Frances Downey grew up listening to stories about her mother studying at a university outside of the United States.
Her mother spent one year studying abroad through an international exchange program with a French school. She often talked about how exciting and interesting the experience was.
So, even before Downey finished high school, she had decided she would someday follow her mother’s path.
The Silver Spring, Maryland-native began studying architecture at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 2004. Near the end of her second year, Downey started to feel unhappy with her school and decided it was time to study abroad.
U.S. colleges and universities commonly have partnerships and joint programs with foreign schools that permit student exchanges. These programs usually last half or sometimes a whole school year. The classes students take abroad usually give them credit toward their degree.
In a four-year degree program, the third year is the most common time for American college students to study abroad. Many students feel they need a change before what is usually their final and most difficult year of study.
Downey said her school did not want her to go at first. The architecture program at Lehigh is very intense, and her professors were worried she might miss learning important material. However, she was eventually able to get special permission to study outside Lehigh.
She chose to study internationally for a whole year. During the fall 2006 term, she attended the Danish International School in Copenhagen, Denmark. Downey said she did so because Danish architects are known for their housing design.
Downey also was studying the Spanish language at the time. So she chose to spend her spring 2007 term at the University of Sevilla in Spain.
Downey notes that it was not an easy experience. As a young adult on her own, it was difficult for her to deal with travel document and transportation issues. Staying in contact with friends and family back home proved difficult too.
However, she had a lot of emotional and financial support from her family. She said she learned life lessons and made friendships and memories that have lasted to this day. She liked being abroad so much that during the 2007 summer break, she spent several weeks on a study trip through Lehigh in Vicenza, Italy.
“The more you’re out of your comfort zone, the more rewarding the experience is in the end,” Downey told VOA.
Why the continued growth?
Recent research suggests that the number of students with experiences like Downey’s continues to grow.
In November, the Institute of International Education, or IIE, released a report on international educational exchange. The IIE’s yearly Open Doors report is created with help from the U.S. Department of State. It examines the number of foreign college students entering the U.S. and the number of American college students who study abroad.
This year’s report shows that the number of Americans studying abroad increased by 2.3 percent from the school year before. More than 330,000 American students studied in foreign countries for college credit during the 2016 to 2017 school year. The number of Americans studying abroad has been growing since the early 1990s.
Peggy Blumenthal is an advisor with the IIE. She said that the rate of growth shrank after the U.S. recession in 2008. But even problems like political unrest in a host-country effect only the number of students going to that country. The overall growth in Americans studying abroad continues, Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal notes that educators have long seen the value in international student exchanges. She said that most Americans do not travel far from home to attend a college or university. For that reason, they are not often put in situations that are unfamiliar. A study abroad program can teach students independence and important life skills.
But even more schools and parents are now starting to see the value in international experience, Blumenthal said. And more companies want employees who speak foreign languages and know how to deal with people from other cultures.
“Realizing that not everybody sees the world the way Americans see the world, that’s crucial if you’re going to succeed in a multicultural professional environment,” she said.
Efforts to support study abroad, issues still ahead
Blumenthal noted that many U.S. colleges and universities have increased partnerships with foreign institutions and companies. They also have added more short-term international study programs. These programs are usually operated by the American schools. They make it easier for students to find the finances to study abroad.
The U.S. government also has expanded financial assistance for international study through its Benjamin A. Gilman and Fulbright programs. And, foreign institutions are increasing efforts to match their study programs with American ones.
For example, in November, France’s prime minister announced a plan to get more of the country’s top institutions to offer programs in English.
However, Blumenthal said, there is one group of American students who do not study abroad at the same rates as others: minorities. The 2018 Open Doors report showed that, while nonwhite students make up 42 percent of all college students in the U.S., only 29 percent of students studying abroad were nonwhite.
Blumenthal said schools and other groups should show minority students that minorities have successfully studied abroad. They should show minorities in informational material about foreign study and have former students share their stories. That, she said, will show current minority students that the experience is a possibility for them.
I’m Pete Musto.  And I’m Dorothy Gundy.
 
Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor. We want to hear from you. How common is it for people in from your country to study at a foreign college or university? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Quiz
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Words in This Story
 
abroad – adv. in or to a foreign country
exciting – adj. causing feelings of interest and enthusiasm
credit – n. a unit that measures a student's progress towards earning a degree in a school or college
degree – n. an official document and title that is given to someone who has successfully completed a series of classes at a college or university
comfort zone – n. a place, situation, or level where someone feels they can do something well or succeed at something and causes no worries, difficulty, or uncertainty
rewarding – adj. giving you a good feeling that you have done something valuable or important
unfamiliar – adj. not frequently seen, heard, or experienced
realizing – v. understanding or becoming aware of something
crucial – adj. extremely important
institution(s) – n. an established organization(2018/12/16 08:02)

 
Now, from VOA Learning English, it's time for Words and Their Stories.
If this is your first time with us, this program explores words and expressions commonly used in American English. We take a look at where they come from and how best to use them.
So, as winter officially comes to half the world, today we celebrate an expression that means winter is coming.
When temperatures drop and a cold snap comes, that means one thing: Jack Frost has arrived!
“He’s nipping at your nose. You can feel it in your toes! A shiver and a tear, let’s you know Jack Frost is here!”
Jack Frost represents the coming of dark, cold days. He is the personification of winter, a human form of winter weather. So, when we say, “Jack Frost is nipping at your nose,” we mean that you feel the cold, icy effects of winter on your face.
When a frost or deep freeze comes, you had better bundle up! You should wear enough clothing to stay warm.  
Now, Jack Frost does, indeed, bring the cold of winter. But he can also create beauty in nature. Some traditions claim that Jack Frost is responsible for leaving ice and snow on windows, trees, the ground…anywhere it will stick.
While we know frost is a natural event, it is fun to think that an imaginary creature named Jack Frost (or another name in some other cultures) changed the world into a winter wonderland!
That is what poet Hannah Flagg Gould (1789-1865) must have been thinking when she wrote a poem called The Frost.
Here are parts of that poem.
THE FROST looked forth, one still, clear night,    
And he said, “Now I shall be out of sight; ...   
Then he went to the mountain, and powdered its crest,
He climbed up the trees, and their boughs he dressed
With diamonds and pearls…”
With all of its beauty and extremes, winter is a great subject for songs and poetry. But now, let’s listen to how we use these wintry expressions in conversation.
Brrr! It is freezing outside. This cold snap came out of nowhere!
I don’t care how cold it is. I'm going on a hot date!
Is that all you’re wearing? You need to bundle up or Jack Frost will be nipping at more than your nose!
I’ll be fine. I’m wearing my new coat.
That it is NOT a winter coat. I mean, it looks great, but it’s much too thin. You will catch a cold. I know. You can wear my new down coat. It keeps you warm up to minus 30 degrees Celsius!
I’m going on a date...not exploring the Arctic Circle! Thanks. But I am not wearing that big, thick black coat. Besides, the taxi will take me from door-to-door. 
But what if something goes wrong? What if the car skids on the ice and is involved in an accident? You’ll have to walk to the restaurant. You might freeze to death!
No, I won’t. I’ll just call an Uber to come and get me.
And what if that vehicle runs out of fuel? Then you’ll have to walk to get more.
No, the Uber driver will. I’ll just call another car.
What if that new Uber driver is a pregnant woman and she goes into labor? You’ll have to help. You’ll have to wait outside in the cold until help arrives! And the roads are already covered with five centimeters of snow! It could take the ambulance an hour to get to you! If you’re wearing that thin coat…you’ll catch your death!! The EMTs will find you frozen solid like a block of ice!!
Stop! Stop!! You win! Give me your coat!
Good decision.
Here’s my ride …
Don’t forget gloves…a hat…and a scarf! Okay, good bye. Have fun!
And that’s the end of this Words and Their Stories.
If you would like, please share a similar figure from your culture. Or you can simply practice with some of the language you heard here. You can do that in the Comments Section!
I’m Anna Matteo.
 
