ホームステイ in 台湾

William Australia

My experience with the homestay program has been both beneficial and unique. My Chinese fluency has greatly improved because of the immersive environment and I have seized every opportunity to interact with my homestay family.

From one such interaction, I learned about the history of the father’s family, as well as his thoughts on the Chinese lifestyle (of course, certain discussions necessitate a degree of fluency, but you can quickly reach this level). I also spoke with the daughter about her job, favourite hobbies (yoga and skiing), and her interest in travel (she loves America). Hence, I have had ample opportunity to apply and improve my language skills while living with a homestay family. I also recommend writing down and defining any unfamiliar terms used by your homestay family, as I found this particularly useful for my learning, and was able to pick up common colloquial words.

Of course, a homestay is more than just interaction, you are living there for an extended period, and a comfortable environment is equally, if not more important. In this regard, I have also been very impressed with my homestay. The apartment is clean, the amenities well maintained, and my room is comfortable for study. Everyday I try to revise what new Chinese content I have learned and there is minimal noise pollution to disrupt me. Yes, I live beside a busy road, but you won’t catch any more noise than any other apartment block in Beijing (it’s a busy city). Moreover, my room is well heated, and the bed (while by no means perfect) is fine.

Finally, the food. While I can’t speak for every homestay, I have been consistently impressed with the quality and variety of dishes prepared by my Beijing family. These range from simple rice dishes with chicken or pork (very popular in China, expect to eat a lot), to more elaborate fish dinners (we had delicious prawns last night). But, my all-time favourite food is Xiao Long Bao (steamed meat dumplings). My only issue with food is that they frequently try and overfeed me!! However, I guess if you didn’t enjoy the food you could always just tell them in Chinese or bring your own food into your room (which I have had no trouble with).

So, while I can’t speak for everyone’s homestay experience, I can say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Beijing, facilitated by a comfortable homestay arrangement. Yes, the first few days are scary (they only speak Chinese, and you’ve never met them), but that quickly passes as you become more familiar with the environment.

Inge Netherlands

My name is Inge and I arrived in Beijing in February 2018. At the airport the LTL driver was nice and took me straight to my homestay. I stayed with an LTL employee Angelina.

Angelina was very open right away and spoke some English with me. She showed me the house and the city. The city is within walking distance of her house so that was very convenient. She pointed the good shops and restaurants and told me which ones were good and others to perhaps avoid.

At home, during my first weekend, I could relax and the next day we went with few other students at a large market called Panjiayuan. It was very cozy and nice to meet some students before heading to school the next day.

That Monday I had class. It was quite difficult at first because I was one week behind from the beginning and my 2 fellow students seemed to understand more but Angela helped me right away and gave me exercises to understand Chinese better I was happy about that.

Angelina, then invited me to her home town for Chinese New Year. I went for the first time on a train, which the compartment was full with people. The trip was 14 hours, it was an experience I’ll never forget! After 14 hours we finally arrived in Taizhou Jiangsu, her hometown. Her family (father, mother, grandfather and grandmother) were very sweet and took good care of me so that I would be warm (-0 some days). We enjoy some great food made for the Chinese New Year.

I helped with making dumplings what was really nice to learn. I met lots of family members and heard many Fireworks (usually from 6 o’clock in the morning until the end of the day). During my time in Jiangsu province I learnt so much about the Chinese culture and the matters of how important family is.

After 13 days we left to go back to Beijing and it was a sad goodbye. When were we back after 14 hours again I studied very hard to improve my Chinese. I really had so much fun after school with the other students such as going for dinner and many other activities that the school organised. I look with a big smile to these 6 weeks in China.

LTL listened my living preferences and accommodated me accordingly. I feel confident in what I have learnt in these past few weeks.

Savannah Australia

Sun Xiao Ying and Lin Bai Le have been a fantastic home away from home. They make really, really good food and do their best to make you feel comfortable. When I was sick Sun Xiao Ying took me to the hospital and waited through the lengthy process with me. When you go out they make sure you know what bus or train you need to take. As long as you are respectful and helpful to them you will get the same and more in return.

They are a very, very lovely couple that really take care of you. I will really try to keep in touch with them.

Beijing city is all about convenience. Everything you need is close and you have variety. Every time you go out it’s an adventure, you discover hidden gems and so many places. You learn about the culture and meet new friends.

My LTL experience in Beijing was amazing, I came here with around 8 years of middle/high school knowledge of Chinese but every year I managed to be far below the average. I was not confident and I didn’t have enough opportunities to practice and solidify my Chinese. I came to Beijing with little to no confidence in my skill but being in the country and having to learn out of necessity, I surprised myself on my first day having a somewhat flowing conversation with my home-stay family.

The classes at LTL Beijing were fantastic, the teachers are friendly, flexible and helpful. What you learn in class you revise and practice outside of class with real people and real situations. You use your skill to communicate with locals but there are some students at LTL who can’t speak your language and you end up having to communicate in Chinese. I’m really pleased with how much I’ve learned here and would definitely consider coming back.