Language & Friendship believes that a family stay is an essential component of an educational program abroad. It gives students the wonderful opportunity to be immersed in the language and culture in a personal way. Even though the family stay is short, it’s a valuable experience in growth and self-reliance, and a chance to build a friendship that can last a lifetime.
Family stays are organized by teachers and coordinators abroad who are personal friends of Language & Friendship staff. We are fortunate to have had many years of experience building relationships with dedicated teachers abroad who, like the teachers we work with here, want their students and communities to have international friendships that broaden their horizons, increase cultural understanding and promote support of language study.
I saw huge improvements in my French during my time there. The speaking aspect of it improved but what improved even more was the understanding. I can now understand French so much more than I used to! And it makes me want to practice my French all the time!
Some of my language learning moments mainly happened over mealtimes, since there is a lot of talking done when people are eating.
My host parents were from two different regions of Spain, so I also got to see the contrast in accents, culture, and family background.
Being in a household that spoke only Spanish helped me take the next step in fluency, something I would not be able to do in a classroom.
I just feel extremely grateful and lucky that I had this wonderful experience. I'm also grateful for all the people I got to meet, all the activities I did, and a totally different culture that I got to learn from. Trips like this are just unforgettable and help people view the world from a different perspective.
... having spent every day and night listening to the language all around me, I adjusted well enough that I was able to turn my English brain off and fully dive into the complexities that was the French language.
[My favorite thing was:] The activities that I did with my family like going on bike, swimming, trying out other sports, etc. I liked it because those are activities that I like to do in my everyday life and I got to do it with a family from another country.
My favorite part of the program was just experiencing the family life and finally feeling incorporated into the family. This took a little time to actually feel comfortable - around a week - but after, I loved learning about the culture and almost feeling French.
Individual Immersion
Each student has his/her own host family in order to have a more beneficial experience. If two American students were together in a host family, they would speak English with each other and would not connect as well with their new family, defeating the purpose of the program. (Additionally, houses and cars are usually not large enough for two additional people.) An individual experience allows students to really practice the language and become a part of the family who is looking forward also to creating a new friendship. Most of our groups stay with host families for 5 to 10 days, and some choose longer stays. Our coordinators personally meet with each of the host families, and they are dedicated to providing a good experience for each student and family. Language & Friendship provides extensive materials to host families and to students to help them prepare for an enriching experience. Teachers receive situational dialogues to help students practice their communication skills, and the opportunity for students to put these skills to use in a family environment is truly rewarding.
While we cannot guarantee there will never be a problem or a challenging situation, we can confidently assure you that we take our responsibility very seriously, and we are always available for support and guidance. In the very few cases where a student has difficulty adapting, it’s nearly always a case of misunderstanding that is cleared up when the student’s teacher and the local teacher/coordinator talk with the student and host family.
Language & Friendship has been providing travel programs with a family-stay component since 1988. Our success is best reflected in the feedback of students and parents, and especially the teachers who continue time after time to have us organize their programs.
Teachers also choose L&F for: Personal Attention & Support