Three to six hours daily of formal classroom discussion, along with the use of films, slides, and field exercises, develop your conversational skills and help you learn to read and write. The language training also reinforces the process of orientation to the host culture. A variety of methods for evaluating and documenting communicative competence, including oral proficiency assessment, is used in SIT Study Abroad programs. Through a homestay, you have the opportunity to become a member of a new family and to share in the most exciting as well as the routine details of your host family's daily life. The opportunity to make new friends, function in the host culture, and develop further language skills reinforces your learning from other program components.
Students frequently cite the homestay as an educational highlight of the semester.
Homestay placements are arranged through a local representative who knows each family personally and strives to match students with families whose members have similar interests. Homestay families are screened and approved on the basis of personal and overall suitability. These families represent a variety of professional, educational, and economic levels, and live in diverse neighborhoods, towns, and rural settings. Families include one or more adults, and may or may not include children. The success of the homestay experience depends largely on your willingness to adapt as an active member of the host family.