The Family Stay Experience

Authentic language and cultural immersion

The Family Stay Experience® is the cornerstone of our language immersion programs. Since 1972, we have carefully selected families who volunteer to share their home, language, and culture with our student travelers. For 50 years, our participants have increased their language skills and cultural awareness through this unique immersion program.

Our Goal

Xperitas, we work with teachers to provide their students with outstanding language and cultural immersion experiences. As a nonprofit we are mission driven. We believe that when students have an authentic experience outside of the classroom, using their language skills in a different culture, they make a deeper cultural connection. Our programs are designed to inspire students to make personal connections with communities worldwide and gain greater cultural awareness. The benefits of student language immersion travel abroad reported to us by teachers, parents and the students themselves are as follows:

A better understanding of language and the nuance of dialect
An understanding of language within the context of the culture
A greater awareness of different perspectives 
A sense of increased independence, self-sufficiency, and cultural competence

The Family Stay Experience®

Students live with a local host family while abroad on their language immersion program, creating an authentic language and cultural immersion experience, unmatched by other cross-cultural programs. No Family Stay Experience is “typical”; every one is as unique as the families that host.

Families are volunteer, not a paid service
Students share meals and family routines in the target language
Families and students explore differences and similarities in culture and tradition

These connections can last a lifetime! Many students and host families stay in touch for years afterward.

How are Host Families chosen?

The success of our Family Stay Experience® is due to our network of of dedicated Family Stay Coordinators around the world, who work tirelessly to ensure a safe and enjoyable hosting experience.

Xperitas Family Stay Coordinators are local to the host communities
Recruit and screen families in their own networks and match them to Xperitas participants
Are on call 24/7 during the program to address any issues that arise

“Because language is the primary vehicle for expressing cultural perspectives and participating in social practices, the study of a language provides opportunities for students to develop insights in a culture that are available in no other way.”

Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21^st Century