Teach English in a Homestay in France for up to 3 Months

My daughter was supposed to stay two months, June and July and to tutor brother and sister in a small town Lege Cap Ferret in South France. But she stayed only one month and a half.

My daughter is responsible, mature, friendly and has great personality. She is 18 years old University student. Her family was nice (father, mother and host-brother), but host-sister who is 16 was NOT nice at all. My daughter put all her heart and soul into tutoring, but she didn't get appreciation back from her host-sister. Host-sister was rude, impolite, spoiled, with extreme mood swings (puberty?), treated my daughter with disrespect and ignored my daughter whenever they were in company with others.

My daughter felt very lonely and sad. She spent almost all her time in her room, trying to avoid bad treatment from host-sister. My daughter went through enormous emotional trauma and cried every day. She kept evrything inside, but when her distress reached boiling point, she finaly told us and my husband and I immediately get her a new air ticket to return home. So we almost doubled our expenses.

Coordinator in France was useless.

I don't saythat you will get the family like this in case you choose homestay tutoring. You might be lucky and get a decent family. But don't forget that you might experience the same type of host-sister (or another family member) if you plunge into this kind of adventure. If you want to visit foreign country, better go as a tourist, or enroll language course.

I cannot forgive myself for ruining my daughter's summer vacation.

I spent a month in France as part of the Language Exchange Homestay. My host family lived in Bordeaux and were very welcoming. Before leaving I was nervous about my French skills,but my host family spoke very good English.
I was even invited to come with them to Milan! Overall, my host family was fantastic.
Teaching lessons were very relaxed and mostly consisted of helping the children with their English homework. Dinner conversation was a mix between French and English and a place where I conversed with the parents the most. I helped in the kitchen and it is always good to make the bed and keep your room clean.
My program was only a month and time flies by! When I finally got the hang of taking the bus and tram it was time to leave. I suggest making the most of your time abroad! I did! I took the train to Paris for five days! I saw the Eiffel Tower and The Louvre!
Make the most of your time abroad and don't forget to capture every moment with pictures!

This particular program is a good fit for someone who is passionate about other cultures and teaching English. It greatly eases the difficulties of traveling abroad, and provides a safe way to live like a local. Your language skills will improve significantly, and you will learn much more about the culture than if you were living or traveling alone. This is not a great fit, however, for people who would like a lot of freedom as your main duty is to be with the host family.

Last year I had the opportunity to spend two months in France with a host family through Greenheart...and the experience I had in France (I lived in Andernos, on the Bassin d'Arcachon near Bordeaux) was overwhelmingly positive. I met so many people who have become dear friends (some of whom have come visit and all of whom offer me a room when I'm in the south-west again...because it will happen!), saw so much of the country, and learned so much about the how the French see themselves and the world and sharing the similarities and differences amongst ourselves was a joy. I even had the chance to give a small presentation about Canada at the elementary school of one of the kids I was tutoring. One of the highlights of the trip, for sure!

And don't get me started about the food and the wine... ;)

I had a wonderful time in France becoming fully immersed in the language, the culture and the family I stayed with during my time there. I got to meet many people outside the family as well and had plenty of opportunities to practice my French. My favorite parts of the homestay were the lesson preparation (for three different children), the individual lessons with each of them, and getting to know each of the children I taught. I had time on my own during the days when they were in school to plan lessons, explore the town I lived in and also to go to a nearby larger city and explore. I added extra time before my stay with the family to adjust to jet lag and to explore Paris. At the end of my stay I did some sightseeing along the Mediterranean (Nice, etc.).
I would recommend this experience to anyone interested as I felt very safe and very welcomed by the family I stayed with. They even took me with them on vacation and we had a wonderful time.

My time spent in France with my host family was unforgettable! From the get-go, Greenheart was supportive in communicating with me about any questions/concerns that I or my parents had. I was also connected through Facebook to other people who were travelling with Greenheart.

My host family and I connected right away and even had a few Skype conversations before I went to stay with them. Their home was comfortable and they were very accommodating. I enjoyed eating meals with them, discussing the differences in our cultures, and they were even kind enough to help me navigate the train systems and help me buy tickets when I needed them!

My family spoke excellent English, so for me it was truly a language exchange- I helped them practice English and they were able to help me learn French, but also could communicate easily with me in English. I stayed for one month- too short a time to really master the language. However, my personal goals for enrolling in the program was to experience another culture and see everything I could, so I was not disappointed by my language acquisition. If my primary goal was to master French, I could have stayed longer and enrolled in one of the many Language courses they offer in Paris.

I would definitely recommend this program to anyone who wants to travel, experience another culture from a host family's point of view, and be immersed in another language while picking up what you can of it in the allotted time. I will certainly stay in touch with Greenheart and would travel with them again in the future.

I was placed with a very good host family who were all enthusiastic about learning English. However, on the flip side, I didn't feel they put in too much effort to teach me French. So, I'm glad I had enrolled in French courses in Lyon.

Having traveled around the world for a very long time, I'm used to living on my own terms so I felt a lack of freedom with this program. I think this program is more suited for someone who has not traveled much and want a safe/cautious experience.

Also, I think this program is expensive, especially when I learned the host family is doing it on a volunteer basis and Greenheart Travel is supposed to be a non-profit organization.

I didn't get any support from the French coordinator - no email introduction or welcome when I arrived. However, my coordinator at GHT was very good.