This is the VOA Special English
Education Report.
This week, we answer a question from a student in Odessa, Ukraine. Marushka
wants to know about a program that lets foreign students work in the United
States during their summer vacations.
The program is called Summer Work/Travel. The State Department administers it
for full-time college or university students who speak English well.
Students come on a J-one exchange visa. They can work
for up to four months
during their school break. They generally work in service jobs in stores,
resorts, hotels, restaurants and
amusement parks. But summer
internships are
also permitted.
"Summer" in this case means summer in the student's country. Those from south
of the equator come to the United States during the
northern winter.
Students cannot work as housekeepers in private homes or
be involved in patient care. And
they are supposed to be paid the same as Americans.
Congress created this popular program under a nineteen sixty-one law, the
Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act. Last year, one hundred fifty
thousand students came to the United States
this way.
Students can do the Summer Work/Travel program
more than once.
Sally Lawrence heads the State Department office responsible for the program.
She says students should begin to gather information a year before they want
to travel.
More than fifty organizations are approved to act as sponsors. Sally Lawrence
advises students
to avoid unapproved groups offering services, and to research
a few different sponsors.
Sponsors must confirm the English language ability of students and
make sure
they are currently in school. But sponsors do not all charge the same price
for their services.
Another difference: some sponsors arrange employment and
housing for students
before they leave home. Others permit students to find their own jobs after
they arrive.
Sally Lawrence says the first thing to do is to find the list of sponsors on
the Web page for J visa exchange programs.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy
Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember. |
GLOSSARY:
that lets:
que les permita a (los);
exchange visa: visado de intercambio;
for up to: hasta un máximo de; break: período
vacacional;
resorts: balnearios turísticos; amusement parks:
parques temáticos;
internships: pasantías, períodos de capacitación; equator:
ecuador;
northern winter: invierno boreal; be involved in:
participando de, formando parte de;
they are supposed to be paid: se supone que ganarán; this
way: de este modo (por medio de este programa);
more than once: más de una vez; heads: dirige,
está a cargo de;
to gather: juntar, recolectar; advises: aconseja
a (los);
to avoid: evitar; sponsors: patrocinadores;
make sure: asegurarse; housing: alojamiento;
exchange programs: programas de intercambio. |