“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost nipping at your nose. Yuletide carols being sung by a choir. And folks dressed up like Eskimos.”
Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. The song earlier in the program is from the 1979 animated television “Jack Frost.” The song at the end is Nat King Cole singing “The Christmas Song.”
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Words in This Story
 
cold snap – n. a brief period of very cold weather
nip – v. to injure or make numb with cold
shiver – v. to shake slightly (as from cold or fear)
wonderland – n. an imaginary place of delicate beauty or magical charm
powdered – v. to sprinkle or cover with or as if with fine particles of something
bough – n. a branch of a tree
skid – v. to fail to grip the roadway
ambulance – n. a vehicle equipped for transporting the injured or sick
EMT – n. a person who is trained to provide emergency medical services to patients who are being taken to a hospital : short for Emergency Medical Technician(2018/12/16 07:59)

 
Christmas tree farmers in the United States are concerned about competition from plastic trees.
In the past, plastic, or artificial, trees were not very realistic. They looked like bad copies of the evergreen trees that many Americans traditionally put up and decorate during the Christmas holiday season.
But today’s artificial trees look much more like real ones. Some even come with decorative lights already on them. They are easy to fold up and store until the following year.
Today, about 75 percent of Americans who get a Christmas tree choose an artificial one.
Growing the natural Christmas tree market
Christmas tree growers hope to get more people to buy real trees with the help of the Christmas Tree Promotion Board. The group is running a social media campaign in support of real Christmas tree sales. The campaign is called “It’s Christmas. Keep It Real!”
The board was set up in 2015 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is paid for mainly by a 15-cent tax on each tree harvested.
In many ways, it is similar to earlier efforts to support other agricultural products, such as the famous “Got Milk?” and “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner” campaigns. Those advertising campaigns are remembered by millions of Americans.
The target of the Christmas tree campaign is the “millennial mom.” Millennials are a generation that started to near adult age around the year 2000 or later.
The campaign includes a series of short films that appear on social media sites like Instagram and Facebook. They show families as they search for the perfect natural tree for their home.
Marsha Gray is executive director of the Christmas Tree Promotion Board. She said Christmas tree farmers are concerned that young families that are just starting their own traditions will choose artificial trees over real ones. That would mean losing a generation of possible buyers.
Gray said, “The target we’re talking about right now is millennials: first house, first baby. That’s kind of decision-making time.”
She said she hopes the campaign can help young adults “figure out how” to include a real tree in their holiday celebrations.
The National Christmas Tree Association supports sales of both natural and artificial trees. The organization estimates that 25 million evergreens are harvested each year. Not all are sold, however.
Thomas “Mac” Harman is with Balsam Hill, a big seller of artificial trees. He says Americans buy about 10 million of the products each year. People usually keep the same artificial tree for several years.
Many Americans say they buy artificial trees because they do not require the effort of going out and choosing one every year. Some say they use an artificial tree because they are allergic to pine trees. Others say they like the fact that artificial trees are less likely to catch fire than natural ones.
Harman said that artificial trees should not be seen as a threat to Christmas tree farmers. Many families have both a real tree and an artificial one, he said.
But Casey Grogan, who runs Silver Bells Tree Farm in Silverton, Oregon, is not so sure. Oregon is the top Christmas tree-growing state in the country. He said he has seen many tree farmers in his area go out of business. Grogan said that it takes eight to 10 years to grow an evergreen that may one day be a Christmas tree. That means farmers must plan for years before a crop is ready for harvest.
He worries that his industry will disappear if too many people buy artificial trees because of their easy use.
“It may be a little difficult, but not everything is easy,” he said. He added that choosing to use a natural tree is “worth the extra effort.”
I’m Mario Ritter, Jr.
 
Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted this AP story for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
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Words in This Story
artificial --adj.  not natural or real; made, produced, or done to seem like something natural
decorate –v. to make something more attractive by placing something on it
figure out –v. to understand or find by thinking
allergy –n. a condition that causes someone to become sick after eating, touching or breathing something that is harmless to most people
We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.(2018/12/16 07:58)

