Groups - Frequently Asked Questions

How to organize and plan a group trip abroad!

Our staff at Teenagers Abroad spends endless hours on the phone and writing emails with group leaders and organizers, answering questions, giving recommendations, and comparing programs so that our participants get the most out of their experience abroad!

Before any decisions are made and any work is done, you should ask as many questions as possible so that we can work together to find the perfect program for your group!

On this page you can find the most frequently asked questions by other group leaders and see how we responded. After reading through the questions and answers, if you have additional questions, feel free to contact us anytime!

How do I become a teen group leader?

First, you should identify your group’s needs by answering the following questions:

• What do you wish to gain from this trip?
• What do the other students or group participants wish to gain fom this experience?
• When is the best time to travel?
• How long do you wish to participate?
• Will this trip be connected to another curriculum?
• How much time do you want to spend at: language classes/ cultural activities/ trips & excursions?
• What is the budget of each participant?

Once you have these answers, we can begin helping you find the best Teenagers Abroad program and location for your group!

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How do I choose the best location and accommodation type for my group?

When choosing the location and accommodation type for your group, remember that this trip is primarily for you and the other students. Being that most of the students will be fairly young, it may be their first time out of the country. You want to make this trip memorable, educational, affordable, successful and safe for your group. Hence, you should consider the atmosphere, activities, excursions, course offerings, etc… that fits your group best.

A couple of questions that may be helpful in making your decision are:
• Have you been to any countries or cities where we offer programs?
• Have you traveled abroad?
• How is your chosen location perceived by the people in your home country?

If you are still having trouble deciding, keep in mind that we are here to help and support you throughout the entire process, so don’t hesitate to contact us for further advice!

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How should I arrange or market this group?

You really want to show excitement and lots of energy to the parents and students during this part of the process. At this point, you probably don’t know how many participants/travelers you’ll have in your group; hence, the need to begin publicizing the trip abroad. Not only do you need to show energy, but you need your students to also exhibit enthusiasm when talking about it to their peers.

These early stages are critical to build the momentum needed to recruit students to go on such a journey. It is also wise to advise any potential students to start saving money or to begin fundraising activities for their trip.

In order to spread the word and create as much interest as possible, it is a good idea to use bulletin boards, flyers, community radio broadcasts, school assemblies, school publications, parent - teacher meetings, PA morning announcements, newsletters, etc…

Other ways to generate interest include organizes meetings with interested families. This way you can ease parents concerns, as well as begin a support network of parents. It is much easy to answer all questions and concerns once in a group atmosphere, rather than repeatedly answering the same questions over and over again in private meetings or phone calls.

Furthermore, throughout the meetings, it is important that you emphasize how important it is for the students to exhibit acceptable behavior on the trip, follow our house rules and give them a guideline of what is expected of each student while on the trip from you and Teenagers Abroad. We recommend holding at least 3 meetings of this sort before your big trip.

Meeting #1: Give a program overview, provide proposed program itinerary and other general information.

Meeting #2: After students are signed up, hold this meeting to cover the general requirements of the trip, passport information, payment schedule, and your expectations of the students.

Meeting #3: About two weeks before departing, hold this meeting to clarify all last minute details, reinforce safety, health issues, policies on drinking/substance abuse, protocols pertaining to the respect of other cultures, and put one last emphasis on the importance of acceptable student behavior.

Please Note: You can use the group website to arrange meetings, share information, and stay in contact with other group members. The website is purely there to help and assist you! Anything you wish to add, just let Teenagers Abroad know!

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What needs to be done in terms of payments and study materials?

In order to enroll a group, Teenagers Abroad will need a completed enrollment form and deposit from each participant. Full payment should be made no later than 8 weeks prior to the group program's start date. As a group leader, you should make all of your students aware of deadlines and due dates as far in advance as possible. All information will be available on your group’s customized website.

Once the initial non-refundable deposits are made, we will process the enrollments and send individual confirmations to the members of your group. When we receive the final payment from your group, we will send final itinerary confirmations with the accommodation details, needed addresses and contract numbers.

You should speak with a representative to discuss way of paying for a Teenagers Abroad group program. Some of our schools prefer to have just one payment made for the entire group, while others prefer to have checks from each participant. All checks should be made payable to ‘Languages Abroad’ (Teenagers Abroad is the underage division of Languages Abroad). We also gladly accept most major credit cards.

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