Hi everyone. I’m applying for an homestay experience in Japan. It will be my first time in Japan and my first experience hosted by someone for a long period of time. More specifically, I’ll stay in Kyoto for 3 months meanwhile attending a language school. It’s my priority to study and learn japanese above visiting and trying everything, so I wish to have great people in the family to spend time with.
Is there someone who made this experience and can suggest me tips (on application form documents) to be assigned to the right family? is it better-based on your experience or experience of your friends- to be hosted by a couple with or without kids? what about a single-parent family? do you suggest me to sign up for a program that includes breakfast or both breakfast and dinner?
also, how was to live in a japanese family? how did you feel most of the time? what them cooked for you? would you repeat the same experience? did it worth your money? is it a wise choice for whom wants dive in Japanese language immersion and learn as fast as possible?
{if this text message sounds to you like broken english is because it’s not my first language and I still do mistakes, sorry!}
thank you
7 comments
I think it depends on your personality. I tend to be shy, so I did better with retired couples and/or single adults. If you’re more outgoing/engaging, you might be able to really bond with the kids. Kids are a wild card — they can be great or they can be terrible.
When I studied abroad, breakfast and dinner were included in the homestay fee. Breakfast was usually miso soup and rice. Dinner could be anything. The tradeoff was that I’d need to be home by a certain time in order to participate in dinner. Breakfast was self-serve (mostly). Dinner was a chance to practice conversation with the family, which I think was a really valuable experience.
I would recommend a homestay. It’s an opportunity to get out of the foreign-bubble. Depending on what type of language school you’re attending, it can be pretty lonely. The language school I attended had students that had been there for awhile. Many had part-time jobs that limited their ability to hang out after class.
I did this experience for a bit over a year with a Japanese family! I’d gladly be someone you can reach out to
Don’t be shy to share bathwater after you have showered
How old are you? I’m almost 30 and I want to do a homestay experience but I’m so worried I might be too old haha
Some experiences are good, some are not. I would recommend having a plan for if things turn south *just in case,* like staying longer hours at school or potentially transferring to a dorm or different host family.
I did homestay last fall for 4 months, and though it started off okay, it ended up being really traumatizing for both me and my host mom. Not all homestay experiences are bad, but please don’t forget that living with strangers is not easy. It takes effort from both sides (homestay and international student) for it to go smoothly.
I don’t have experience with Japan unfortunately, but I did have a homestay experience in Canada, so I don’t know if my experience is valuable, or like if it will translate at all to a Japanese setting. That being said, in my experience, the students who were hosted by a retired couple had the best experience. Retired couples have a lot of time for you, so you will be well fed for sure and will have plenty of time to have a chat if you want to. You’ll also probably get to pay a visit or get visited by their children who aren’t kids anymore (but might have some of their own!). That’s a lot of exposure and plenty of opportunities to practice language.
I personally stayed at a divorced dad’s house. He had to work from early morning and until the sun set, so I was pretty much alone most of the time. There was a kid and although I did form a good friendship with him, he wanted to play with me all the time and sometimes I just wanted to chill or spend time online or whatever. So yeah, careful with becoming a child’s “older sibling”.
I must say, even though I my homestay wasn’t perfect, I had the best time of my life, so maybe don’t worry about it too too much, you know? I’m sure it’ll be a great experience, wish you the best!
Do you know what kind of family you’re paired with yet? Or are you asking because you’re still filling out the application? Sorry, wasn’t 100% sure.
I’ve had mostly homestays with younger kids (early elementary school to middle school) and I’ve always enjoyed it. Sometimes the kids are shy, but a lot of the time they also don’t have the same reservations/”manners” that adults do so it really help break the ice. My friend stayed with a single parent family once and she greatly enjoyed that experience as well.
For meal times it’s up to you. I would personally opt for one that gives me both options because it give you more times to interact with the family plus it’s one less meal you have to think about.
10/10 would repeat and I think it’s the best way for anyone to learn a foreign language. You’re more forced to use the language on the regular basis than if you were just living in the country and there’s a lot of random vocab that I picked up on without learning formally. Vocabulary you learn that way also tends to stick with you more than something you just learn in a textbook — likely because of the emotional connection/memory that’s there too.