Make life-long connections, Embrace new cultures
General Info

Welcoming an exchange student into your home is a truly rewarding experience!
It is a great way to learn about other cultures, enrich your family’s daily life and teach a foreign student about American life. Hosting exchange students is also very important for our nation as it helps promote diplomacy and build people-to-people connections across the world.
- How it Works -
Your family will host someone for 1-4 weeks in July who is the same age, gender and has similar interests as one of your family members.
There will be free group activities per week and the rest of the time your family will share your daily life with your new Spanish amigo.
You can also host for a school year. Contact us!
Our Locations
Cincy North
Cincy South & NKY
Denver
Atlanta
Next Steps
Thank you so much for your interest in hosting! Please click below to fill out your application and sign the agreement. It will be reviewed as soon as possible and you will be contacted within 3 business days. The sooner you submit your application, the more likely we are able to match your family with an international student.
A member of our Live N Learn team will coordinate a time to do an in-home interview with your family. This is a chance for LNL to get to know your family, visit your home and see if there is a potential match with one of our international students.
In order to participate in our programs, host families must complete a criminal background check for everyone in the household who is 18 years of age or older. This will confirm criminal history and will not perform a credit check. There is no cost to obtain the background check. Click below to complete background checks.
Every host family will need to complete a short profile that will be sent to their potential student. This includes a short questionnaire and photo uploads of your family and the outside of your home. Click below to fill out your family’s profile.
Live N Learn will review your family’s application, interview and background check to determine if there is a match with a student. Sometimes not every host family applicant can be used because we need more host families for students of a certain gender, age or specific profile. If there is a match, you will be notified of participation in the program as soon as possible.
You will be connected with your student around two weeks before their arrival and will receive their Student Profile with information about them, photos and contact information. We encourage you to get in contact with your student immediately and to arrange a video call with them and their family.
Hosting FAQs
Any family with a child from 12-18 years old is eligible to participate in the Live N Learn Host Family Program. Families may have any religious or ethnic background, but must commit to speaking exclusively English at home while they are hosting a student. Families should have a desire to share their interests and the American way of life with an international student and have an open mind to learning about their student’s customs and culture.
Host families are expected to treat their international student as a member of the family and not as a guest. They are expected to give their student a true American experience by sharing everyday experiences and events with them, such as birthday parties, holiday traditions, family meals, sporting events, movies and even household chores. They must provide the international student with a bed, which can be in a shared room with a sibling of the same gender and close in age. They will also need to provide three meals a day. Families are also expected to provide transportation to group activities up to a few times a week (car pools can be arranged!). The main host student is expected to attend activities with the international guest.
Host families are volunteers. Although there is no direct monetary compensation, Live N Learn will pay for the American students to participate in all organized group activities, many of which have entrance fees. Additionally, families who host a student and then travel to Spain with a Live N Learn program will receive a discount on their program abroad.
Live N Learn matches families and students based on the age, gender and interests of the American host student and international student. We do our best to assure that your family and the student you host share common interests and lifestyles. We personally interview all families and students and also have both parties fill out a questionnaire in order to make the best matches possible.
Students come to the U.S. to live with a host family and learn what daily life is like for American families. Live N Learn expects families to include their student in their normal everyday activities. You are welcome to show them what’s special about your city or plan a few outings, but Live N Learn does not expect families to make extravagant plans or spend a lot of money to entertain their student.
Before the program begins there will be a meeting with all host families to go over guidelines and answer any questions that you may have. During the program there will be Live N Learn staff living in the community and they will be accessible by phone 24 hours/day. Students will always be accompanied during any group activity by Live N Learn staff.
International students are expected to obey all the Live N Learn rules and policies that are applicable while on their program. Should a student break a rule such as driving, hitchhiking, drinking or partaking in illegal drugs, they will have their program terminated. Students are expected to obey U.S. laws and customs and follow any household rules that your family might have. Within your home, you may set consequences for the student as if he/she were your own child. Please contact Live N Learn if a student breaks a rule or there are any serious discipline issues and we’ll handle the problem as we see fit. You will be provided with information on Live N Learn rules and policies, at or before your pre-arrival orientation for host families.
Welcoming an exchange student into your home is a fun way for your family to learn about another country, its people, language and customs. This gives your children an opportunity to have a global perspective from a young age and also gives them the chance to learn or practice another language. It is also a great way to make friendships in different countries and open up travel opportunities for your family.
Host families can welcome a student into their home for 1-4 weeks in the month of July. We also have the opportunity for you to host for a full school year.
While there is no direct “fee” for hosting, an additional person in your home does, naturally, increase the cost of food, transportation, and activities you do as a whole family. However, international students come with their own spending money and are expected to pay for their own leisure activities.
All international students have undergone an interview process and have done oral and written activities to verify that they possess a high enough level of English to participate in a homestay. At first, it may be difficult for students to get used to your accent or to feel confident and comfortable speaking, so just be patient, don’t speak too fast and avoid using difficult idioms.
Yes! Host students and international students will participate in weekly activities/outings. These will be FREE and fun activities like rafting, sand volleyball, going to a baseball game, playing laser tag, etc. If your family has a trip planned or other prior obligations, please consult us. The international student may either be able to accompany your family or we can arrange alternate plans for them.
If problems arise between your family and the international student, Live N Learn will be there to provide support and guidance. We are available to assist you 24 hours a day and there will be Live N Learn staff accessible at a moment’s notice.
Please be patient at first with your student and give them a chance to get comfortable and open up to your family. Travelling across the world to a foreign country with a different language and culture can be frightening and some students may initially be shy and reserved. If it turns out that differences cannot be resolved, Live N Learn will help the student transition to a new home. We are committed to ensuring that both students and host families have a positive exchange experience.
All students also come with approved health, accident and liability insurance valid in the United States, so families will not need to pay any medical expenses if an accident or injury were to occur. If it is an emergency, families should take the student straight to the nearest hospital and call the LNL Local Coordinator while in route. If it is something minor, families should call the LNL Local Coordinator and they will give the family instructions on where to take the student and remind the student what they should bring with them.
For additional questions, contact us at host@livenlearn.com
Testimonials
What
families
say
about
LIVE N LEARN
The experience of hosting is life changing, a never ending adventure. It has open the world for our kids. They are better for it and more confident in taking chances.
I had some of the most memorable experiences of my life that summer with Diego and the only thing I regret is not hosting earlier.
Our experience hosting with Live N Learn was amazing! Our daughter and her exchange student were perfectly matched. Live N Learn also did a great job organizing everything and communicating with us about the program.