweden / Switzerland / Thailand / The Netherlands / the United States.
