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I know there's a similar thread ongoing and apologies for any duplication but I have an interview later this week at a company that deals with matching adult ESL students who generally only come for a few weeks or months with homestays in London. One of the things I have to prepare is a short presentation on how the company could go about recruiting more host families, but what exactly is in it for the host other than the money? If there's anybody out there who's done it or who would do it or any general advice on putting my ideas together then I'd be very interested and thankful to hear it.
My brother's best friend in high school was in a family that hosted high school students (in the U.S.). It was an opportunity to get to know people from other countries and cultures. They also just enjoyed being hosts. When my brother and his friend went to Europe the summer after high school, they were able to stay with their European friends.
My family hosted foreign AFS exchange students throughout my childhood (when I was aged 10 through 18). My parents were both teachers and we hosted foreign H.S. students for weeks, months, or up to a year. The kids came from France, England, Morocco, India, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, etc.
It was an incredible, multicultural education for me and my entire family. We learned so much about the world and other cultures without having to leave our house. We also could learn/practice other languages with the exchange students. During the summers when I was in college, my siblings and I traveled all over the world and stayed in the local homes of our exchange students. We visited some incredible places (the French/Swiss Alps, Moroccan deserts, etc.) with local families as our guides.
I would say these experiences had a profound impact on my understanding of world cultures/people and gave me a great global perspective which has been so beneficial in business and in life. In the future, I plan on hosting foreign students in my home so my children may also benefit from these experiences.
There is usually no monetary compensation, so if that's one's goal, then I don't think it would work out very well.
We host because we love the experience. I like guiding a teenager (my own kids are 10 and7), and we make lifelong friends from another country. We visited our first student and stayed in her home, begin shown all around Germany (and part of the Netherlands). I am proud to share our American culture with someone else, and I love extending hospitality to others. It is an amazing, humbling experience to open your home to a stranger for a few months to a year, and end up loving that person as though she were your own child. It also gives my whole family better cultural awareness and opens our eyes to issues that do and do not pertain to us, as Americans. All in all, it's a hugely rewarding experience, and one that I would highly, highly recommend to anyone!
I would think that there would be so many people who would be willing and anxious to take part in such a program, an effective method of "recruiting" would be to get the word out, and maximize the number of people who are aware that they can do this.
This is not the kind of thing that you want to persuade someone to do, overcoming a reluctance. You want genuinely interested volunteers, and they're out there, if you can just make them aware of the opportunity.
I would think that there would be so many people who would be willing and anxious to take part in such a program, an effective method of "recruiting" would be to get the word out, and maximize the number of people who are aware that they can do this.
This is not the kind of thing that you want to persuade someone to do, overcoming a reluctance. You want genuinely interested volunteers, and they're out there, if you can just make them aware of the opportunity.
You would think so! But realistically, most people say "oh wow, how interesting," and don't end up doing it. Either they are concerned about the finances (which is valid; you are, after all, adding another person, a teenager, no less, to your household!), or they don't want to commit for the 5-10 months, or the thought of a foreign teenager makes them wary, or they don't have room in their homes. This year, the organization that I'm working with had to say no to nearly 400 students who were eager to come, because not enough host families could be found.
The families that I knew that hosted exchange students here in the USA did not do it for the money. They did it purely for cultural and intellectual understanding. All had their own children and thought it was good for them to meet kids from other countries. The host families were mostly upper middle class families.
The host families that I met overseas mostly did it for the money. Mostly middle class. They were nice enough, but you didn't feel like family. You felt more like a renter.
You would think so! But realistically, most people say "oh wow, how interesting," and don't end up doing it. Either they are concerned about the finances (which is valid; you are, after all, adding another person, a teenager, no less, to your household!), or they don't want to commit for the 5-10 months, or the thought of a foreign teenager makes them wary, or they don't have room in their homes. This year, the organization that I'm working with had to say no to nearly 400 students who were eager to come, because not enough host families could be found.
I'm surprised American host families don't get paid for accommodating and feeding another person for so long. We don't have any tradition of year-long high school exchanges here so it's a little different but the company I interviewed at deals with mostly 20-somethings coming over for a month or two and the host families get paid quite well.
The families that I knew that hosted exchange students here in the USA did not do it for the money. They did it purely for cultural and intellectual understanding. All had their own children and thought it was good for them to meet kids from other countries. The host families were mostly upper middle class families.
The host families that I met overseas mostly did it for the money. Mostly middle class. They were nice enough, but you didn't feel like family. You felt more like a renter.
We're in the USA and middle class, and do it for cultural understanding and for the kids. Our exchange students are most definitely family. The one we had four years ago comes back each year to visit, and emails often. Last time she came, she brought her serious boyfriend along for two weeks. The one we have now talks about how cared for she feels, and I love her as though she were my own daughter. Just talking about the experience gives me warm fuzzies... it's awesome.
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