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​Magic Enters

5/27/2025

 
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LEX nurtures attitudes like joy and acceptance, making language learning feel natural and deeply human.
by Clara, LEX Member & Club Facilitator

Language classes are about learning words and phrases. However, in my opinion, LEX is about developing attitudes. Words and phrases are shallow and often are learned in a way that is disconnected from social meaning. Attitudes are very deep – our attitudes affect our thoughts, our emotions, our ability to communicate with others, and our ability to learn. 

LEX has helped me to develop attitudes of acceptance, possibility, fellowship, and joy. And I see other members developing in similar ways.  With an attitude of acceptance, I am comfortable in multicultural environments, and I am comfortable with my attempts to speak a language, which start with approximate sounds and gradually improve. 

With an attitude of possibility, I am not bound by the past or by my expectations. I proceed moment by moment, meeting new people and new languages with an open mind. 

​With an attitude of fellowship, I join with others for a common purpose. Together we can do what none of us could do alone, and very quickly we perceive how our diversity is an asset. ​
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With an attitude of joy, magic enters. I believe that joy is at the very center of LEX. That’s why young children are our only teachers—because they still experience so much joy. When we are in a state of joy, we are connected, open to all the possibilities of the universe, able to surpass ourselves. 

​In LEX, we do learn words and phrases. But this happens in an environment of joyful fellowship. It is an outgrowth of our embracing possibilities and accepting each step of a deep journey. LEX is about human connection. Language acquisition is a natural side effect of our desire to be together. ​

LEX Homestays & Cultural Discovery

5/13/2025

 
See how LEX Homestays offer immersive cultural & language learning through real-world experiences.
Our thanks to Barry for his article about the effect that LEX exchange programs had on his son, Mark. Experience has shown us that there is no better way to get to know a culture and language than to become part of a local family! See our website for more information about our current exchange programs, including international internships.

When Mark was 13 years old he came to me and said that he was tired of years of going to summer camp. He wanted to do something different in the summer. He wanted to be an exchange student, and he wanted to go to Japan as he’d done a unit in school on Japan and he knew the culture was very different.
​
I researched and discovered LEX America.
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A few months later Mark, who had just turned 14, left for a family in Japan. Some people said “How can you send your 14 year old child 9,000 miles away?” I’d tell them, “You don’t understand. He’s safer there than going to camp in Maine. Japanese parents dote on their children more than do Americans and there’s almost no crime there. You can see six year old schoolgirls alone on the giant subway systems in school uniforms and backpacks, on their way to school—no one is going to bother them.”

After college Mark went to Japan for 2 years to be an Eigo no Sensei—a high school English teacher—under the Japanese government sponsored “JET program”. Then he backpacked around the world for 16 months. Since then he has travelled to many exciting destinations. He is totally fluent in Spanish and conversationally fluent in Japanese.

​Mark enjoyed Japan so much that he wanted to return the following summer. He did, to a different area of Japan and to a different family. Back in the States, he said that he had visited a Japanese school and that there was an American teaching there and that he wanted to do that after college.
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Mark had developed a taste for international travel and experiences. The following summer he studied Spanish in Spain and the summer after that, the summer before college, he held a volunteer job and lived with a family in Costa Rica.

​Mark is now 35 and is happily married, living in California with his wife and child. He’s an administrator at a medical college. He has a successful life, is an accomplished world traveler, and is a well-rounded person.


I credit LEX America for starting all this. Mark’s experience with LEX homestays in Japan set him on a path of cultural discovery that has enriched his life and the lives of those around him.
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Copyright © 2018-2025 LEX Language Project.  All rights reserved.
  • Home
  • What is LEX?
    • Mission
    • Philosophy
    • Our People
    • LEX Blog
    • IDEA
    • Language Research
    • Annual Report
  • Language Clubs
    • Overview
    • Visit LEX >
      • COVID, Weather, and Food and Drink Policies
    • Join LEX >
      • Membership Information
      • Member Scholarships
    • Events >
      • LEXConnect
      • Intern Reunion
      • LEXFest
    • One Member's Story
  • Buy Audio/Books
    • Overview
    • How to Listen
    • Buy Audio Sets
    • Buy Additional Audio
    • Buy Books
    • Buy Kanji Cards
  • Exchange
    • Exchange Opportunities
    • Travel Scholarships
    • Internships >
      • LEX Internship to Japan
      • Gap Year / WIP Internship >
        • Intern Voices
      • Application Information
      • Intern Blog
    • Travel Overseas >
      • Japan AYP
      • Japan Nature Camp
      • Japan Snow Camp
      • Mexico Congreso
      • Mexico CC4F
      • Mongolia Nature Camp
      • Other Countries
    • Host a Visitor >
      • Hosting
  • Get Involved
    • Alumni
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
    • Careers
  • Member Plaza
    • SA!DA! Library
    • Video Library
    • World Workshops
    • Member Page
    • Member Docs
    • Fellow Page
    • Fellow Docs