CIEE families: your home away from home

One of the main focus of the High School Study Abroad program with CIEE is the language immersion. 

The goal is for the students to experience life as authentically as possible in a traditional family environment. The families are carefully chosen and personally interviewed to ensure the best placement for the students.

Students and host families are matched and already in contact well before the students arrive in their host country. Upon arrival, families welcome their student with big smiles and much enthusiasm.

Although the HSSA program is academically rigorous, part of the daily assignments always includes some interpersonal communication focused on a specific topic (linked to the daily lessons). For exemple, this week the students learning outcome is about Cultural discovery. During the day, the students discover and learn about new art forms and expression (from classical-fine arts- to modern- street art) and also discussed other forms of cultural expression such as photography, music and cinema.

Each evening the students have an activity called "OZ le français en famille" which consist of open-ended questions the students asked their host family during dinner time and/or, even better, while helping with making dinner.

CIEE takes pride in ensuring that all students are welcomed, included and accepted as individuals. 

Don't take my words for it, however, hear it from students themselves: 

"I honestly really like my host family and really enjoy spending time with them..and their cats:)" (Rennes 2024)

"My family is so nice, they always make sure I have everything I need" (Rennes 2024)

"I went to the beach with my family this weekend and I had the best time! They're really fun!" (Rennes 2024)