More and more international students are choosing to study in high schools in Canada. Minor children go abroad alone to study and live in a foreign country. It is a good mental challenge, but it can be a difficult one. Because young international students have less experience living on their own, homestays have become the first choice for many parents of young international students.
What is a host family for international students?
Host family is a local family that provides long-term food and lodging services for international students. Homestay services are actually paid services.Through the agreement between the two parties (the host family and the parents/student), the host family helps to take care of the young students (and even the university students), and provides services to them, such as daily meals. The parents of the students pay a certain fee to the host family every month. The host family service is both a business and a cultural exchange activity.
Why are homestays popular with international students in Canada?
Overall, staying at a homestay is actually a pretty good choice. The benefits of living with a host family are:
- Convenience. Since homestay families provide all three meals, international students do not have to worry about buying and preparing food.
- There are many opportunities to learn and experience the lifestyle, culture and eating habits of local Canadians.
- They provide a good environment for learning English. After arriving in Canada, there are many ways to improve your English.Choosing to live in an English-speaking homestay is a very good choice. Students can improve their English quickly, and the host family can help them adapt to Canadian culture and customs more smoothly.
Host families provide more learning opportunities outside of school. Both the on-campus and off-campus experiences guarantee an exciting new chapter in the lives of international students.
How should international students find host families?
In addition to some boarding schools where living in dormitories is mandatory, most day schools, along with professionally recognized study abroad consulting agencies like us at UtoCanada are approved and recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Education to provide homestay application services.
If you are in China, you can only choose a homestay through an overseas study agency. It is best to ask these agents to recommend eight or nine homestay families to choose from. Then, you can decide after detailed deliberation and discussion. Rank the options according to your personal preferences. Wait until the visa comes and make a reservation for your first choice. If your first choice is gone, quickly go for your second choice.
How should international students in Canada choose a homestay?
Generally speaking, families who want to provide homestay services for international students often pass a series of inspections, and through a rather rigorous selection, they can then be authorized as official homestay families by relevant institutions. The most basic screening conditions include the location of the host family – based on the distance between the school and public transportation, and the total drivable distance from the home; the size of the home and the accessible areas; whether there are sufficient living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom facilities; the size of the bedroom available; whether there are pets or toxic substances in the home; the host’s ethnic and professional background, family status and even their hobbies, etc.
However, to be cautious, it is best to pay attention to the following:
First of all, there has to be photo evidence to prove a truth! If there are no photos shown, ask the host family to provide them!
Second, check the distance between the homestay and your school.
Not a morning person? Which young person doesn’t like to stay in bed for as long as possible? In addition to the relentless winter in Toronto, the commuting distance to school should be the first thing you consider when sorting your homestay.
Third, consider your three meals.
Who will make breakfast, lunch and dinner? Do you usually eat Western food or Chinese food at home? According to your personal preferences, go through your list of choices again.
Fourth, learn about the family members.
these people will be your new family members who you will be with day and night. At this point, we can’t really tell you what kind of family structure is best.
Finally, see if there are any other requirements/rules made by the host family.
For example, are there any restrictions or limits on thing like showering time, curfews and/or lights out?
International students are likely to have misunderstandings about host families
Myth #1: Canada’s homestays are located in a large house in the suburbs, with a yard of grass in front of the house and a swimming pool in the back, away from the city and the crowd.
The truth: While, it is true that Canada has a large area and a small population, and people prefer to move to the suburbs after starting a family, away from the noisy city center, there are also many host families who choose to provide homestay for students in an apartment close to the city centre. Perhaps students will find the apartment too small and not having enough room for daily activities, but for a big city like Toronto, the apartments near the city centre are fully equipped. There are usually gyms, swimming pools and outdoor picnic areas. In addition, many apartments are located along the bus and subway lines. In Canada, where there is almost constant snowfall, we must acknowledge the pain of moving around outdoors in the wintertime.
Myth #2: Since you have decided to come to Canada, you should choose a white-local host family.
Many may consider the opportunity for the students to practice their English and integration into Canadian culture, so a lot of families would choose local white host families for their children to stay with. This idea is understandable, but the actual situation may not be as ideal as parents think. Living in a typical foreign family, the host has to go out to work during the day, and usually only provides morning and evening meals. Children need to prepare their school lunch (usually a sandwich) the night before. In comparison, Chinese homestay families can provide food that the children’s "Chinese stomachs" are adapted to.
At the same time, Canadians value their personal time. Everyone usually has his or her own activity after dinner. Don't be surprised. Maybe "hello" and "goodbye" will be the only communication between you and your host each day. On the contrary, host families consisting of immigrants from Europe or other countries tend to be more enthusiastic and interested in learning about who the guests are, especially since you come from a foreign country too.
Myth #3: The host family becomes the parents of the children abroad.
As mentioned above, many students are young and they go abroad for the first time. Because parents cannot accompany them, they will always hold high expectations of homestay hosts. If they could guide the host family and teach them how to take care of their children, they would! Canadians are often more independent, so these families’ own children are almost never spoiled. Most children are told to clean their own room and wash their own dishes. Do Chinese children lack these independent survival skills because they are used to be being under lots of love and care?
To sum up:
More and more parents realize that when their children go study abroad in Canada, the knowledge "inside the school" is obviously the focus, but the cultural experience "outside the school" and acquired English skills are also worth paying attention to. Therefore, avoid believing in the three myths mentioned above. If your find the right host family, living in a homestay can definitely be beneficial to your experience studying in Canada.
