Traveling is the best way to learn. My dad always say that the best form of learning is active learning. He believes that individuals are more prone to learning when given the freedom to explore and experience real life; that's why he really made it a point for us, his children, to travel whenever our time and budget permits it. Rather than spending our money on materialistic things, we would rather save up and travel. Aside from finding inner peace, tranquility, recreation, enjoyment, health and fitness in traveling, one important factor that is gained through traveling is education.
According to an article from www.traveltips.USAtoday.com entitled "Educational Reasons to Travel" written by Nina Makofsky, traveling abroad presents numerous educational benefits that can last for a lifetime. The first one is geography. Nothing reinforces the abstract concepts of geography and cartography better than traveling, especially if you are traveling by road or to several places. It's better to see the land masses and bodies of water firsthand and explore it rather than just stare at maps and rely on symbols that indicates these places. It will also develop our sense of direction and time. Second is culture. The primary educational reason many people travel is to learn about other cultures. Traveling abroad can illuminate cultural differences even further, and bring home concepts. Such concepts were mentioned in the article like the Japanese preferring shoes to be removed indoors, the Mexicans disliking saying no to any request, the Chinese believing red to be lucky and the French always greeting people upon entering a shop or a small restaurant. The third one is language. Learning a foreign language is one of the more challenging educational reasons to travel. Many people travel for this purpose. It's always better to learn language through conversing with locals, that way, you can not only practice the language itself but the diction and accent as well. The fourth and last one is history. History is a fascinating subject because what is often represented in textbooks is only one version of what happened at a particular time and place. Traveling can illuminate the multiple perspectives of a place's history. You can visit art museums and historical museums, as well as monuments, but you can also talk to people who may have firsthand knowledge of monumental events. Become a student of oral history, attending to locals' stories and customs, to supplement what you read.
According to an article from www.traveltips.USAtoday.com entitled "Educational Reasons to Travel" written by Nina Makofsky, traveling abroad presents numerous educational benefits that can last for a lifetime. The first one is geography. Nothing reinforces the abstract concepts of geography and cartography better than traveling, especially if you are traveling by road or to several places. It's better to see the land masses and bodies of water firsthand and explore it rather than just stare at maps and rely on symbols that indicates these places. It will also develop our sense of direction and time. Second is culture. The primary educational reason many people travel is to learn about other cultures. Traveling abroad can illuminate cultural differences even further, and bring home concepts. Such concepts were mentioned in the article like the Japanese preferring shoes to be removed indoors, the Mexicans disliking saying no to any request, the Chinese believing red to be lucky and the French always greeting people upon entering a shop or a small restaurant. The third one is language. Learning a foreign language is one of the more challenging educational reasons to travel. Many people travel for this purpose. It's always better to learn language through conversing with locals, that way, you can not only practice the language itself but the diction and accent as well. The fourth and last one is history. History is a fascinating subject because what is often represented in textbooks is only one version of what happened at a particular time and place. Traveling can illuminate the multiple perspectives of a place's history. You can visit art museums and historical museums, as well as monuments, but you can also talk to people who may have firsthand knowledge of monumental events. Become a student of oral history, attending to locals' stories and customs, to supplement what you read.
"There are a myriad of educational reasons to travel, but you must travel with the intent of breaking free of your comfort zone and being open to new experiences." says the author.
Based on my experience, traveling has helped me strengthen my independence and confidence in myself by discovering things that can only be discovered when you travel to foreign countries. Personally, I think I learn more things by traveling than just by sitting around in a classroom. I believe that discovering and experiencing the world as it really stands are far better approaches to learning than reading about places in a textbook. By traveling, the World is your teacher and it's the most reliable source anyone could hope for.
More and more people realize the importance of traveling for the sole purpose of education that numerous traveling organizations offer study tours in collaboration with educational institutes. A study tour is a travel experience with specific learning goals. The learning goals of each study tour vary, but are always spelled out in the course syllabus that is distributed to each learner. Study tours emphasize experiential learning and offer both group and self-directed activities that enable learners to explore new territories, cultures, and people.
According to an article from www. hbculifestyle.com entitled "Learners of the World" by Kaylee Willson, a study tour helps students appreciate their field of study more and it really helps them better realize the interaction between their chosen fields of study to the rest of the world. Study tours help students open themselves to many possibilities that are not just contained in one geographical location or culture.
"Inside the classroom, we can read, listen, write and talk about different topics or see them on pictures where we are able to use our imagination;and only our imagination sets the limit." states the author.
We may have heard from someone before that "we learn from experience." While good teaching is still an important learning foundation for each of us (especially during our younger years – and I don’t think that can be easily replaced) the world is also an effective classroom. Although classroom learning can be rewarding, long hours of lectures may sometimes be a daunting event; an option for a study tour anytime in the course of study can be an exciting and fun new experience that students may look forward to. Whether we travel alone or with a group, in the end, we all acquire the same things: increase our knowledge and understanding, and explore new terrains, people and culture.
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