When a child has the opportunity to learn a new language, it’s a switched-on parent who recognises that if the seed is nurtured, it could be the passport to a lifetime of personal adventures and professional opportunities. If that’s you, like many other forward-thinking families seeking to enter the ranks of LLLs (Lifelong Language Learners - we love an acronym in this day and age), you know that you need to get yourselves over to the country where the target tongue is spoken. Job done? Second language ‘in the bag’? Not always the case…
A frequent disappointment for those who visit their country of choice is that they don’t always get the opportunity to try out their language skills. (“Everyone spoke English on holiday”, “Authentic? We could have been anywhere!”, “My son spent the whole of his school exchange with his friends” amongst the all too familiar frustrations.) Maybe this wasn’t the hub of culture and language you were hoping for...
10 years ago, Lingoo was born of a simple solution: putting learners in touch with hosts, in family settings, for holidays or exchanges. Demand was immediate and continues to grow, as more and more families seek to spend their precious free time on holidays that tick all the boxes, from authenticity and originality to adventure and fulfilment.
Lingoo.com works by putting you - the parent - firmly in the driving seat of the matching process, guiding you through that process to ensure that from the good number and broad choice of hosts available, you’ll land on the doorstep of the very best host and environment for you. The fact that these families are on our website means you can be pretty sure they share your open-minded outlook on life but add to that your ability to search by basics (language, location, age of children) and specifics (interests, pets, religion, diet …) and there’s no pot-luck about it. With stringent host-vetting procedures in place too, registrants can also rest assured that their security is safeguarded.
Much of the feedback we receive centres on the overwhelmingly positive impact on children. There is no better environment than an immersive language holiday to see our inquisitive little ones in sponge-mode and even older children who are more inclined to feel self-conscious are likely to see the very point of all that time spent nose-in-textbook. And whilst this confidence in language is growing, so too – behind the scenes - are a number of other life-skills: a sense of place, social skills, an ability to step out of comfort zone, we could go on…
Whereas most family adventures come with a grisly price tag, lingoo.com effectively facilitates exchanges within the ‘sharing economy’ meaning our users can reap the benefits for low-to-no cost. Exchangers pay only an annual registration fee and those embarking on language homestays (so not hosting in return) simply add that to a fixed price for being hosted. Were this cost in the commercial world of holidays, you would have every reason to question very low pricing; here, a pro-sharing mentality means many of our hosts are happy to welcome guests for surprisingly small financial return.
Whatever’s on your wish-list, visit our page on language exchanges and homestays for children and teenagers for inspiration and guidance on arranging a language homestay for your LLLLs (Little Lifelong Language Learners – sorry). Let’s keep those language fires burning bright for the next generation!
