What's it like staying in a Lingoo Host Family?
| 1. The concept What does it consist of? How old do you have to be? When and for how long? How does it work? Now it’s over to you! 2. Planning your stay Take your time. Check References. Get to know people. Don’t leave anything unclear. Complete your paid language study holiday Agreement and follow our reservation procedure. If you need to communicate in a foreign language... If you’re not sure... Practical details. 3. The benefits of Lingoo Multiple-criteria searches. A language course. Confidentiality. Knowing the Host Family. Safety. Families. |
| Remember: Subscribing to Lingoo as a Search Family allows you to look for a language study holiday for your child: - either by paying for a stay with a Host Family (read the rest of this page). - and/or by arranging an exchange with another Search Family. |
1. The concept
What does it consist of?
So, you’d like your child to stay with a family in another country to immerse them in the foreign language, but for one reason or another it isn’t possible for you to take part in an exchange programme? What can you do?
You no longer need to turn to a language study holiday organisation, which are often impersonal, costly and not all that reliable. With Lingoo you can choose a paid host family that will suit your child perfectly. You pay the host family directly at the price chosen by them and shown in their offer (exact prices should be communicated to you in writing prior to any arrangement).
During their stay, the child will be completely immersed in the country’s language and culture in ideal conditions, because they’ll be involved in the family’s everyday life. They may also – why not? – take a language course while they’re there; that will be all the easier if the host family lends a hand in organising it.
This is a convenient option, though it is more expensive than the language exchange option also available through Lingoo.
How old does the child have to be?
Language study holidays with a family are possible as soon as children have started learning a foreign language in primary school. But it’s essential that the child is sufficiently mature to embark on an adventure of this kind. You need to take account of their emotional independence, their ability to adapt, their willingness to share and their level of curiosity. It’s down to you – and them – to make a judgement.
However, the monetary aspect of the paid host option and the fact that it will be harder to find a paid host family with a child of the same age as yours means this option is better suited to older, more independent, more experienced children.
Who are Host Families?
Acting as a paid host for students who want to be immersed in the language enables families who so wish to get involved in something that opens them up to the wider world whilst also supplementing their income. Host Families are not all standard, traditional families. Host Families come in many different shapes and sizes: couples with children, single-parent families, retired couples and others. It’s your choice!
How long does a language home stay last?
Language home stays vary considerably in length, and depending on circumstances can last anything from a week to a year.
- Short language home stays generally take place during the school holidays. (Careful: different countries may take their holidays at different times!) This is the best option for younger children.
- Long-term language home stays (a term, half a year or even a whole school year) are becoming more and more popular. These are more suited to older students. A long-term stay requires greater commitment from everyone involved. It also means a lot of sorting out in terms of schooling and will involve the student being enrolled in the foreign education system. It’s essential that the student is emotionally well balanced. But if the conditions are right – your child is a self-confident person who can fit in anywhere and is curious about the world around them - it can be a 100% positive experience for them. As well as being almost completely bilingual and having in-depth experience of another culture, it’s an exceptional opportunity for personal development... Not to mention the impact on their future CV!
How does it work?
Make a selection.
In a few clicks you can find the published offers of Host Families who could fit ideally with your project:
- Go to www.lingoo.eu.
- Click on SEARCH (green tag).
- Fill in the search criteria important for your project.
- Click on OK at the bottom of the page.
You will obtain a multi-results page. To see each offer in detail, click on See this offer.
If you find Host Families that match your search criteria, in order to contact them, you will need to join Lingoo as a Search Family member.
Register.
To register as a Search Family Member:
- Click on Create your account at the bottom of any offer or go directly to the JOIN NOW page.
- Choose Search Family Member.
- Complete the first page of your offer and click on REGISTER at bottom of page.
- This starts the payment process. You can choose to pay directly on line through PayPal, by cheque or by bank transfer. Please click here to see our Prices.
Publish your offer and contact other members.
Once you have paid you will have access to your personal account page where you can manage all of your activities on Lingoo. You will be able to:
- Complete your form to publish your offer.
- Contact members who have an offer that corresponds with your project, either individually using the contact form which you will find at the bottom of each offer or as a group, from the See your selection page, that you can access from your Account Page.
Messages that you will send through the Lingoo secure system will contain a link to your own published offer.
Useful tip!
• Our advanced search gives you a large choice of precise selection criteria.
• Your Search Family account page gives you access to convenient organisation and communication tools.
• To help you make the best possible choice, consult the Host Family evaluations (at the bottom of their offer page). And remember to leave your own evaluation (from your account page) after your child’s stay.
... Then, it’s over to you to finalise your shortlist of offers by sending contact requests to the families you have selected, communicating with those who respond and finally choosing the one that in the end will best suit your requirements and those of your child.
Always ask for and check the References File of the Host Family you have chosen.
Finalise the practical details of the trip with the Host Family.
All you need to do now is to complete, together with the Host Family, your Paid Language Study Holiday Agreement and follow our reservation procedure.
This will guarantee your child a tailor-made stay.
2. Planning your language study holiday
Take your time.
If you’re organising a language study holiday in a Host Family it’s best to start well in advance. Allow between two and four months before the start of the stay. It doesn’t need to be stressful: taking the time to choose your host family and getting to know them is the main factor in ensuring your plans are successful.
Check References.
