
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 23, 1990                   TAG: 9005220264
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-12   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ROBERT RIVENBARK SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                                LENGTH: Medium

CULTURAL EXCHANGE PLANNED THIS SUMMER

This July, 60 French and 15 Spanish students will visit Virginia as part of the 1990 NACEL Cultural Exchange Program. The program, founded in France in 1957 and first brought to the United States in 1969, gives foreign students a chance to live for a month in an American home. United States students also get the chance to study other cultures through a companion program that sends them to foreign countries.

According to Nicole Kerschberg, NACEL coordinator for Virginia, the program allows foreign students to "become totally immersed in American culture and decide for themselves what America is all about."

Kerschberg, a French native who was raised in Djibouti and Burkina-Faso in Africa, came to the United States as a high-school language teacher in Columbia, S.C. She became interested in NACEL after being struck by how little American students - and even many of her colleagues - knew about foreign cultures.

"There's a certain isolationist attitude. . . ." she said. "It's partly attributable to geographic isolation, and partly because people in America work too much and don't have much time for anything like getting familiar with foreign cultures."

NACEL, Kerschberg said, spreads a lot of understanding about the United States.

"You'd be surprised with how poor a job the foreign media do in representing America," she said. ". . . In the last three years, French TV has run `Dallas.' As a result, many French people think all Americans are rich, have swimming pools in their back yards, care only about money, and have no interest in religion. The NACEL program helps to correct misperceptions like that. . . ."

Kerschberg said it is important for NACEL students to get an accurate view.

"They are all well-educated students from good families," she said. "They are the people who will be doing business with Americans tomorrow. They'll be deciding world issues. So it's vitally important for them to get a clear view of what America is about."

The French and Spanish students coming to Virginia this summer through NACEL are 15 to 18. They have all studied English for four years or more, have their own spending money, and carry their own health insurance. And, Kerschberg says, they are all very interested in learning about the United States.

So far, 34 Virginia families have volunteered to host students. NACEL needs 41 more families to volunteer.

"Participating in this program is so enriching for the students and the hosting family," Kerschberg said. "I hope more families volunteer to be part of this summer's program."

Families interested in participating in NACEL can get more information by calling (703) 425-8035 in Fairfax, or by writing NACEL Cultural Exchanges, in care of Nicole and Larry Kerschberg, 10600 Vennard Place, Fairfax, Va. 22032.

by CNB