In the U.S. state of Washington, a road called Interstate 90 cuts through a wild, mountainous area to reach the city of Seattle. For the area’s many kinds of animals, the busy highway greatly limits their movements. Crossing I-90 – as the road is called – is a risky but sometimes necessary act. But soon, animals will have a safer choice for crossing the road. They will be able to go above it.
Jen Watkins is with Washington’s Conservation Northwest organization. She said, “Everything from an elk down to a small salamander, they need to move to find food, to find mates, to find new places to live as their populations expand or just when conditions change, like a fire breaks out.”
To help the animals, the state is finishing work on its largest-ever wildlife bridge. The 11-meter-tall, 20-meter-wide structure begins in the forest. It forms two arches above the highway, one for each direction of traffic.
Workers are adding fencing and plants to help guide the animals across the bridge. Two-meter-thick walls will help block noise from vehicles below.   
Scientists chose the area because it is within a natural migration path for some animals. 
At least one animal has already used the bridge. Washington’s Transportation Department tweeted last week that a wildlife camera captured a video of a coyote running over Interstate 90 on the new structure. The agency wrote, “Excited to see what other species cross!”
More crossings needed? 
The I-90 bridge is part of a growing number of wildlife crossings across the United States. Some are fences, some are overland bridges, and some are underpasses. They all aim to keep drivers and animals away from each other.
A 2008 U.S. Transportation Department study found crashes between animals and humans rose year by year. The accidents made up about 5 percent of all crashes nationally, and, at the time, cost the economy about $8 billion. Such costs come from car repairs, emergency room visits and removal of the dead animals on roads.
Collisions between animals and drivers are rarely deadly to people. But they are often deadly to wildlife. The 2008 study also found that 21 endangered or threatened species in the U.S. are affected by vehicle hits.
In Canada’s Banff National Park, studies have found that bridges, underpasses and fencing reduce the area’s animal-driver collisions by 80 percent.
And in the western U.S. state of Wyoming, crossing points and fencing built for a migration of North American pronghorns helped reduce animal-driver crashes by 85 percent.
Most of the wildlife bridges are in western states. But experts have noted many other areas that have a need for such paths.
Jen Watkins, whose organization has helped campaign for animal crossings, says finding money for more crossings is “the number-one obstacle.”
Patty Garvey-Darda of the U.S. Forest Service has worked on the I-90 crossing from the start of the project. She says the $6- million bridge will one day pay for itself because the highway will not have to be fully or partly closed each time a large animal is struck.
Garvey-Darda said, “If you shut down Interstate 90, you shut down interstate commerce.”
I’m Jonathan Evans.
 
The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. 
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Words in This Story
 
highway - n. ​a main road that connects cities, towns, etc.
elk - n. a large kind of North American deer with big antlers 
salamander - n. a small animal that looks like a lizard with smooth skin and that lives both on land and in water
traffic - n. all the vehicles driving along a certain road or in a certain area
arch - n.  a usually curved part of a structure that is over an opening and that supports a wall or other weight above the opening
commerce - n. activities that relate to the buying and selling of goods and services
endangered - adj. used to describe a type of animal or plant that has become very rare and that could die out completely
pronghorn - n. a large animal of western North America that looks like an antelope
obstacle - n. something that makes it difficult to do something(2018/12/16 07:57)

Mexico’s president canceled disputed education reforms this week, as he had promised during his election campaign. The new leader, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also announced plans to expand the country’s free college education program.
Lopez Obrador acted to keep his promise to teachers’ unions. Some teachers had felt forced by the former administration to accept the reforms. Others expressed their opposition.
The reforms are to be replaced with a system that establishes a right to an education. Lopez Obrador said the government would build 100 new public universities and provide 300,000 university scholarships to poor students.
Federal and state legislatures now will consider Lopez Obrador's order. The president’s coalition controls both houses of Congress.
Supporters of the reforms argued that they would improve accountability and quality in underperforming public schools. They urged Lopez Obrador to give the reforms time to succeed.
But the demand that student test results be considered in teacher evaluations angered educators. Critics said the measures did not address the historic regional inequality among schools.
Education Secretary Esteban Moctezuma Barragan said it was very unfair “that the teachers were blamed as the only ones responsible for the problems of public education.”
He noted that 150,000 teachers had retired over the past three years and that few students chose to study at the country's teachers' colleges.
Moctezuma noted that the plan includes terms for continuing education for teachers. He said the government will create a new school for teacher training. And he said it would close the National Institute of Education Evaluation, the agency created to evaluate the public education system.
President Lopez Obrador said, "The teachers are never going to be disrespected again."
I’m Caty Weaver.
The Associated Press reported this story. Hai Do adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
 
scholarship - n. an amount of money that is given by a school, an organization, etc., to a student to help pay for the student's education​
accountability - n. an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions
evaluation - n. the determination of the value, nature, character, or quality of something or someone​
regional - adj. of, relating to, characteristic of, or serving a geographic area that is part of a larger place​
 (2018/12/16 07:56)