Islanders step up to host language students
ISLANDERS have stepped up to host international language students this summer, after an urgent appeal from Accent Language School.
Last month, director Anna Lisa Detassis appealed for more hosts, after the pandemic had led to the school losing two-thirds of its business overnight, and the number of families willing to put up students drop from 40 to nine.
‘Straight after the article in the Guernsey Press we had two families step forward and offer themselves as hosts, and in total I think we have managed to recruit 15, which is amazing,’ she said.
‘The number we were working with was nine, and now we have over 20, plus a few more willing to host later in the summer, so I am delighted to be able to say that everyone has a place to stay.
‘Thanks so much to the whole community.’
The school has been running for over 25 years, offering people the chance to learn any of eight languages, including French, Portuguese and Japanese, along with English as a foreign language. Prior to the school’s appeal, the number of host families available was the lowest it had been in nearly 10 years.
‘It is great that all these kids can come to the island to experience our culture but also to get that real intensive experience learning a language,’ said the school director.
‘These children have suffered a lot in Covid times in their countries, probably a lot more than we have done, and they have missed a lot of the proper school experience, so making the trip over is very important for them.
‘We tend to have a wide range of host families and I think that the experience for them is also great.
‘Sometimes hosting a child can give people company, sometimes it can take people out of their comfort zone a bit and it also means that we can learn from other cultures and the differences between people from different places.’
‘It tends to be a really good, stimulating experience for the host families.’
Liliane Moore, who worked for Accent in the summer of 2020, will be one of the people hosting this summer and said that she was looking forward to the experience.
‘My parents are on holiday for the month so I will be by myself and Anna Lisa asked if I would mind hosting since I am on the island,’ she said.
‘I thought it would be nice to have someone else in the house so I am not by myself.
‘I have already met the person who is going to live with me and she is really nice. I cannot wait show her around Guernsey on the days she is not at Accent.’
