Host a French Student!

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Ella Padden, Contributor

There are so many fun things to do over the summer. You can travel, go biking, swimming, hang with friends, etc. But for people who want to do something a little more adventurous, there is a solution. Host an exchange student! Ms. Rheault, the French teacher here at Totino-Grace, works for a company called ECI or Échanges Culturels Internationaux. She has been working with them for 3 years. ECI help find homes for French exchange students to stay in over the summer. ECI only has exchange students from France, as that is where they are based.

French students come to the U.S. to learn about our culture and the differences between here and France. They want to become better at English; “The French students speak english, so a host family doesn’t need to speak French or be enrolled in a French class to participate,” Mr. Stieger commented in an email interview. Tom Stieger is the main coordinator for ECI and a repetitive host himself. Many students have travel around an English speaking country before, but the students want a chance to stay and better understand how an American family works.

The French students come in August and July; they stay with their host families for 16 days.  “We have two groups of students coming: 50-70 in July. And 20 – 30 in August. They are from all around France.” Ms. Rheault replied in an email interview. They need more host families as some families always cancel last minute. ECI still needs 25 families willing to host a student.

If you are interested in hosting a French student, please contact Ms. Rheault ([email protected]g) and she’ll help set you up. There is no deadline for signing up, and ECI always could use more host families, especially for boys.