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. Often the homestay hosts are mature couples with young or grown children and have an additional room to spare.
Depending on the age and what type of schooling or business the homestay student is taking, they may wish to stay for several months, or in some cases for several years.
There are some things to keep in mind when you are considering becoming a homestay host and letting out a room in your home to someone you don't know. The homestay may be young and naive but the host can be naive as well and may find the inherent costs in hosting don't always allow for the amount of additional income that they had planned on.
Facing the Challenges
Be sure that you have a good line of communication. Because of the likely language barrier, this could be one of the biggest challenges you could be facing. Do not speak to them as you would a native language speaker, keep it simple and easy to understand by avoiding bigger words. If the student's language skills are exceptionally poor, sometimes it helps for the first while to write down your communication, since it is usually more difficult to speak a language than to read it.
There should be some rules that work to protect both student, and host. The host should discuss with the homestay student some basic house rules while interviewing them and their legal guardian if necessary, so that everyone understands the guidelines. Rules should be explained by an interpreter if the language barriers are more severe.
Rules that are not followed should have clear set consequences, these need to be addressed. When a situation occurs where a student is clearly high on drugs, what are the consequences? When these rules are clearly stipulated and agreed upon by the homestay and if necessary, their guardian, then evicting them if necessary will be easier.
Do you Value Privacy?
Hosting a student can often mean that you will loose some level of privacy. You will need to accommodate for this as students will often want to practice their English they have just learned in school. You may also need to compromise when you want guests or dates over or having a party, and even on what TV programs that you watch in the living room. When you include the homestay in some of these social situations, they often have less of a problem with it.
If you were planning on going on vacation or just getting out of town for the weekend you may have a bit of a dilemma. 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 have a choice to invite the student to join you or work around it.
These are not the only concerns in this situation. It will take a lot of extra time to take care of the homestay, including cleaning and cooking and other interactions like conversing, this could take precious time away from your children or other family. You can counter this by including your children in your interactions with your homestay.
Depending on the age and what type of schooling or business the homestay student is taking, they may wish to stay for several months, or in some cases for several years.
There are some things to keep in mind when you are considering becoming a homestay host and letting out a room in your home to someone you don't know. The homestay may be young and naive but the host can be naive as well and may find the inherent costs in hosting don't always allow for the amount of additional income that they had planned on.
Facing the Challenges
Be sure that you have a good line of communication. Because of the likely language barrier, this could be one of the biggest challenges you could be facing. Do not speak to them as you would a native language speaker, keep it simple and easy to understand by avoiding bigger words. If the student's language skills are exceptionally poor, sometimes it helps for the first while to write down your communication, since it is usually more difficult to speak a language than to read it.
There should be some rules that work to protect both student, and host. The host should discuss with the homestay student some basic house rules while interviewing them and their legal guardian if necessary, so that everyone understands the guidelines. Rules should be explained by an interpreter if the language barriers are more severe.
Rules that are not followed should have clear set consequences, these need to be addressed. When a situation occurs where a student is clearly high on drugs, what are the consequences? When these rules are clearly stipulated and agreed upon by the homestay and if necessary, their guardian, then evicting them if necessary will be easier.
Do you Value Privacy?
Hosting a student can often mean that you will loose some level of privacy. You will need to accommodate for this as students will often want to practice their English they have just learned in school. You may also need to compromise when you want guests or dates over or having a party, and even on what TV programs that you watch in the living room. When you include the homestay in some of these social situations, they often have less of a problem with it.
If you were planning on going on vacation or just getting out of town for the weekend you may have a bit of a dilemma. 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 have a choice to invite the student to join you or work around it.
These are not the only concerns in this situation. It will take a lot of extra time to take care of the homestay, including cleaning and cooking and other interactions like conversing, this could take precious time away from your children or other family. You can counter this by including your children in your interactions with your homestay.
About the Author:
Visit New Westminster homes for sale to learn more about making a good home purchase. If you wish to get more information, you can check the real estate specialist at www.toddconner.com.
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