What is LINGUA SETE?

Lingua Sète is a French as a Foreign Language school that offers foreign school classes the opportunity to come and study French in Sète. Students have classes in the mornings and activities in the afternoons. Most of the time, they stay with a host family to discover French culture and learn the language!

Above all, to be a LINGUA SETE host family, two essential qualities are required:

• Open-mindedness: welcoming a foreign student into your home means accepting their differences and dealing with their habits, without upsetting the balance of the family. The aim is to integrate the student as fully as possible, so that he or she feels as much at home in the host family as in his or her family of origin.
• Availability: listening to and communicating with the student is essential for successful integration and understanding of the French way of life. It is in this exchange that the richness of the welcome is born: the student and each member of the family have so much to discover about each other. LINGUA SETE does not take into account age, the presence of children at home, religion or any other criteria, the most important being the desire to communicate.

What is the role of the host family?

The host family must welcome the student into their home and share their way of life and culture. Above all, it’s a human adventure that allows the student – and the family – to open up to different origins. It’s a great way to make lasting contacts. Hospitality and friendliness play an important role in the success of a stay, and the experience must be pleasant and enriching for both the student and the host family.

What are the requirements to become a host family?

• The first condition is that the family must be native French speakers – the student’s primary aim being to learn the language.
• The second condition is that you must live in Sète and have easy access to the city center (on foot or by bus).
• The third condition is that the accommodation must be suitable for one, two or three students.

What are the accommodation criteria?

Students are usually housed in pairs.

A family wishing to be a host family must therefore have: either two spare rooms or one spare room with two separate beds. Rooms must be reserved for the students’ personal use.

They must be clean, tidy, welcoming and correctly furnished with real beds (no mattresses on the floor). They must have 4 walls and a door (no curtain “doors”, screens, blinds, etc.).

The host family provides sheets and towels, changed once a week for longer stays (most of LINGUA SETE’s stays are short stays, so there will be no need to change sheets or clean during your stay).

The bedroom should not be a compulsory passageway to another room in the house. Some students wish to be alone in their host family, so we also recruit families with only one bed.

Please note: you can’t sleep on the sofa and leave your room to the students. Students have free use of the other rooms in the house: kitchen, bathroom, living room etc…

Do I absolutely have to speak English, or the native language of the students?

You must speak French only. The use of any other language should be exceptional. Encourage them to practice conversation!

What type of family do you accept at LINGUA SETE?

Host families can be couples with or without children, single-parent families or even single people.

What is the daily allowance per child?

The allowance is 25€ per student per night. Most of the time, students wish to be accommodated in groups of 2, so the allowance will be 50€ per night for two students. It is also possible to accommodate 3 students, so the compensation will be 75€ per night. Payment will be made at the end of the stay. All financial transactions with students are made through Lingua Sète.

Got more questions? Download our guide to becoming a host family!