Does anyone know a good program that my family can participate in to host a foreign exchange student? We would like to host a student from a Spanish speaking country, who also knows some English, because i know a good bit of Spanish. Thanks!
2006-07-16 08:27:04 · 3 answers · asked by Diego 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Studying Abroad
An organization called AFS is reputable and places students from other countries in communities around the world. I worked closely with them as a high school principal, and they were always professional and helpful in placing foreign students in our community. We had up to eight a year from different countries. It was always a rich cultural experience for us as well as for the foreign students.
I hope this helps.
2006-07-16 09:02:21 · answer #1 · answered by No one 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We tried to host a student this year, but it was a horrid experience for our family!!! Our student was through AFS and we heard of her after she was kicked out of another host family's home. It was made to sound as if the problem was with the first host family. We took her in, as we have always wanted to host and the timing seemed right for many reasons.
The first month was pretty good, then the problems started. As part of the problem in her first home was drugs/alcohol, (AFS said it was a big misunderstanding) we asked her to sign an agreement she would not drink while living with us (we do not drink at all). AFS seemed excited that she would be living in a strict, caring environment. Once the problems started, we were made to feel unreasonable. It is apparently too much to ask that students follow the rules of the home they live in, let alone forgo drinking for their stay in the US (which, by the way, is ILLEGAL, as they are underage).
After 3 months, we asked AFS to find another host family for her. Then my friends in the community started asking us what had happened... turns out AFS blamed US as being the problem. They said we were too strict, unreasonable and never let her out of the house (she was NEVER home... to the point we would worry as we wouldn't see her for 2 or 3 days and have NO idea where she was).
We had NO support from AFS. We were villified in the community, as was the previous host family in their community. There are a lot of good exchange students out there, but there are also a lot who are just here to party it up. Because of our experience, we will never host again ~ it was that bad an experience.
My advice: carefully look into the program you are considering. Ask for the names of previous host families. Contact the host families and ask them how the problems were handled. There are going to be problems. Exchange students are teenagers. Your family dynamics will change with another person in the house. The teen needs support, but the host family also needs to be backed up in the case of a teen who will not live by your rules!
2006-07-19 06:36:43 · answer #2 · answered by momto2 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i ahve a friend that is trying to place french kids
2006-07-16 08:30:30 · answer #3 · answered by leopardgirl225 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