Homestay Language in Action (20hrs activities)

○Classes: The teacher was professional and fitted the class content so as to match my necessary requirements and requests. The classes were done every day from nine o'clock and had also an extensive pause in between, making it not too stressful. One thing that bothered me a little though was the fact that the teacher had her grandson of 8 months come over almost every day. In the morning the mother of the 8 month old baby would arrive at the house to drop him off before leaving for work. The teacher would then end up babysitting the entire day. So although the class started, the baby would be next to us, making all sorts of noises and of course being loud. I like babies but having a baby next to me some time of the class was very unexpected and also very disrupting. The teacher would sometimes stand up and take the baby away or care for him also during the middle of classes because the baby needed caring. I thought that the teacher sometimes had more attention on the baby than on class, which is not a good sign to me.

○Teacher: The teacher was very nice and to the point, sometimes having a french sense of humor. I felt as if she did not have much interest in Japan (where I am from) because she did not ask many questions to me about my home country. Normally it was I who needed to initiate the conversation and then she would reply and we would start talking. I would have liked it more if she could also ask more questions and more about my background.

○Facilities/Housing: The house was nice and clean, I had a bedroom to myself along with a shower and toilet also to myself. I could lounge around when I wanted to be lazy, but I also had the opportunity to go out and do things on my own. Although the house was nice, it was located not in Tours, but in another village called Fondettes, where it takes around 30 min by bus, but which comes every one hour or even less. The accessibility was not at its best, although I had requested for a home close to the center of Tours. Since I did not have a car, it was not easy for me to go outside and do things on my own. I would have preferred a house more near the city center. Yet the house was clean and cozy.
As for the materials for the class, there was everything necessary -grammar books, dictionary, pens and paper- to use for a successful class.
The father was also nice, sometimes correcting me with my grammar whilst having a conversation.

○Activities: Since I had chosen five days of activities, we went to Chateau Villandry and to the Tours city center, both for 2.5 hours each. The visit was nice since I got to go outside as well as talk with my host family about other things aside from class. It was a nice practice session and I also got to do some sightseeing. Yet for the city of Tours, I must admit that the sightseeing itself was more or less based on what the teacher liked and what she wanted to do. We went shopping, but mostly went into stores which the teacher found interesting. The stores I wanted to see were passed by. And since the teacher was intently looking at clothes, I did not get to talk as much. I even waited for my teacher for around 20 minutes, when she was trying on and buying some outfits. For me it was alright if time was unlimited, but I also wanted to see other parts of the city and not just shop. But in the end, it was the teacher's pace through and through. I was a little disappointed on the session of Tours.

○Other: When communicating with the teacher through email before my stay, the teacher offered me to pick me up at the station of Tours to their home for a fee of 60 euros. For me, coming from Japan which is a country all about service, if you propose to pick someone up it would normally be free of charge. I was a little surprised about this because the costs were also quite expensive for going somewhere which is far, but not far enough to be charged 60 euros. She explained to me that it is the normal fee of the taxi, yet having to pay money to be taken to the station was for me a little strange. I was worried before getting there that the host family were accepting me just because they are getting payed, and not out of pure curiosity or service. I knew before I went that they were going to be a family who will do the things which are payed because it is included, but not other things because they are not payed. For me this was something I had to get used to, that they are doing the home stay purely out of business and for no other reason.

But all in all, it was a nice stay where I got to experience what a french home was like. I do not feel that a week is actually enough to push up your french level, but it was indeed a change with a nice experience.
I would like to thank my host family for accommodating me the entire week -although it was payed, I know accommodating guests can be tiring and stressful as well.