AFS Ireland is operated by EIL Intercultural Learning, an Irish non-profit organisation that provides study abroad, language training, community service,  and other educational and cultural immersion activities for over 2,500 people annually. AFS Ireland now offers a range of AFS programmes including High School Study Abroad, as well as short-term Global Prep and language learning opportunities for teens and adults in over 60 countries around the world.

Forget your comfort zone, become a global citizen with AFS/EIL

Whether you are in high school, at a university or jump-starting your career, AFS/EIL has the right program for you! Go to school, learn another language or check out our cultural internships and volunteer abroad opportunities. Host families and volunteers are waiting to help make your intercultural learning experience the best time of your life.

Study abroad with AFS/EIL

Scholarships & Discounts

EIL is committed to helping young people to go abroad regardless of their financial situation. That’s why EIL works with corporate and community sponsors and individual donors to help finance EIL programs through full and partial scholarships.

Learn more about scholarships

Welcome a new family member

Host an AFSer

Expose your family to a world outside of their own by helping an international student achieve her global dreams. Explore a new culture and share your family life and traditions.

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Experience your world through the eyes of a young person from another country

“Being a host family is both a challenge and a pleasure. We are watching a complete stranger become close to us, and how we are becoming important to him. It’s almost two months since Mateo arrived and he already has a place in our family. We are teaching him about life in Serbia, and learning about life in Sicily. When our relatives call, the first thing they ask is no longer ‘How are you doing?’, but ‘What is Mateo up to?’.”

—Tijana Marjanovic, host sister from Serbia 

Host and AFSer

Ready to change the world?

Volunteer for AFS

Explore your potential and pick from a choice of roles and flexible schedules. Benefit from our exceptional volunteer training program, develop your leadership skills and help others learn how to live together.

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Engaging with my community; meeting people from around the world

“Joining my local group of AFS volunteers gave me the opportunity to develop many skills, such as how to work in a team and interact with people from different backgrounds. As an AFS volunteer, I am more engaged in my community and I meet people from all over the world. Helping students, teachers and families embark on intercultural learning adventures makes me appreciate the importance of world peace and intercultural understanding.”

—Marcela Vazquez, AFS Argentina volunteer 

Volunteer with AFS

Discover our innovative learning journeys

AFS Education

Learn how AFS helps people of all ages and backgrounds develop the knowledge, skills, and understanding needed to connect to diverse people, succeed in a global economy and help make a positive impact on the world.

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Creating global citizens, empowering changemakers

These days you don’t have to go far to find an AFSer making a difference in local communities, across industries or at the forefront of an important international issue or social cause. 

How AFS prepares Global Citizens

AFS events across the globe

AFS Intercultural Programs and AFS USA, our member organization in the US, are proud to invite Generation Study Abroad partners, leaders in education, faculty members, teachers and students to participate in a highly interactive workshop, “Fostering Global Competency and Creating Pathways to Study Abroad”, which will precede the 2016 IIE Generation Study Abroad Summit. The workshop will take place on 23 October 2016 in Washington DC, USA. The workshop will focus on how intercultural learning experiences and study abroad can address and reduce cultural barriers. Participants will leave this session with easy-to-implement experiential learning activities, resources to develop global competency and strategies to promote study abroad in different settings.

Connect with AFSers from around the world!