Have you ever wanted your child to have the opportunity to study a language abroad for a short period of time during their school holidays? If the answer is 'yes', then homestay programmes are the way forward. Children, normally from 10 years upwards, can stay anywhere between 2 weeks and several months, in any number of countries worldwide.
Your child stays with a host family, ideally with another student. They participate in family life, doing as the host family does, often attending a language course at a school during the week. Afternoons, evenings and weekends are spent doing cultural activities, sightseeing and learning about their new environment.
We asked Guy Howle, a Homestay consultant with ten years' experience of operating homestay programmes in the UK, for some valuable insights into what homestays offer.
How do students benefit from homestays overseas?
The most obvious benefit is an improvement in the child's chosen target language. Studying a language through books will only get you so far. The practical application of the language is absolutely vital. They need to learn how to communicate as the language is really spoken. There is no better way to achieve this than being totally immersed in a homestay environment.
Your child can apply all that they have learned in their language classes at school. This is highly motivating for your child as they can see the relevance of what they have previously been taught. They are able to address the 'why?' of having to learn the language. From this foundation they willingly, and naturally, begin absorbing new phrases, idioms, vocabulary and intonation used by native speakers, as well as abundant cultural differences. Additional to language, other advantages include:
- Confidence increases, not only in using the language, but also within themselves
- Awareness of independence, away from own family home
- Self- reliance, with more responsibility
- Building relationships, and completing tasks, with other members of the homestay group, strengthens bonds and encourages team work
- Motivation to continue improving language learning upon return home
These foundation skills bode well for later life and parents never fail to see a very positive change in children.
Where do students stay?
Once you have chosen the country you would like your child to visit for their homestay, you need to find a homestay family. The type of accommodation varies, as do the homestay hosts. Normally homestays are organised by schools or private companies. They allocate a host family for your child. You can indicate what kind of host family you prefer. For example, you might prefer a host family with their own children, of similar age to your child. Location would be in a major city where the language schools are normally located.
How are homestay families chosen?
Homestay families must be native speakers of the target language, with experience of taking care of children, either their own, or having hosted foreign children before. The host family should sign a 'charter' acknowledging their responsibilities while your child is in their care. This helps to avoid misunderstandings. Host families are interviewed and asked to provide professional and personal references, prior to hosting children.
How will my child be cared for and kept safe while on homestay?
This is the most important question parents should ask the homestay organiser. During the homestay, your child will be taken care of as though they were one of the host family's own children. The safety and security of your child while they are on their homestay is the homestay organiser's and host family's highest priority. Homestay organisers must be ready to react at all times. They must have done risk assessment of everything the children will be doing to maintain safety and security.
You should ensure that your child will be supervised by adults while on activities and when in the homestay host's home. You should enquire what would happen in the event of an accident or injury to your child. The organiser must ensure the child receives quick and effective medical treatment from a local medical facility. Medical and dietary forms should also be completed prior to departure.
What do students do on a homestay?
There are a variety of homestays depending on the country visited, and location of the homestay host family. If your child is part of a group, some homestay programmes will be designed to include a balance of language school teaching, cultural activities and sightseeing. Other groups might just attend school each day and live with the host family. It depends on the objectives of the parents and what they want the learning outcomes to be for their child.
How much would my child's language improve?
Your child may be anxious when they arrive in their new environment. This may be due to homesickness, being among strangers, scared to speak the target language, or just being out of their 'comfort zone'. However, observations, without exception, have shown how quickly and effectively children acclimatise to their new surroundings and start to engage using the language. After one or two days they settle into the routine, and are eager to meet the challenges ahead.
Once more comfortable, they start absorbing the language surrounding them. Learning can be in school with structured lessons, sometimes just mornings, other times full days. Language is also learned through time spent with homestay host families. This is where they pick up the 'real language' in its proper context. The new demanding environments make the language and experience much more valuable. Many activities and games can be introduced to make learning the target language more fun. This contributes to improvement in acquisition of better language skills.
Should I send my child overseas on a homestay or as part of a school trip?
Some schools offer very good opportunities to study abroad with a variety of activities and language learning schedules. Schools often partner with schools abroad. Their students learn and stay at that school together. Timetables involve language training in mornings followed by afternoons of sports and cultural visits. Homestay programme organisers may have a different balance between language learning, cultural activities and entertainment.
Parents should ask themselves what is in the best interests of their child. Do they require their child to acquire just better knowledge of the target language, or would they prefer to see the improvement in language and the overall development in other areas of their child? From experience, the latter is preferred as the child returns home a far more experienced, rounded individual having spent time with a native speaking homestay host family.
In summary
Sending your child on a homestay is a vital part of their learning strategy. One should envisage the homestay as a stepping stone, a springboard, to better things, often motivating their child to study abroad further. It offers the child a different perspective on life, an 'eye-opener' to traject them on a fascinating path in life.
Author: Guy Howle, Homestay Consultant, England Homestay
Email: guy.howle@englandhomestay.co.uk; Website: www.englandhomestay.co.uk
Series Editor: Christopher F. Bruton is Executive Director of Dataconsult Ltd, chris@dataconsult.co.th. Dataconsult's Thailand Regional Forum provides seminars and extensive documentation to update business on future trends in Thailand and in the Mekong Region.
