About CLIP

Many young people are motivated to learn foreign languages, to communicate with native speakers. CLIP developed its own method for this: 'the language excursion': interactive fun moments with the local population in which you can easily talk to 50 people in a few hours. Here we move the action outside: to the street, the village square, the markets and the parks, where the conversations are there for the taking. The CLIPmonitors help young people cross the fear threshold in a playful but well-guided way. Going to the native speaker becomes natural and that is what it comes down to in the end.

Acquired skills are not lost, but long vocabulary lists are! In addition to the 'street conversations', for the oldest participants there are also contacts with local youth or elderly people. For several hours you become an leader on the local playground or visit the residents of an old people's home. This annual collaboration is a fantastic experience that is greatly appreciated by the local people.

CLIP offers a cocktail of fun and varied language and entertainment activities in which everyone can participate and have fun. There is no room for boredom. Each CLIP team organizes a full daily program and ensures a good dose of rest and action moments. This is why we also pay close attention to sleep, depending of course on the age and fitness of the group.

CLIP programs vary substantially according to age, both in terms of language programs and approach. Different programs are therefore offered simultaneously at all placements. At CLIP, young people are closely surrounded from morning to evening. In function of age, there is more room for own initiative and free time ... in the foreign language, of course.

Moreover, through the photos on an individual web page, parents can feel the ambiance of the vacation almost daily during the camps.

Every year we evaluate and adjust the formulas. Many language and animation activities are renewed every year. We keep looking for trendy formats, educational trends that fall within the field of interest of our young people.

CLIP offers magnificent vacation locations that can be described as top accommodations for young people: a castle in the middle of a fully equipped recreation domain, a "hôtel particulier" with swimming pool in a lively village in the Ardèche, the scouts' domain in Morocco, a cruise ship and a hotel in Malta with rooftop pool.

Occasionally, we still choose a boarding school that we dress up into a fun vacation destination with fire pits, umbrellas, ping pong tables, sitting area....

The countries and locations help create a relaxed, non school-like atmosphere and create opportunities that we take full advantage of.

Also important is the culinary aspect: the CLIP kitchen has an excellent reputation. But even for the venues that have an external chef attached, we strive to create menus that taste good.

CLIP has extensive experience with group dynamics. Each CLIP team therefore makes every effort to integrate each participant into the group. Contact activities receive full attention and this already on the bus or at the gate in the airport. During the animation, no one stays on the sidelines.

Many participants leave alone, but everyone returns home as a member of the group. CLIP also strives to include diverse youth in its operation: most internship houses are adapted for differently-abled participants. Young people with learning disabilities do find their niche at CLIP. There is also an annual budget for the financially less fortunate to give them a "real" language vacation. Young people of different nationalities also find their way to the camps.

Participants with a pronounced social commitment can participate in a social project in South Africa, Villeneuve, Paris or Morocco. In South Africa, for example, we participate in Hope Flanders' project. We do field education of vulnerable children together with the non-profit organization and regularly roll up our sleeves.

For over 40 years, CLIP has strived to achieve its goals in the field with respect for parents, participants, monitors, cooking teams and office staff alike. Therefore, the success of the language vacations is rightly a collective achievement. The result is recognition as a national youth organization. This means that for young people up to and including 13 years of age, CLIP receives a tax certificate can issue.

CLIP is a non-profit association that promotes multilingualism - in accordance with its statutes. The organization is run by a general assembly, a board of directors, a staff team at the office and at the internship sites. All office staff are also active in the field during the vacation weeks and thus maintain their feel for the camp event.

Every year dozens of new monitors find their way to CLIP where they are trained as leaders (later to become chief leaders). With the 'anciens' they form a group of about 300 monitors. It is thanks to their knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment that the language vacations give so many a wow factor.

(This information refers to residential language vacations, organized by CLIP. The local language academies are excluded in part because of their externality and language aspect. Otherwise, these formulas are perfectly recognizable as CLIP activities).

CLIP is more committed than ever to sustainability. Since the beginning of 2022, we want to offset the entire CO2 emissions of our air travel. For this purpose, we are working together with Greentripper . They calculate how much CO2 is emitted per flight and provide concrete actions: a ton of CO2 emitted corresponds to a ton of CO2 avoided or absorbed elsewhere. Where possible, we choose climate actions in the continent we travel to.

Those who participate in air travel choose whether to contribute. CLIP supplements anyway until the CO2 emissions of its monitors are offset.

Sustainability is also a topic on the internships themselves: sorting waste, processing organic waste, raising awareness of sustainability among young people, etc.