Millions of visitors to Britain have discovered that by far the best way to get inside the host culture, and incidentally to brush up their English Language, is to stay as paying guests with a British family. Hotels may be quieter and more comfortable, but they shield visitors from the realities of life here. It's only by plunging into the hurly burly of family life - the race for the bathroom each morning, the fight for the cornflakes, the struggle for control of the TV remote control, the heated debates over the washing up (with the phone ringing, the dog barking and the milk on the stove boiling over) - that the visitor appreciates us for what we are. So it is that, every year, in search of this real Britain, overseas students come here and "live the language" in a way they never could back home - hoovering the stairs, digging the garden, holding the baby or just sitting round the dinner table discussing the latest episode of Coronation Street with their British 'hostmother' and 'hostfather'.

Invariably, the experience leaves a deep impression that remains with them for the rest of their lives!





Expressions to learn
You sit down, Mrs. Jones, I'll do the housework today.

Avoid saying
There are no tea and coffee making facilities in my room.