Daily Dose of English 105
Host Families
Daily Dose of English 105
Intermediate
Hey everyone, my name is Ben and you're listening to a Daily Dose of English. This is a short, simple podcast that you can listen to every day to improve your English. You can find the transcripts for all episodes and more on benslanguagelab.com. I'm glad you could make it today. In this episode, we're going to be talking about host families. This is sort of a continuation from yesterday's episode where we talked about studying abroad or doing exchange programs. And today we're going to be talking about the other side of that, which is receiving somebody into your home as a guest. And we call these host families because you're hosting somebody from somewhere else, another country, another part of the world, even just another part of the country. And we talk about host families being the place that you're staying, like in somebody's house rather. It's not always strictly a family. You don't literally have to be a husband, wife, two kids, two cars or whatever, but it refers to like the house that you're staying with. And because it can be a little bit strange to talk about like where you're staying when you're staying with a host family. And in fact, many host families are slightly unique families. Maybe they're some roommates or they're a single person or like there's a bunch of different ways that a host family can look that's not strictly a family. But part of the reason that we use this term is to make it feel a bit more like you are part of somebody's family. because you're not staying in a hotel, you're not staying somewhere that is purely transactional, right? You're just sleeping there and doing other things. You're taking a part a little bit in their life, not entirely, not like that much, but you're there for a while. And the assumption is that you're usually going to do stuff with them and you're going to eat with them, they're gonna help you out with things, that sort of thing. Um, and like I mentioned in the last episode, I've been a host family, um, or my family has been a host family, uh, quite a few times, especially growing up. We had plenty of, uh, Japanese exchange students was the primary one plus a few others. We had a couple of, um, students from Germany and a few other, um, places not really though mostly Germany a couple times and then because that was the the language I was most involved with and then we were hosts to Japanese students because in our city where we live there was a pretty big program with the local university which connected families there with students from Japan and so that was more out of convenience than like choosing Japan for any reason it was just there was a there was a a partnership between that university and some Japanese universities, which made it that it was a lot more common. There were quite a lot of Japanese exchange students that probably still are that come every year to that city and stay with host families. And we did that for many years. And it was a really great experience, honestly, being a host family for somebody from a totally different part of the world, and especially since I was young, and so I got that extra experience without going anywhere. It was like having a little bit of, a little bit of other countries come to you, which is very nice for learning about things, learning about different cultures, that sort of thing. I remember that a common thing that the Japanese exchange students would do is like share a bit of where they're from and how they live and those sorts of differences. A couple of times they would cook for us or cook with us and we would sort of get a view into where they're from. And that can be really, really fun because it's, in a lot of ways, it's easier to bring somebody to you than to go to another country. And so it can be a nice way to get some sort of insight And so I would definitely recommend for anybody that has the extra space, and especially if they have kids, to try to host people from reputable organizations. Don't go with a random person off the street, but try to find an organization that pairs with students from around the world and try hosting. It doesn't always go perfect, right? Some people aren't amazing guests or they get homesick or many little issues can arise. But for the most part, people are very nice and it's really rewarding to have students, especially when they are they talk to your family and they connect with you and you and you learn things so definitely recommend it especially because i've also been a host or not a host a guest quite often i've done a fair amount of traveling and uh met with i stayed with host families before and it can be a really awesome experience it's really nice to be able to learn about a place more really, I guess. Actually, I've stayed with host families in the US before, and that's one of the ways that I've learned about the totally different lifestyles in other parts of the country. staying with an old retired couple in Florida was like a part of the American life that I'd never experienced. Like seeing what they do on a regular Sunday is totally different than what I'd ever do in my entire life. It's just so, so different. And it was sort of funny because there is a stereotype, I guess you can say, of older retired people that live in Florida of being pretty religious and relatively like doing specific things that are related to that. And what we did on that Sunday was we, they took us to church. I, that was not fun. I don't, it was very strange and I don't like going to church, but it was interesting, I guess. And then we went to Chick-fil-A, which is a, which is a fast food restaurant that really only exists in the South in the U.S. There's a few other in other parts of the country, but they're mostly in the South. And then we went to go see a movie in the movie theaters, but it was a Christian movie. So like another church thing and also not a good movie, but it was just so interesting to see like those things that I would never ever do. And like, I don't have to do it every weekend. So like, whatever, I had a Sunday that wasn't the most amazing time of my life, but sure, that's fine. but I've also had experiences with host families that were way cooler. I did some things when I was, I stayed with a host family in Germany, trying to remember what we did though. It was kind of weird and unique, but they had plans already, and I was staying with them, and they're like, come on with us. Oh yeah, I went on a sailboat, uh they have this like yearly party with a bunch of their friends that in a in in a neighborhood and they all rent a sailboat together like as it's like five families or something like that and they bring a bunch of food a bunch of beer a bunch of games and they go on this boat for two nights like every year and they go to like i think they went to the netherlands and like belgium like on the water going from germany And that was super awesome. I was like, how did I get here? It was sort of random that I just appeared on that boat essentially, but it was really great. It was a super cool experience. I met some really interesting folks. And it was also fun because my level of German at the time was about equal to the kids there. And so I hung out with the younger kids, like the eight, nine-year-olds, and we played some games, we ate some gummy bears, and it was a really, really cool thing. And it was just because they already had this plan and I was staying with them. So I just got to go along. We did the same with a German exchange student that we had once. We drug him along to an event that we went to, and he was like, great, I'm going, this is so much fun. He got to do things that he'd never done before. And so being a host on that can be really exciting because you can give that experience to other people for something that's relatively normal and maybe fun for you, but you get to see it through the eyes of somebody else. And I think that's the part that I like most about hosting, is that I get to do things that for me are normal, but see it again, right? A lot of people, okay, sorry, a bit of a tangent, but a lot of people have a favorite movie or favorite movies, and when they hear that someone hasn't seen that movie, they go, oh my God, you haven't seen Forrest Gump? What are you doing? But that's the wrong way to go about it. A lot of people haven't seen every movie. Most people haven't seen a movie. And so in the example of Forrest Gump, that's one of my favorite movies. And if you haven't seen it, that's awesome. That means I get to watch it with you. for the first time and I get to sort of re-experience that magic of seeing something for the first time. And so whenever I find somebody that hasn't seen some of my favorite movies, I get excited because I get to show them those movies rather than going, oh my God, what a fool, what an idiot, you have never seen these movies, oh my God. And so, That's one of the things that I like about hosting is because it has that similar experience where you get to do things that are for the first time again, and they can be totally new and fresh for you. So yeah, if you ever get to host somebody, I definitely recommend doing stuff like that. Think of something that for you is sort of fun and normal that you'd like, but then take them to it and see what it's like. And I assure you that it will be a lot more interesting. Anyways, that is all the time that we have for today. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of A Daily Dose of English. I hope that you enjoyed and learned some new words, but I will see you again tomorrow for another episode. I'll see you then. Bye.
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