Most of the time, a homestay involves a student from another country who is in need of a stable and safe home to complete their studies while going to school somewhere in your city. Usually hosts of homestay students are a family with children, or another mature couple that has a spare room.
It could be a university or high school student, or even a young worker that is the homestay, and depending on their needs, it could be a few months or years that they stay.
Remember these important considerations here when deciding whether to commit space in your home for a homestay student to live. Hosts need to be educated on the potential costs that are hard to foresee, that may offset some of the income from the room and board they are receiving from the student.
Facing the Challenges
Clear communication is essential. As the student in most cases will not understand English well, it can be quite a struggle to get though to them on certain issues. It is beneficial to break your sentences into simple fragments and avoid complex words. At times, the student may not be able to communicate verbally almost at all, and if this happens, putting your words in writing is a good option, as accents make it tougher to understand a beginner.
Hosts and students should have some protection from understood guidelines set out in this situation. Set some rules in place during the interview process with the student and/or their guardian, so that everyone is on the same page. When communication is extremely difficult because of language issues, have an interpreter make sure both sides understand.
Determining the consequences is as equally vital as defining the rules. Is there zero tolerance for some behaviors such as coming home on drugs? If these are communicated to both the homestay and also their legal guardian and/or parent then, in the event they are broken, you are afforded more leverage to remove them from your residence.
How Much Does Privacy Mean to You?
Hosting a student can often mean that you will loose some level of privacy. English needs practice to improve, so the student may try to engage you in conversation to put in use their new language skills. Some of the activities you may have to compromise on are TV programs, family parties, having friends and dates coming over to your place. To make these situations go more smoothly, you could invite the student to participate.
Vacations are another area where you must take the student into consideration, it could cause a problem. Students often pay for meals as well as board, so you may have committed to being there daily to prepare meals for them, and interact at the dinner table. You could ask the student to go with you, or look for other options.
These are not the only concerns in this situation. Since you are investing a certain amount of time cooking, cleaning and conversing with the homestay, your time with your children may be reduced. You can counter this by including your children in your interactions with your homestay.
It could be a university or high school student, or even a young worker that is the homestay, and depending on their needs, it could be a few months or years that they stay.
Remember these important considerations here when deciding whether to commit space in your home for a homestay student to live. Hosts need to be educated on the potential costs that are hard to foresee, that may offset some of the income from the room and board they are receiving from the student.
Facing the Challenges
Clear communication is essential. As the student in most cases will not understand English well, it can be quite a struggle to get though to them on certain issues. It is beneficial to break your sentences into simple fragments and avoid complex words. At times, the student may not be able to communicate verbally almost at all, and if this happens, putting your words in writing is a good option, as accents make it tougher to understand a beginner.
Hosts and students should have some protection from understood guidelines set out in this situation. Set some rules in place during the interview process with the student and/or their guardian, so that everyone is on the same page. When communication is extremely difficult because of language issues, have an interpreter make sure both sides understand.
Determining the consequences is as equally vital as defining the rules. Is there zero tolerance for some behaviors such as coming home on drugs? If these are communicated to both the homestay and also their legal guardian and/or parent then, in the event they are broken, you are afforded more leverage to remove them from your residence.
How Much Does Privacy Mean to You?
Hosting a student can often mean that you will loose some level of privacy. English needs practice to improve, so the student may try to engage you in conversation to put in use their new language skills. Some of the activities you may have to compromise on are TV programs, family parties, having friends and dates coming over to your place. To make these situations go more smoothly, you could invite the student to participate.
Vacations are another area where you must take the student into consideration, it could cause a problem. Students often pay for meals as well as board, so you may have committed to being there daily to prepare meals for them, and interact at the dinner table. You could ask the student to go with you, or look for other options.
These are not the only concerns in this situation. Since you are investing a certain amount of time cooking, cleaning and conversing with the homestay, your time with your children may be reduced. You can counter this by including your children in your interactions with your homestay.