Welcome to South Africa

                Welcome to the southern tip of Africa, where two great oceans meet, warm weather lasts for most of the year, and big game roam just beyond the city lights.  Elephant, zebra and ostriches can be easily seen in their natural surroundings. 

                South Africa is the powerhouse of Africa, the most advanced, broad-based economy on the continent, comparable to any first-world nation.

                Some 44 million people live here.  Almost 77% are black (or African), 11% white and 9% “coloured,” the local label for people of mixed African, Asian and white descent. Just over half of the population live in the cities.  Three-quarters are Christian.

What languages do people speak?

                English, as the main language of South Africa, is the language of commerce, banking, traffic and government.  Afrikaans, a derivative of Dutch, is also widely spoken.  Many schools in the Cape Provinces teach both Afrikaans and English.  About 40% of the population speak Zulu or Xhosa, but mainly in the rural areas of South Africa.

iE-USA offers four types of Schools:

                iE-USA schools are located mainly in the southern portion of South Africa (called the Cape Provinces) along the southern coastline and near the city of Cape Town.  iE-USA students have the choice of attending four types of schools: either public, semi-private, private day and private boarding schools.  Private schools are funded mainly through tuition and donations.  Boarding schools offer exceptional academic opportunities and after school activities.  Students commonly wear a school uniform, both in public and private schools.

Host Families

                iE-USA students are placed with carefully matched host families.  Unless otherwise agreed upon, a student will be placed with an English speaking family who is eager to have a foreign visitor become a member of their family.  As South Africa is a multi-racial and multi-cultural society students can also be placed with a racially mixed family, which means white, coloured or black, as well as with families of different religious backgrounds (Christian, Muslim, or Jewish).