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Location
  • Portugal
Length
26 - 52 weeks
Program Categories
Cultural Immersion Language Immersion Study Abroad
Need-based funding, Merit-based funding, General grants/scholarships, LGBTQIA+ funding, BIPOC funding
Health & Safety
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Program Details

Timeframe
Academic Year
Housing
Host Family
Language
Portuguese

Pricing

Starting Price
15000
Oct 25, 2021
Dec 05, 2015
Wish List
5 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Year & Gap: You will most likely attend a private school. AFS students are usually enrolled in the 4th or 5th year of secondary school with students between the ages of 14 and 17. You may be placed anywhere in Portugal. Most students are placed in urban or suburban areas, though AFS has recently started placing more AFSers in rural areas. Rarely are participants placed on the islands of Azores or Madeira. High school in Portugal is called "secondary education" and lasts 3 years: the equivalent of 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. You will be placed in a public secondary school with classmates your age. Based on your interests and academic achievements back home, you will be placed on one of the following subject tracks: sciences & technologies, socio-economic sciences, social and human sciences, languages & literature, or visual arts.

This program is currently not being promoted on Go Overseas by its provider. Check with AFS-USA for the most up-to-date information regarding the status of this program.

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Diversity & Inclusion

AFS-USA is committed to providing international and intercultural learning experiences to individuals from diverse backgrounds and communities, including mixed heritage, foreign nationalities, and all socio-economic levels.
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AFS-USA welcomes members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and actively encourages and supports their participation in all types of AFS opportunities, including studying abroad, volunteering, and hosting exchange students.
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AFS-USA is committed to practicing and promoting accessibility and inclusion.
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Program Reviews

5.00 Rating
based on 3 reviews
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  • Growth 5
  • Support 4.35
  • Fun 4.7
  • Housing 5
  • Safety 5
Showing 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Default avatar
Nicolas
28
Male
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

The best year of my life in Portugal

Dec 5, 2015

No exchange is perfect, I had my problems throughout the program but these problems where the ones that help you grow as a person and make you more independent. On the first day of this journey I made life long friends with people I only spent 4-6 days with. You will meet amazing people and was the year that I discovered my true self. Everyday I miss the wonderful places and people I met Saudades

What would you improve about this program?
Maybe the standard for host families should be higher
60 people found this review helpful.
Helpful
Hildur Dóróthea
27
Female
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

The Best Year Of My Life So Far

Dec 5, 2015

I was an exchange student in Portugal for 10 months. It was the best year of my life so far. Now I have great friends from all around the world and a family in portugal. I learned how to speak a new language and it's indescribable how great it feels when you are just starting to speak a new language and being able to hold up a conversation. The best thing about my year in Portugal is that now I have a family, other than my own here in Iceland, that care about me and i call it my other home.

66 people found this review helpful.
Helpful
Default avatar
Emi
26
Female
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Life-changing experience

Dec 4, 2015

I was skeptical at first about leaving my life here in the United States for a whole year because this daily routine was all I knew. I didn’t know anything about life outside of my little town. The moment my airplane touched down onto Portuguese land and I looked outside the window to see the beautiful land covered with palm trees and other leafy plants, tears streamed down my face because I knew that I had arrived to my new home and new life. Life had never seemed so precious to me than it had during my stay in Portugal. Being able to see for the first time that there is more to life than routines was life changing. Finally being able to really witness that there is no limit to what I can do in life changed me. I began to appreciate all the little details for what they were really worth. All the nights that I would climb up to the top of my roof at night and stare up into the starry sky and all the days that I would wake up at 5 in the morning just to go for a walk through the hills of my village shaped me to be who I am today.

What would you improve about this program?
To have my liaison work with me more while I was there. I only met him once the entire time I was there and then the day before I left he called to apologize about not being more involved.
69 people found this review helpful.
Helpful

Questions & Answers

About AFS-USA

AFS-USA (formerly the American Field Service), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a leader in intercultural learning and offers international exchange programs in more than 40 countries around the world through independent, nonprofit AFS Organizations, each with a network of volunteers, a professionally staffed office, and headed up by a...

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