CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Japanese college students coming to Champaign-Urbana in August to spend a month brushing up on their conversational English are hoping to find friendly local hosts to share their American experience with.
Female students from Dokkyo University in Tokyo need hosts who will meet with them two or three times a week while they are living in a campus residence hall from July 31 to Aug. 13, and then will provide a home stay for them, including room and board, from Aug. 14 to 26. Male students from Konan University in Kobe will need home-stay host families from July 31 to Aug. 28.
Individuals, families and couples, including "empty-nesters," are welcome to apply as hosts. Hosts spend a few hours a week with the students in typical household activities and outings - from meals, ball games and movies, to picnics, concerts and county fairs; home-stay hosts put the students up in their homes and provide meals for them, as well as spend time in activities or outings, said Dawn MacLellan, host coordinator of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Intensive English Institute.
Home-stay hosts receive a stipend to help defray the costs of room and board. Host and home-stay families for Korean students who are attending IEI classes in July have already been found.
The new home-stay room and board option began a couple of years ago and has proven extremely satisfying for students and hosts alike, MacLellan said.
In past years, students stayed in residence halls the entire duration of their intensive English courses, but participated with host families in activities in and outside the home.
That arrangement was a bit disruptive, MacLellan said, since the late summer IEI programs overlapped with the beginning of the fall semester at Illinois, meaning the international students had to move out of their university rooms and into local hotels during their last week of their programs to allow incoming U. of I. students to move in.
There was another motivation for the new option: Japanese universities desired home stays for their students.
"Since the students are here for such a short period of time, having a home stay really offers them a lot more opportunities to interact with hosts and experience daily life with members of the community," MacLellan said.
The standard host program, according to MacLellan, is designed to match students with families or individuals with whom the students can visit, enjoy an occasional meal, celebrate holidays and "simply enjoy the exchange of international friendships."
The new home-stay program - which can run one, two or four weeks - offers families or individuals the opportunity "to open their homes to one or two international students for a short stay," MacLellan said.
"Hosts, whose primary language is English, and who have extra room for an adult student, give students the chance to experience daily life in the United States.
"At the same time, it is also a wonderful opportunity that gives hosts a greater understanding of other countries, cultures and customs," MacLellan said, noting that
reference and background checks are required of selected host and home-stay families.
IEI holds a host-orientation meeting during which hosts receive detailed information about their students. After the students arrive, a picnic or reception is held for hosts and students to meet and get to know each other.
The Host Program Application is available online. The site has an FAQ link.
More information is available by contacting IEI at 217-333-6598.