Familiarity

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Let your kids become familiar with the language they will want to speak one day.  Give them a chance to look forward to it!

Turn what's foreign and unknown into ​something they're at ease with.
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"I want to know."  That's much better than  "I have to learn".

Here's the idea: we all have a pretty good idea of what our kids are going to learn in school and when. We (more or less) know the curriculum and what's in store. So let's give them the chance to look forward to it! To anticipate all this knowledge with great curiosity. To be familiar with the topics their schools hold in store for them and to be keen and ready. 

What we Global Natives do for each other is pretty cool and definitely unique.
And it is neither costly nor complicated. We just rethink the way we plan our holidays!

We let our children become familiar with many places and with many languages, with other cultures and lifestyles, with new perspectives and possibilities. Global Natives let their kids explore the world and get to know it from the safety and shelter of one family home to another. Under the mentorship and guidance of parents who know they can rely on each other. Want to know more? Well, it's ...

...like learning French with real French people first

Gerald from Cologne loves French lessons at school. He's twelve now and for the last six years he's spent two weeks of his summer holidays in Normandy. One week with his entire family, one week on his own with Claude's family. Claude has just turned thirteen, he has spent two weeks every summer with Gerald's family. Claude is taking German lessons at school, he is top of his class in languages and in geography.
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... like loving chemistry and doing real life experiments

Giovanna's dad teaches chemistry at the University of Milan. This means that Giovanna (15) frequently has the chance to exercise her passion for chemistry there. Her Austrian language partner Sabrina loves to come along whenever she's in town; they are both pretty sure they want to become scientists too.
Or opera singers, who knows? When Giovanna and her family spend time in Austria - at Xmas and Easter - they go to concerts and performances in Salzburg together. Speaking each other's language is good fun when you have so much in common!
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... like a heritage reclaimed

Julian's Japanese parents had emigrated to Canada in the seventies. They died in a devastating fire when he was just two years old. As there were no relatives back in Tokyo who could take care of the little boy, Julian was raised by foster parents in Vancouver. Now himself a dad of two boys (6 and 7), he has decided to pick up on his own roots and give his kids the chance to be who they really are: both Canadians and Japanese. They will go to see their new partner family in Sapporo soon; it's going to be the boys' first ever trip to Japan but they have already talked to the Sato family many times on Skype before. It is all very exciting.
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... like having more than just the obvious options

"Will I ever be able to go to Europe too?" Yes, she will. Sandra is fifteen years old, paraplegic and very smart. She is the third of four children. Sandra's family lives in Gymea Bay, in the south of Sydney, Australia. One of her brothers was an exchange student in Denmark for a year and her sister Barbara spent a year in Barcelona. But they can walk and Sandra can't.
​In London, very close to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, another girl - Eva - is in the same situation. She's wheelchair bound, keen to travel and an excellent student. Maths, physics and chemistry are her favourites. The two girls know each other well by now and have decided to swap families for a year. Their parents and their schools approve and they both know they will come into households and school classes well-equipped to deal with all their needs.

... see more inspiring case studies here!

There are just the right partners somewhere for every kid who's eager to learn. We're here to help you find them
​and make the connection. From toddler to postdoc, across any national and cultural borders you'd like to venture.

Family. The strongest bond between independent minds.

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