Hosting a student is a choice that enriches you and allows you to create bonds that will last over time. Here this article explains why and how to become a host family.
We know how important it is to give young people the opportunity to have a school experience abroad. It is important for their academic and professional future, but above all, to help them build their character and overcome their limits. In all of this, the role of families who choose to host a foreign student is fundamental! Becoming a host family is the path choice that will be one of the best choices you've ever made!
Why become a host family?
Hosting a foreign student is “a life choice “that involves all family members. It is a growth experience, both for the foreign student and for the family itself, who have the opportunity to get to know a new world and rediscover their own traditions and identity.
They will learn, and you will learn with them, to know, appreciate and respect a different culture without upsetting your daily life, but to enrich it day after day. Keep reading this article to know how do you get paid to host foreign exchange students.
What characteristics should a host family have?
The fundamental characteristics are openness and the desire to welcome. Hosting an exchange student requires commitment and understanding, which are essential to help them deal with change. Changing country, learning a new language, and building a new routine, as exciting as it is, is not easy. On your part, it will take patience and clarity in relationships. Evidence is found that many good host families schedule family trips and summer camp Ireland to establish a good relationship with exchange students.
The host family is required to have qualities such as flexibility, openness to discussion, and the desire to talk about themselves, their culture, and their habits. Every country has its own customs in terms of food, schedules, and lifestyles, so don't be scared; the more clear, exhaustive, and open you are, the easier it will be to get the boy into the new everyday life. Furthermore, even as regards the language, it is not up to you to learn the language of the foreign student but vice versa. After all, he is in your country for this very reason: to learn your native language and to discover your culture. You can even help them learn your language easily by suggesting to them to listen to a popular irish singer.
To host a foreign student, the family nucleus's composition is unimportant. You can be a family with or without children or single parents. The key feature is the desire to share an intercultural exchange experience with a foreign student. The family does not receive a refund for their hospitality and must guarantee the exchange student-only room and board. It will be up to the student to think about his personal expenses as well as to pay for the pizza in case he goes out for dinner or the holidays if he has to go on holiday to the oldest castles in ireland with the host family.