How is it to live with a host family?

My parents let me go live in a host family. I�fm 13 and I live in Spain, I speak English, Russian (I�fm originally from Russia), Spanish and learning Japanese. I just wanted to ask if there are any people here who experienced living in a host family and how was it? Are there any cases of abuse in host families?

As far as I know, no, I have not heard of any abuse at Japanese host families. I have heard of situations where the host family and the student somehow didn�ft start off communicating well, that they ended up not interacting very much, but that was with someone around age 20. I knew one case where the student developed a serious case of homesickness and had to leave early, but that was not due to the host family.

Generally host families who take in junior high school age students tend to be outgoing, active in cultural exchanges and interested in interacting a lot with the students and welcoming them to their homes.

Still, of course a host family is a family different from your own, if you stay courteous and considerate, they will reciprocate :)

It's been several decades, but I have participated on a couple home stays. Nothing of any abuse.
A lot depends on where in Japan you are, and the circumstances. Are you going with a Japanese kid to go to school?
The better your Japanese is, and the more you know about Japanese manners and etiquette, the better your experience is going to be.

I did a short 2 week French Exchange in High School and my husband privately stayed with a German family in Germany for 1 year.

My exchange program was much shorter but more formal as it was through the my High School and a HIgh School in a Paris suburb. It was a true exchange because the student I stayed with came to stay with me for 2 weeks a month or so after I came home. We spent a week touring through some of France, before being placed with our host family in a suburb of Paris. We occasionally went to school with our host as well as did cultural activities. I really enjoyed myself, but I don't know if I would say it really helped me improve my French in any meaningful way. I also learned that while crepes were delicious, France is really cold in February and it hailed on us in St. Malo.

My husband did a private homestay through his church. A family of the same religion in Germany was willing to take in Americans for a year for a minimal payment per month. This was all arranged privately through church connections. First the good part: My husband became fluent in German and he is still fluent in German even all these years later. Having fluency in a foreign language is amazing, and here in the USA is not as common. The negative part was my husband started with only a year or so of US High School German, which is really not enough to be a German High School Student. He struggled in school and was at times very lonely. We're both older (40's), so calling Internationally use to be ridiculously expensive and he only spoke to his parents once a month. They could write letters, but those could take time to arrive. There was no internet. The father in the family was quite strict and older than his wife by a good 15-20 years. He fought in WW2 and I am pretty sure probably committed what many people would consider war atrocities. My husband did not particularly get along with him. It was while in Germany my husband became an atheist because he had a lot of religious issues while there. He was never abused, but his experience was vastly different from mine.

I'm hoping in the future my child can do an exchange to Japan. I would prefer to go through more formal channel rather than an informal one like my husband did. I'd also want to start smaller even though there is less language benefit out of it because I think loneliness is a very real concern.

Good luck!

I have stayed with host families.

I think a lot of how "good" or "bad" it is will depend on you. How open are you to living in someone else's house and following their rules? Are you willing to try and live assimilate into a new home and a new culture? Are you a picky eater? Even today, houses without internet are not uncommon, as well. Most host families will try to accommodate you, but also expect you to try and live as a part of their family, so you will need to make efforts to do things their way and follow their rules.

Some families host students every year, which I know can disappoint some students, because they don't feel like they're "special" or their host family compares them to previous students or talks a lot about previous students.

Abuse is very rare. Among university students, one of the biggest issues I noticed was people hosting students in order to convert them to their religion. I am aware of Happy Science followers and Nichiren Buddhists hosting for this purpose.

Exchange programs should all have some person you can contact in the event that things are not good with your host family. You should try to work out minor issues directly, though. I really wouldn't think too much about abuse, but if something awful like that did happen, you can also go to the police. You also always have the option of ending the exchange early and going home, but again, it is rare for things to reach such a point.

Most of your problems will be cultural or related to communication, so studying and preparing beforehand is the best way to help yourself to have the best time and to make the most of the experience!

My daughter did a homestay in Japan, when she was 16 years for 10 weeks. Her family were in the countryside of Nara. She spoke schoolgirl Japanese, fairly basic at the start, but could make herself understood. There was absolutely no abuse of any sort. Her family, Mother didn�ft speak English , Father spoke quite good English , Grandma who did all the cooking seemed to make herself understood, and daughter had a wee bit of English. They tried very hard to make my daughter feel at home, giving her an English breakfast daily. She went to a school quite a long way, biking to station then catching the train. She was fortunate that three other girls from her Kiwi school went to the same school, but didn�ft homestay anywhere nearby. She was a little homesick at the start but adjusted quickly and ended up loving it. Her Japanese improved immensely and helped her get employment.
I wonder why you refer to abuse.. has someone mentioned it to you. If you were subjected to that then I would immediately contact your placement person and say you want to be moved. Nobody has to endure that. I�fm sure your family would move you fast also.