If you have a spare room (or more than one spare room!) and are interested in Japanese culture, making new friends and sharing your culture then you will find becoming a host family very rewarding.

IF YOU THINK YOU MIGHT LIKE TO BECOME A HOST FAMILY, PLEASE DO GET IN TOUCH,
WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Call us on 07443 438 191

“The experience of hosting is a very rewarding one. It is wonderful seeing the students develop and grow in confidence.”

Could you be a host family?

Being a host family to our Japanese students can be a wonderful experience and many of our families have been hosting for years, and even decades!

Beyond the obvious financial advantage it is often a wonderfully fulfilling experience where you can form lasting bonds with your guests. Some our more intrepid hosts have even visited their students in Japan!

Hosting our students can be a wonderful experience and many of our families have been hosting for years, or in some cases, even decades! With that said, each year there are some hosts who retire or move or no longer have the space to host. Because of that we would love to hear from anyone who would be interested.

“Being a host family is a very good experience.These students are well mannered and committed. I wish them well.”

“A good and most enjoyable experience with young students, adding a new cultural experience.”

Why do we have host families instead of putting the students in a hostel?


The Trinity Foundation Programme was founded in the 1980s to offer English language and culture courses to Japanese students and we quickly discovered that placing our students with host families allowed them to be immersed in the language that they are here to learn and also gives them a safe and comfortable environment where they can relax and experience the full breadth of UK culture including food, TV and of course, talking about the weather!

Our host families are all over the place!

The Trinity Foundation Programme office is in Bangor and we use that as a centre of operations. We have host families in Gaerwen and Menai Bridge, and all along the mainland coast from Felinheli to Llandudno Junction. Basically as long as the student can easily travel to Bangor by bus in the morning.

“They were vocal in expressing their gratitude and appreciation, and vocal on how wonderful for them it was to have so many new experiences.”

Below are the answers to a lot of questions we get asked often by people who are interested in hosting.

There are two main sets of students.  The high school students who stay for around 10 nights and the university students who stay for around three weeks.

You can have up to three students as long as you have space for each student to have their own room.

Each student will need their own room, with a bed, desk, chair and a cupboard or drawers for their belongings.

The students have lessons every week day from around 9:30/10:00 until 17:00 each week day, so Monday to Friday they will need some breakfast and dinner.  On those days the students will buy their own lunch or sometimes we will provide lunch, depending on their activity that day.

On weekends they will need breakfast, lunch and dinner.  None of it needs to be complicated, just whatever you are having is fine.  This is all part of their cultural experience.  With that said, if you do want to introduce the students to a Sunday Roast, Fish and Chips or any other traditional British dishes, that would be lovely!

We have lots of wonderful host families and there is always some scope for moving students to a different host or hosts temporarily.  Obviously we try to avoid this to maintain some continuity for the students but it happens from time to time and it's not a problem.

Absolutely!  We have a member of staff on duty at all times, day or night, they are just a phone call away.

Yes, we encourage this.  The students all have an induction soon after their arrival, during which they are taught some basic rules that apply wherever they stay.  Things like not using mobile phones during time spent with hosts, switching lights off, keeping showers to a reasonable duration etc.  On top of that we encourage you to let them know your own house rules, for example you may have a particular day on which you do the washing or have times during which the students should be particularly careful to keep quiet, or you may want them to help with cooking or washing up while they are with you.

Yes please, let them know what day or days you will do washing so that they can have their washing ready.

That would be lovely!  We get pictures and messages sent to us by hosts from all over the place and they have a whale of a time with their students.  It really does add such a lot to the experience for both host and student if you explore together.  It doesn't have to cost anything, walking on the beach or wandering around a local village or town is a really important cultural adventure for both the hosts and their guests.

The students are in two age groups.  Some are high schoolers who are at the end of their high school journey and are starting to explore further education, these are around 15 to 16 years old.  We ask that they not go out after 19:00 unless they are accompanied by their hosts.   The other age group are our university students or foundation students who are aged 18 to 23.  Since they are adults they can go out and explore if they want to.  It isn't uncommon for these older university and foundation students to travel with their friends to Liverpool or London at the weekend.

Some students really love dogs or cats and will be delighted to find that their host has pets, while others may have allergies to animals or just not like them.  For this reason we ask about pets during the host family application process.  This and a number of other factors allows us to make sure the student is right for their hosts.

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