Congratulations!  In order to receive the link for this training portal, you've completed the American Councils pre-application and have been selected to receive this training. You are here from one of our three exchange programs that we administer.  Some of you are HSA students that have come to use from or American Councils  partners.  Some of you are FLEX and YES Scholarship Students.  The third group is our High School in the USA (HSUSA) Students that come from our in country partners.   Welcome all of you, you all will be under supervision of HSUSA Local coordinators in America.  To simply things we will  refer to training for all our programs under our HSUSA banner from here on out.

It is important that you complete the full process to be accepted as an foreign student, studying in the United States of America.  Unlike the application, these training modules are not about being accepted into our program, but are about being READY for your exchange once you are accepted.  We want you to have a successful exchange, to represent your country well, and to assimilate easily within the American culture.  In a way, you are an ambassador for your country.  You may be the only person from your country that an American will ever meet and we think that's exciting!  We wouldn't have brought you into our selection process this far if we didn't believe that you have the maturity and independence to excel at and enjoy being an exchange student. 

Taking on this responsibility requires maturity, good English language skills, and some training tools that we will give you in these modules.  These modules will help you have a clear expectation of your academic school year in the United States and they will train you to relate well with Americans.  We'll teach you how to make a great first impression and a great lasting impression with your host family, new American friends, and contacts that you will be able to maintain for the rest of your life.  We will share with you about the challenges other exchange students have had and how they overcame them.  Finally, we will share with you mistakes that other exchanges students have made so that you won't make the same mistakes.

Take these training modules seriously.  It is required that you complete them before your exchange year in the United States.  You can begin working on them now.  Here's how:

Each module is on a separate webpage and, just like you are now, you'll need to be logged into your HSUSA account to view these pages.  You can go directly to a training module using the menu at the top of each page.  From top to bottom, work your way through each page.  Please watch all of the short videos and read all of the related articles.  At the end of each module is a form for you to fill out.  Your answers will be sent to your in-country sending partner and/or our  Director, Steve Bliss .  After you complete one or multiple training modules, we will connect with you for 10-15 minutes by phone, WhatsApp, FB Messenger, Email, Skype, or Zoom to answer any questions from your form or to talk with you about the learning objectives.  We appreciate when you give thoughtful answers.  Here are a few tips:

1. Tell us what you really think and feel, not what you think we want to hear.
2. Unless you have questions for HSUSA staff, don't let others help you.  Work through these modules on your own.  We won't be examining your English grammar so please use English at your currently level without translation devices.
3. Ask questions of the HSUSA staff, especially if there is a Sending Partner in your country.  We are here to help.
4. Be sure to submit the form at the end of a module before moving on to the next module.  You will see a confirmation screen when you have successfully submitted a form.
   
5. You can go at your own pace.  Would you like to complete all 8 modules over a weekend?  Go ahead.  We recommend that you take your time with each module and think about your experience in the United States while you learn.  Module 8 is designed for your parents and they can complete it if they speak English.  Otherwise, please translate the module for them.