Erica De Silva
January 22, 2024
Homestays are a wonderful alternative to conventional housing. This is especially true for exchange students. While apartments, hotels, and Airbnb offer a place to stay, they lack the essential qualities to turn a house into a home. Ultimately, homestays offer a warm social and cultural experience for exchange students, effectively easing their transition.
In truth, many exchange students don’t know how to navigate their new surroundings. They are adjusting to new foods, cultural norms, and so much more. Therefore, homestays give exchange students access to a supportive host family during a time of need.
This article will dig into how homestays support exchange students to navigate their college experience. Let’s take a closer look!
What Is a Homestay?
A homestay is an affordable housing option for travelers and students who are eager to meet new people. By paying a nominal fee, guests can live with a local family for a specified amount of time. This gives them an opportunity to experience a new culture in a more authentic way.
Potential host families and potential guests can get to know one another before deciding on living together. If both sides feel compelled, they will move forward with the process.
While homestay programs have been around for decades, they have become increasingly popular in recent years.
Breaking Down the Benefits of Homestay
There are many reasons for exchange students to choose a homestay over other forms of accommodation. Homestays create opportunities for connection and allow exchange students to immerse themselves in a new culture.
By choosing to live with a local family, you gain access to resources that you couldn’t find by yourself. Here are a few of the many benefits of homestay.
Live Comfortably at an Affordable Rate
The life of a college student can be very expensive. Books, food, housing, and other resources can make it difficult to access everything you need. Thankfully, homestays are often much cheaper than other housing options.
Housing costs, particularly in the United States, are skyrocketing. If your school is in a city, affordable housing can feel almost impossible. Homestays offer a comfortable, spacious space for students and travelers. This includes shared living spaces, unlike most small dorm rooms or studio apartments.
For exchange students who want to save money and still have a nice place to live, a homestay is likely for you.
Make New Friends Quickly
Homestay hosts love new people. That’s why they choose to do what they do. When an exchange student arrives at a homestay, hosts are quick to welcome them. Exchange students usually arrive both nervous and excited, and a great host knows exactly how to make a new guest feel safe and secure.
When guests feel welcomed, it becomes easy to relax and connect. Many homestay guests enjoy sharing meals, stories, and talents with one another.
Learn to Live Like a Local
Living with locals gives you inside access to a whole new world. Every town or city has its own special quirks. By living with a host family, you will get a glimpse of places that other students will never see.
As a local, you will have insider knowledge about the best restaurants, grocery stores, bars, bookstores, markets, and so much more. Possibilities are endless when you have a host family leading the way.
Become a Part of the Neighborhood
Staying with a local family can open the door to even more friendly connections. By accompanying your host family on outings, you can meet more people and dig even deeper into the culture. You never know which one of these connections will become a lifelong friendship.
Learn and Grow as a Person
Meeting new people from new places can open your mind. Traveling offers a wonderful opportunity to break through barriers and see the world more clearly.
By learning about new people, cultural customs, and habits, you also learn about yourself. Reading a book or online article will never live up to the real thing. By putting yourself out there and exploring a new culture, you can grow and mature as a person.
Master a New Language
Learning a new language can be extremely difficult. Some people have more trouble doing so than others. The best way to master a new language is to immerse yourself in it.
Overall, living with a host family gives you a chance to practice on a daily basis. Many host families are eager to become more fluent in your language as well. Thus creating a fun environment where everyone gets to learn something new.
StudentRoomStay: Find Your Host Family Today
Are you looking for a homestay? Do you need help finding a host family? StudentRoomStay is here for you!
At StudentRoomStay, our mission is to help students and travelers find a host family that meets their needs. With many host families to choose from, we are confident that we can help you find your match. At StudentRoomStay, we also help people with group placements and other forms of off-campus housing.
Let StudentRoomStay help you find your home away from home. Explore our homestay options and find a host family today!
