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Many exchange students and international interns choose to use a homestay for as their student accommodations for economic reasons. They can save a lot of money by staying with a host family instead of an apartment or hotel.

However, there are even more advantages to staying with a host family during a study-abroad or foreign internship. Here are some of our favorite benefits that exchange students enjoy when they choose to live with a host family.

Cultural Immersion

It’s normal to be nervous or anxious when arriving in a foreign country for a long stay. Many students fear that customs and cultural expectations will take them by surprise. They fear giving offense or being offended themselves. It’s a lot to take in, and they don’t want to learn things the hard way.

The homestay is the exchange student’s “safe zone” where they can become acclimated to the culture and their new surroundings with the help of a local ally. They can ask the host family tough questions, make mistakes without serious consequences, and prepare themselves to thrive in their new surroundings.

Language Immersion

Many international students and interns set a goal for themselves to improve their English skills during a study-abroad or internship in the U.S. However, if they choose to share an apartment with another student from their home country, undermines their goal. For convenience’ sake, they will speak their native language around each other.

Living with a host family that doesn’t speak their native language forces an exchange student to use their English skills. By necessity, they improve rapidly. Living with a native English speaker is one of the fastest ways a foreign student or intern can improve their language skills.

A Warm Welcome

Customs and language barriers aren’t the only challenges foreign students and interns face. Many of them wonder how they will be welcomed into this new country. Will Americans be hostile to foreigners and their culture?

Homestay hosts love meeting and helping people from other countries. Foreign students can expect a warm welcome and a helping hand from their host families. Many of them are travelers themselves, eager to make meaningful connections.

Exchange students and foreign interns frequently feel like a part of the host family by the end of their homestay, having formed lifelong friendships.

Local Support

Friendship aside, it’s hard to overstate the advantage of having a local ally when it comes to getting situated and building a routine in a foreign country.

The homestay host can help a foreign exchange student or intern learn to navigate the city, including public transportation schedules and fares or the quickest car and bike routes.

He or she can show the exchange student favorite bars, restaurants, coffee shops, bookstores, art galleries, sports courts, parks, and other local places of interest around town that might not be in guidebooks.

The host may even introduce the exchange student to his or her friend group, expanding the student’s network of local allies and friendships.