Program Reviews

I will start off by giving a shout out to Allison Yates, my homestay coordinator. She made this all happen for me in a matter of weeks. I'm eternally grateful for her patience, hard work and expertise! Since I was a pre-teenager, I'd wanted to live and teach in France. I learned about the culture and learned French, never having the opportunity to stay more than 1 week in Paris. To say the least, Southwestern France is incredibly different from Paris. While I can appreciate Paris for it's amazing arts and culture, living in Tarbes was beyond worthwhile as my French skills were used every day to do just about everything! I loved the fact that not many people spoke fluent English like in Paris. I grew to love my host family, they truly became my family away from family. I spent my weekdays teaching English and my weekends traveling around Southwestern France. This trip was something that I'd wanted for a very long time! As a former classroom teacher, I solidified my teaching skills and expanded my cultural perspective. Depending on where you live in France, you should have a basic grasp of the language so that you can be somewhat independent when you're on your own. The French will appreciate any effort that you make, trust me. Greenheart found a family that would be able to accomodate my dairy allergy and this felt like a miracle in a country like France where so many staple foods are dairy products. I really can't speak highly enough of the program! It's a great deal for the experience that you get.

Hello, Viewer! I shall try to keep this short and sweet...at least to the best of my ability.
So Im Noah, 16 years old, and a Junior in High School. I completed a two week language-camp in Arcachon, France. I was stuck with one year of French in school after the instructor retired and I was eager to get credit for a second. My Father had been encouraging me to go through with this program for a different reason, however: for a nice experience. He was very supportive and I was nervous and doubtful beyond belief. I was worrying about the smallest details in making the decision to go or not, then I decided to "jump off the bridge and build the plane on the way down," as it were. I knew that, without all those tiny stressors I was thinking about, an experience such as this was bound to be fun and fruitful all around.
So, I told my dad I'd do it; I was still nervous, and still anxious, but I found a comfort in knowing the decision was irrevocable. In the couple months I had before Summer, I realized how trivial the little problems were; TSA trouble, Airport maneuvering, Family introduction. Ha, I laugh at myself now.
I got to France and the family was so welcoming. Greenheart Travel did in amazing job in placing me with respect to my preferences. In Arcachon, I'd say it was about 90% of the students that took the train to school along with me (my host mother sorted the ticket out and drove us to the station most mornings. A few times one of her friends, also hosting a fellow student, picked us up). It was EXTREMELY FUN! I felt like a French local (we even sneaked into first class once, but it wasn't even a big deal).
The other students there were extremely friendly as well, and most of them spoke strong English too! And as for the city, it was so clean and nice, and it seems all the parents were more than happy to cooperate in pick-up times for us, as some days we wanted to stay a little later.
It was sad leaving, but I still keep in touch with my host family, and all the many friends I made. We have agreed to meet in the future again; the only problem is they are all kind of close to each other in Europe and I am on the furthest side of the US!
I strongly recommend going through with the program. PLEASE contact me if your iffy or doubtful, or just want to talk about the program. My email is torresnoah@gmail.com.
I am SOOOO happy I took the risk AND I really hope you do too!!!!!!

I was able to teach on the North Eastern side of Italy, about 45 minutes from Venice, and it was amazing. The teachers I worked with were very excited to utilize the skills I have and I found that I ended up learning a lot more than I ever thought I would! I taught primary, middle and high school Science, English, Media, and History 18 hours a week. The students were all very interested in learning English and it was a great opportunity to learn a lot about Italian culture. The host family I stayed with were incredibly welcoming, encouraged me to travel by train on my days off, took me to see different cities and famous sights around that area, and I was able to try numerous delicious dishes from all over Italy.

As someone who has traveled a fair amount, I felt prepared to step out of my comfort zone and really embrace Italian life, and my host family encouraged me to cook American meals and share American culture with them. The weekend before halloween, we carved pumpkins, had an American dinner, and also made pumpkin gnocchi!

SavannahMcDermott was an incredible asset for this program and was always timely in responding to emails and answering any questions I had. She was a great person to work with and I felt very prepared once I arrived in Italy because of all the behind the scenes work Savannah did. Thanks Savannah!

I lived in San Jose de la Mariquina, a small town near Valdivia, and taught English at a local school for 3 months in 2018 (April-July). The program was initially arranged through Greenheart, but once I arrived in Chile, all of the support was handled through their Chilean partner organization, Experiment. Everything went smoothly and the folks from Experiment were friendly and readily available via email. I had no formal classroom teaching experience beforehand, but the week-long orientation at the start of the program helped me feel prepared. I worked in a school that serves students of all ages, from per-K through high school, so each day was different and I was definitely never bored. The kids were adorable and excited to have me in their school.

I was lucky to be placed with an awesome host family and had a great time living in my small community. There was another American teacher in my town and we frequented the handful of cafes and bars together after school and made a band of Chilean friends. The closest big city, Valdivia, was a 1 hour bus ride away, so having a social life really depended on integrating with the locals—which ended up being great because it forced me to improve my Spanish. I think the key to this program is having an open mind and being flexible, because you could really end up anywhere in the country, from a small town to a big city, and with any type of family. Chile is huge, and although I managed to take a good number of weekend trips, I feel like I only scratched the surface in getting to know the country. I imagine others will have an entirely different experience from me depending on their placements!

