Well, generally you have to study the language for a while and do it through your school, but there are rotary programs and semester-exchanges. Talk to your school counselor if you're seriously interested.

hmmm i'll go check. okay thanks for the info:D

For how long did you studied the language? In my country's program it says that you learn japanese in the first week, but obviously, it is impossible to learn it in that time. Did you learn the basics?

Seems that the exchange program was extended to the age of 18, as this year I have school exams (very important, really) and will try to get in the university, I'll try next year, at the time I'll be 18 and with some luck I might be chosen :D

Nice pics btw. Seems like you had much fun :)

wow it looks and sounds great ^^

I studied the language in America for three years before I went as an exchange student- and I have to say I learned more Japanese in the month I spent with a host family than I did in all of my formal classes.

It's never too late, I bet you'll get more out of it at 18 then I did at 16

And thanks :-D

i have question..
who is 'making' those exchanges?
because my school is retarded.
we don't do students exchange.

I never did an "official" homestay. I got lucky and met a great Japanese friend online and stayed at her family's home for a few weeks. It is really a great experience, although now I prefer to stay in my own place when I visit Japan.

When I studied abroad I decided to stay in a dorm because there seems to be too must of a risk involved in staying with a family. You can end up with a really cool family or you can end up in an odd situation. One of my friends got stuck with a 70 year old widow who owned like 7 cats.

I also didn`t use any sort of program. I met a girl (from Japan) and we were talking about the outrageous prices charged through a lot of programs... And the conversation moved on to how I could never afford it.
The next thing I knew, she was arranging for me to stay with her family.

Well, by this point I have spent enough time in coworkers homes to have pretty much acclimated even without a homestay.

It'd have been nice, I admit, to have been able to do an exchange program, and have experienced it as a student, rather than just as a teacher. No way any of my schools would have gone for it though. Especially not my high school. My principal once actually said that my focus on the Japanese language was negatively impacting my other studies and that I should just stop, and study a language that is much more useful.

I spoke to him a few months ago. Tells me he has to use a lot of salt on that crow he's eating.

i really want to live with host family. i love to learn asian culture. but will they approve me if i stay for 2 years? or will they'd be burdened?