If you are new to learning English or if you have young children that are wanting to improve their English, then it’s a good choice to consider learning English in a traditional Homestay in England.  Your young students will be able to practise their English most mornings in a fun controlled and very safe environment.  This will be in the home of an English Tutor who has been inspected and visited by our Head Office and who has many years of experience in teaching English to foreign learners, more particularly young learners

We know that it will be a very worrying time for all parents sending their children away, not only from the family circle but to a foreign country.  Everything will be strange and different, but this is where the carefully selected Homestay Tutor will work for them.    

Inspected and known to the Agency

Before any Tutor is allowed to work for an Agency, especially one who accepted Young Learners, they will have been inspected and vetted by the Head Office.  This will also include asking for references and a Police Check.  Once the Office has all of this information then a Home Visit is made, and time will be spent interviewing the tutor; double checking qualifications and inspecting the house including the bedroom where the student will sleep.  We like to think that our Tutors have been vetted not only for their experience but also for the fact that they are indeed offering a “home away from home” experience combined with learning the English language.

Just one student in the house allows for more attention on the Young Learner

When young learners attend a traditional Language School or Summer Campus they are usually living in Hostels or with a host family who also has other students.  This means that the one-to-one experience and care can be diluted.  Never so with a Homestay programme because the student is either the only one there, so lots of care and attention given to them by the teacher, or they have the option of bringing a friend which adds confidence to both young learners

Home away from Home

Many parents will be worried sending their child away to a foreign country for the first time and this way is a more safe and controlled way of doing so.  Once they are on the flight or boat to the UK, they can be met by one of the trusted Couriers and taken directly to the Homestay Tutor.  So this means that no worrying about getting lost; taking public transport or just not knowing where to start.  The student is collected; taken safely to the tutor’s house and everyone can relax.  It’s a very reassuring way to being an English Language Programme and indeed, it is very much like going to another member of the family.

Lessons can be constructed around the interests of the young learner

It is widely known that the best way to engage with young students is to ask them about their interests and hobbies and then take it from there.  Many tutors take the student out on Project Work around something they are interested in and get them to make notes or find out answers to discuss the next time they have lessons.   This is a stealth way of teaching English because the student is absorbed in something they can identify with and really enjoy and it means they quickly become relaxed.  Combining interests with English lessons is a known winner, every time

Travelling along is a path to independence, but staying with the Tutor is a good halfway house

We all know that travelling is good for the soul and gives us confidence as well as insight into other countries and their cultures.  When one travels away from the family unit, the person, or in this case the young learner must become independent and finds out things must quicker than if he or she was travelling with their parents.   So, this is another thing to note.  On a personal level, there is a lot of personal development made as well as the improvement in the learning of the new language

English Tutors have more time to spend with the student on an individual basis

Yes, Tutors can quickly identify the needs and requirements of a Homestay student.  This is completely different to teaching English to a group of students there you would have to work on a syllabus and hope that all of the students can keep up.  If they can’t, it becomes difficult with the few who are left behind.  This never happens on a Homestay English programme course because all lessons are at the pace of the Young Learner and are adapted daily.  There should never be a time when the student tis left behind or not knowing what has been said, because on a one to one basis, the teacher will know exactly what the problems are and steps in very quickly to rectify them.

Social Evenings are fun, and English is still being spoken

Even though lessons may be over for the day on a formal way, all meals are spent with the English family.  This means that you are going to have to use your new found words over dinner and breakfast.   After dinner you can usually expect to watch a film with the family – in English of course – and this means a chance to learn new words.  It’s a good idea to have the subtitles on of your own mother tongue to help you out when there are new words you don’t recognise.   Playing English word games such as Scrabble or Pictionary are great “ice breakers” but also allow you to learn new words in a fun and pleasant way

How will the experience affect the young learner?

All in all, the Young Learner will return home a more confident and independent person than the one who left.  Two weeks away from the family environment means they would have had to think for themselves; sorted out their own problems; made themselves understood in a different language; found out new games and ways to communicate and made new and often life long friends.   Most Young Learners who take the Homestay Programme English Courses return for another period of time either later in the same year or the following year.  This means that they can continue to made rapid improvement in their English language as well as form bonds with their tutor and family and also gain a confidence which they would not have got had they stayed at home and holidayed with the family in their own county.    So if you have a young learner who is dying to learn the English language but lacks a bit of confidence, then consider our English Homestay Programme and see what a difference it makes.

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