I'd say the one downside of this program is the cost. You earn a small stipend while teaching, but it is not nearly enough to replace initial program fee. If you are interested in traveling on the weekends, it is essential to come with extra savings. That being said, I wouldn't trade my experience for anything. But if earning money is a priority for you, this program probably isn't a fit.

The summer program was beyond amazing! I was able to experience a new culture, make new friends, and on top of that teach in a wonderful school. I felt prepared going into my placement and was super lucky to get to stay with my orientation group for the length of my stay in Thailand. Teaching at an international school was definitely not what I had in mind when I pictured going to Thailand, but my time there was great! I LOVED my school, my kids, and the people I worked with. My small group from orientation had a blast traveling together and making new friends during our stay!

Greenheart Travel completely has my heart! My experience in Dunkerque, France with their Teach English in a Homestay program was absolutely 100% perfect. I now have lifelong friends in France-the family I stayed with really does feel like my own family now. I was able to travel to other countries with them-Great Britain-and by myself-Belgium. We had tons of fun exploring together and MOST IMPORTANTLY I feel like I really know the local lifestyle of how it really is to live in France. My favorite memory was hiking along the seaside cliffs at Cap Blanc Nez. My biggest tip would be to always say YES to doing activities with your family and if you leave in the fall to bring layers to wear!

So my son and I came up with a crazy idea for him to go overseas for one semester of senior year in high school. we had no information or contacts to achive this and our school did not either. LUCKILY, we found this program online. Some of the other programs we found we not very well run and did not communicate very well with us and our questions. As a father, I had lots of questions before making a big decision like this. we were connected Hope Pavich as our program coordinator and she literally did everything for us. Without Hope we would not have been able to pull this complicated process out. she concucted several interviews with not only my son, but me as well to make sure she knew our collective goals prior to selecting a program and host family for us. I was incredibly impressed that this program also included a language online course prior to leaving. Hope also went through common pitfalls and what to watch out for prior to departure.
Johnny really enjoyed the orientation week in Netherlands where he was with 150 other exchange program kids prior to departing to their host families. Lastly, Hope nailed the host family for Johnny. Johnny loves his host family and vice versa. They have family dinners, make him do the dishes and otherwise treat him like one of their own. To date this has been the best experience of Johnny's life and I am so thrilled we met Hope and found this program.
As you can tell, it has my highest regards and recommendations. John Robinson

I will be honest and say I am the queen of making impulsive decisions. Some I regret and some I am very proud of. I gave up a lot once I heard the great news of being accepted to the Greenheart Travel Teach in a Homestay program. I moved out of my pricey apartment in Venice, CA, and moved in with my parents to save money and not pay rent while I was traveling.

I believe about a month before departure was when I was placed with a beautiful family of four in Mancha Real, Spain. A place I had never even heard of before. It is a very small rural town in Andalusia. No research I had done did this place justice. So I thought to myself, "I will just have to see for myself when I arrive."

The next step was to quit my 8-5. Once everything started to feel more real, I was freaking out a little bit but knew I was doing something that would be so enriching to both myself and the family. I gave up a lot for something that was such a short amount of time, and wished I had done the program for longer. However, being there and completing the program allowed me to plan out an extra month of personal travel as well. Within the month that I was there, I created memories that will last a lifetime. I was fortunate enough to click instantly with the family and will most definitely be in contact with them forever.

Teaching the girls that I lived with was fun and easy. They were so inquisitive and interested in English, culture in America, myself, my family, etc. It really was a treat and as a family we were able to share so much of our lives and daily routines with each other. I actually became so accustomed to their culture and schedule that I am having a hard time reverting back to the time zone in the states.

I have no advise other than to just go for it! Stop living inside your comfort zone and branch out. It really brought a new level of awareness to my attention. Once you see the impact you can have on an entire family and vice versa, it really is an indescribable and touching feeling. If I could start the process all over again, I totally would.

I only stayed in Tokyo for 2 weeks, but it still was one of my best experiences abroad!
My host family was really kind and funny and I could adapt to their everyday life easily. They had a daughter my age so we really bonded and it was very nice.
The school (GenkiJACS) and Greenheart Travel staff members (Allison Yates) were really helpful with everything and I appreciate their support! The classes were practical and useful, having different teachers everyday was really fun. At the school I was able to meet wonderful people and now I have friends from all around the world.
I'm very glad I joined this program and I recommend it to anyone willing to learn about Japanese culture and language!

If you're looking for a casual homestay for cheap you can stop looking because you found it! I stayed in China for two months and absolutely loved it. You get attached to the host family very quickly and they become like your real family, it's crazy! I felt completely safe and knew my program manager was an email away at all times. They walk you through every step before you leave and you always know what's happening. Little tip: if you want to stay in China longer than a month, you might need to look into getting a student visa instead of a tourist one. That's what I had to do!