Prometour offers the opportunity to take immersion a step further by placing students with a host family. Choosing to stay with one of our host-families is a great way for your students to learn another language as well as truly experience different cultures.
The host family
Most of the families have been associated with the program for at more than 2 years, some for as many as 15! During the stay with the French-speaking homestay family, students will be completely immersed in the language, culture and daily family life. All our homestay hosts have detailed profiles and must match the criteria that Délégation Paris Lisses looks for.
About Délégation Paris Lisses
Délégation Paris Lisses oversees the program that Prométour uses for groups who want to incorporate a family-stay component while visiting Paris. Listed below are the criteria that Délégation Paris Lisses looks for when recruiting Host Families:
- Most new families come by the recommendation of existing members of the family network.
- The Délégation Paris Lisses lodging coordinator visits each family regularly.
- Strict criteria must be met in regards to a clean and hygienic apartment or home, especially in kitchens and bathrooms.
- Special interest is made to the welcoming and hospitality qualities of the family.
- An adult must be home during the times that the students are in the host family’s home.
- Some host families live in private houses with gardens, others in townhouses or apartments.
- Location of family home should be within walking distance or a short (15 minute) public transportation ride from group meeting point.
- Efforts are made to match your participant with a family based on criteria such as similarly aged children, non-smokers, pets, common interests, etc…
- Host families are financially compensated.
Program’s goals
We insist that the Host-Family understands and approves the program’s goals:
- Emphasizing cultural differences and activities, to be held as much as possible in the language of the destination while keeping in mind the level and capacity of the participant.
- The participant should have exposure to the cultural and domestic life of the host family.
- To provide security, protection, and assistance to the young visitors, just like their own child(ren), but even more, since they are strangers to the land and its customs.