Fully Funded Cultural Homestay in China

This experience was really an incredible opportunity. I lived with a Beijing family with friendly kids who were keen to teach me lots about the culture. My family also took me on holiday with them around China. I’ve learned so much over 6 weeks and eaten things I never knew you could eat! I would recommend participants to definitely choose their host family carefully, and not just go with their first family if they have doubts about being happy.

I lived with a family in Beijing who had a little 4 year old girl. My family were brilliant - they were welcoming, down-to-earth and made an effort to take me to restaurants, concerts and cultural sites. During the week I would read English books to the child, teach her maths and help her practice piano; when this was done we would play for the rest of the day. My local coordinator was Nancy and she was really helpful in addressing any issues I had.

Twice a week I would attend Mandarin classes. The language course was one of the best parts of the experience and I highly recommend it. As well as being fun and well-taught, the language course gives you an opportunity to meet other au pairs and is a fantastic boost to your CV. I’d like to continue to learn Mandarin back at home as I enjoyed it that much.

Once a week, on my day off, I would meet up with the other au pairs and we would spend the day doing a cultural activity together, like visiting a temple or going to an art gallery. This too was one of the best parts of the trip; I made some fantastic friends and after the culture shock of living in China it’s always good to be able to talk in English and eat some Western food together! We mostly came from the same university so we had lots in common already.

I was placed in Beijing this summer in a lovely host family, with Ricky (aged 6) as the only child. His English was very good, and so the teaching aspect was not too difficult in terms of planning - lots of reading, drawing (such as science, which he has a big interest in), watching English documentaries and writing.

The host family were extremely welcoming, taking me to lots of lovely restaurants, as well as trips to the theatre, theme park and the Great Wall. They were also very good with the schedule, sticking to the hours always, which I have heard is not the case for all au pairs (some other lopair summer educare participants were working up to 50 hours a week, rather than the advertised 35 hours).

The mandarin lessons were very useful, and also a great way to meet other au pairs, including those from other agencies rather than just lopair. This allowed us to meet up on Sunday’s too (most of our days off) to visit attractions. The TESOL course was also very useful for the programme, and was easy to complete whilst on the exchange itself.

I had two issues with the programme. Firstly, the host child was much less obedient than I would expect for a 6 year old - I have dealt with many 6 year olds in England before teaching reading etc., and I’ve never had them straight up refuse to do activities and throw so many tantrums. From what I have heard, this is the case for quite a few families, so I guess it is just a difference in culture - by the end of the program, I was mostly able to control these issues by finding ways around them (such as getting him to watch a science video and then draw an annotated diagram of an experiment.

Secondly, I found that the support at lopair varies hugely depending on the staff member - some were extremely useful, such as the Uk coordinator Hannah in helping with medical forms and submitting my application. When I wanted to ask about extending insurance, on the other hand, I never got a final reply with a price so had to go elsewhere - this was for the best, given I found out I hadn’t even been insured by lopair for the first couple of days! The visa process could have also been much better - luckily I had booked a slot at the London visa centre, as this has to be done weeks in advance - I only received my documents from lopair around 2 days before this slot, and if I hadn’t booked this slot and did so when I got the documents I don’t think I would have been able to make the trip.

I spent six weeks in Shenzhen in a family with two boys (4 and 5 years old). The tuition part of the program was very challenging, as the kids are still small and learning basic things even in their own language. For anyone matching with a family with small children, my best tip is that communication with the parents is key - setting down expectations, updating on progress, and creating a structure beyond just play, for teaching them English.
Overall, I had an amazing time. I got to experience the main attractions and life in ShenZhen, as well as the opportunity to go to HuiZhou and Guangzhou with the family. They treated me very well and I was always made to feel comfortable in their home. The kids were naughty at times, but overall it was a delight to be able to work with them and experience their life.
Lopair was excellent throughout the process, and the extra Chinese classes that the program includes were very beneficial. I was in a class of only two students, so we got to learn a lot of extra vocabulary that is used on the daily, which greatly improved my communication and speaking skills in Chinese.
I would definitely recommend anyone looking for a cultural immersion opportunity to apply to this program. The terms are incredible, and the experience you can gain is very valuable. I went on this trip to get a taste of China before I have to come here to study for a full year, and I can honestly say I can't wait to come back! This is the perfect program for anyone looking to get into Chinese/exploring Chinese culture, as well as for someone who has already studied Chinese and wants a more daily-life immersion into family lifestyle and culture.

I had an absolutely brilliant time in Beijing. I was placed with a lovely family with two boys, Jason and Carson (the former was 9 years old, and the latter was 7). The host mother I was placed with always made sure that I was comfortable and not being overworked and helped me hugely with my Mandarin as well as showing me around the city. We also took a short holiday with some friends of the family to visit the Shandong province. We explored Qufu before heading to Tai'an to hike up Mountain Tai and stay over night in order to watch the sun rise the next morning. Jason and Carson were a pleasure to teach and luckily already spoke very good English. It was easy to communicate with them as a result.

I au paired for 6 weeks during Summer 2018 in Shenzhen. My host family has two children (a boy, 11; a girl, 4) and live in a beautiful complex in the OCT district in Shenzhen. I had a really positive experience with the family, playing with the children while speaking to them in English and building up their fluency in an everyday context. Lopair were brilliant throughout the whole process. I found the application process to be quick and they were able to answer any questions I had from start to finish. Moreover they were supportive while I interviewed with families, providing advice and their own opinion. They were very efficient when booking transport to and from Shenzhen. Moreover the two days I spent in Hangzhou before starting the programme were great fun. It was super helpful to meet the team and other au pairs as it put you in contact with people that were in the same boat, people you could share tips and the occasional complaint with! While in Shenzhen I had two mornings of Mandarin class a week. I was in a class of two and this meant that we were able to fit in lots of practice and have a lot of fun too. Overall I would absolutely recommend this experience to anyone interested in China, and especially if you are learning Chinese it is a fantastic opportunity to be immersed in a Chinese speaking environment and your listening and speaking skills will benefit massively. Thank you Lopair.

This has been my first time traveling anywhere outside of my country so this experience has been very new and exciting! The Lopair staff have been very accommodating and were very helpful with the process of getting ready to leave for the trip as well as upon my arrival!

I thought that learning the language would be much more difficult but since you are immersed in the culture and everyone speaks the language you pick it up quite quickly!

You get to meet a lot of new people from different countries as well as some from your own! On the day that we arrived in China, I met someone that lives in the same city as I do as well as goes to the same college and is in the same program as me! But we only met the day we got off the plane in China!

This is an amazing program and has been such a great experience! I would highly recommend this program to anyone who loves adventures and working with children!!

My time in China was relatively short compared to other Lopair's I met (due to another commitment), and so the main thing I'd change about the experience is that it were longer! Obviously, this is not any fault of Lopair's and I am very much grateful for having had such an opportunity. I found every one of Lopair's staff extremely welcoming and friendly, as was the case for almost every person I met in China. The program was, overall, very fair in terms of the workload-life balance, and when you eventually do become more like a sibling of the children, it doesn't feel too taxing at all. I also found the Mandarin classes absolutely excellent - the content was relevant and helpful, and my teacher (Linda) was exceptional.

Overall, I found the experience insightful, memorable, and thoroughly enjoyable.