Once you have selected a family and made contact with them, and before you start organising the trip together, make sure you check their References: this will reassure you as to their good character, their involvement in their local community, and their ability to make a child feel welcome as part of this sort of stay.
Get to know people.
Making contact by e-mail and then by phone or even video conference will give you a chance to get to know the host family better.
It’s also just as important that the family knows about your child and all the important information about them.
Exchanging photos and videos will also give you plenty of useful information. All of these ideas will help to prepare your child for their stay.
| Useful tip! • Once you’ve registered, go to your account page and click on Model Letters, where you will find a set of very useful model letters. • Change the site language before you log-in, to find these model letters in the selected language. |
Don’t leave anything unclear.
The Host Family offers you can view on Lingoo give full details of the services each family is able to offer. Make a decision with your child as to which family would suit them best. Don’t hesitate to discuss any points (regarding the physical arrangements and other areas) that you feel are important with your host family before the start of the stay (such as the cost of leisure activities and outings, what’s allowed, what’s not allowed, and so on).
Complete your paid language study holiday Agreement with the Host Family and follow our compulsory reservation procedure.
The Paid Language Study Holiday Agreement form, available from your account page, summarises all of the important information and finalises the commitments entered into by the two families involved in paid language study holiday. Our reservation procedure is based on the two families completing and signing the agreement form. This procedure increases the security of your holiday plan and financial transaction. Using the Paid Language Study Holiday Agreement procedure is compulsory.
If you need assistance to communicate in a foreign language, find someone to help you.
Even if you don’t feel sufficiently comfortable in the language concerned, don’t skip these preparatory stages.
- For written communication you can use online translation tools such as the one on the site. The translation won’t be perfect – the results can sometimes be quite funny – but will give you the overall gist.
- For oral communication and especially for important information, get help from someone you know. If you don’t know anyone who can help you, your last resort is to ask a professional interpreter. It may make the exchange a bit more expensive than you had planned, but then again it will help to avoid any misunderstandings. The Lingoo Guide lists some helpful addresses.
- Keep it simple! Simply select a family where one of the adults speaks your language.
If you’re not sure, it’s better to hold on and wait till later!
If, at the end of this process, you are still not sure about entrusting your child to the family you have selected, stop there. Review your selection or simply put the project on hold until later.
Practical details about organising your trip.
Are you wondering about the practical details of your child’s travel arrangements?
There’s lots of useful information on Lingoo’s Practical Advice page.
These days, nothing could be simpler than buying a plane or train ticket on the Internet: it just takes a few clicks. But if you’d rather leave this job to a specialist travel agency, the Lingoo Guide again offers you a list of addresses.
| Useful tip! • Do you need help with your child’s travel plans? Have a look at Lingoo’s Practical Advice page. • Communicating and travel arrangements? Follow the Lingoo Guide. • Once your search is over and your project is underway, you can hide your offer (take it off-line) from your account page. This will save you from being contacted unecessarily by other families. |
3. The benefits of Lingoo
Multiple criteria searches
Does your child have a special interest? Do they have an allergy to certain animals? Do you practise a particular religion? Because every child is different, all your personal search criteria are important. With Lingoo, all the odds are stacked in your favour to find the language study holiday that will best suit your child.
Combining a stay abroad with a language course is not just possible – it’s easy!
Would you like your child to take a language course as well as being immersed in the language during their stay?
Nothing could be simpler. All Lingoo offers include this as a search criterion. Click on an offer to find out straightaway whether the family you have selected is able to help you to find and organise a course.
There are a number of options available to you:
- enrolment in a language school for foreign students nearby;
- a home-based course provided by a home-teaching organisation;
- a home-based course provided by a private tutor.
You can also look in the Lingoo Guide for some useful addresses.
At Lingoo, confidentiality is our watchword.
The personal data you share with us are used purely for the purpose for which they have been collected. Lingoo formally undertakes never to reveal your contact details to anyone else. Personal contact details for our subscribers are never shown on the offers displayed online. Neither visitors nor other Subscribers can see your contact details. Our server anonymously redirects any messages sent to you. As a result, you don’t need to reveal your identity unless you decide to answer to start a dialogue.
Click here to find out more.
You’ll never have a better chance of knowing your partner family than when you choose it yourself on Lingoo.
Your children’s safety lies at the heart of our approach. Families looking for a partner Host Family can be reassured that the people they want to get in touch with have been through an identification and security procedure as part of the registration process. This is an essential step in our security process and involves creating a detailed References File. There’s trust on both sides, because only subscriber members can contact each other.
| Useful tip! The Host Family evaluation system is another way Lingoo improves safety |
With Lingoo, safety means peace of mind.
Our compulsory reservation procedure based on the two families completing and signing a Paid Language Study Holiday Agreement form, increases the security of your holiday plan and financial transaction.
For Lingoo, the family is everything.
Take proper care over arranging your child’s stay yourself and you’ll ensure that they are welcomed as a member of the family. Unlike travelling in a group, your child will meet their host family’s friends and acquaintances and will live like a local. Host families and their young guests often build solid relationships that last a long time. Staying in a Lingoo Host Family is about learning, but it’s also a great way of making new friends and opening up to the wider world.
Register.
We are the only site of its kind on the market. Register on our site (which is available in each of the six main European languages) and open the door to languages for your children. View our offers, and find out about the families who’d like to welcome your children. Find a partner family to organise a language exchange. More questions? New user?
Click here to find out more about the exclusive benefits Lingoo offers.
