The advantage for a language learner of lodging with a real British host family is that he or she will effortlessly acquire what is sometimes called real English, a colourful repertoire of idioms, slang, colloquial expressions, and even the occasional taboo word, as used by flesh and blood native speakers. It comes as a surprise to learn that Mrs. Jones is "her indoors", Mr. Jones is her "other half'” and their children are the "nippers"; that the woman next door is "a pain in the neck", her son sells "dodgy" mobile phones, while her daughter is "as nice as pie"; that Mr. Jones likes to go "down the boozer" whenever he has a chance, which is not very often as Mrs. J. "keeps tabs on him" all the time, maybe because he was a bit of a "Jack the Lad" when he was younger, though he's "knuckled down" now and they "muddle along pretty well together"; that they're a bit "hard up" at the moment, which is why the "bit of extra" from the foreign students will "come in handy"...





Expressions to learn
'E nicked it off a lorry and now the coppers 'ave done 'im for it.

Avoid saying
"That's not correct English, Mrs. Jones - it says so in my Grammar book.