How a Homestay in Palestine Benefits Your Language Skills: When volunteering, interning, or studying Arabic in Palestine with the Excellence Center, you have the opportunity of staying with a host family. Within Palestinian culture, women volunteers will be required to stay with a host family. However, men have the option of staying in an all-male apartment located close to the center if they wish to do so. Concerning the homestays, they are wonderful opportunities for volunteers, interns, and students to be completely immersed in the Arabic language and Palestinian culture.

The families that partner with the Excellence Center to host students, interns, and volunteers in their homes range in their knowledge of English. Some speak very good English, whereas others speak hardly any. Both options are available depending on what you are comfortable with. However, we suggest that you do not completely write-off staying with an Arabic-only speaking family, even if you find it intimidating. There is no better way to improve your language skills than to be immersed 24/7 in the Arabic language. When Arabic is your only means of communication, you will be amazed by how quickly you pick up the language.

Riley is from the United States and is participating in our “Volunteer to Write in Palestine” program. Riley said, “I came to Palestine with only a basic grasp on Arabic and got paired with a host family that didn’t speak any English. Every day my Arabic is improving at a fast rate because I am constantly surrounded by the language. I highly recommend for prospective volunteers, interns, and students to consider a homestay while in Hebron. Learning a new language can be intimidating, but my host family provides a safe space for me to practice and make mistakes. It is as if I have free Arabic lessons all day long.”

To learn and understand a new language requires practice with others. Mistakes will be made and that is part of the learning. When you stay with a host family, there is no pressure to get it right. In addition, depending on where your host family lives in Hebron, you may pick up different Arabic words that people, say, from the city, aren’t familiar with.

With your homestay, you will likely find that family members are excited to improve their English skills, just as you are excited to improve your Arabic skills. Volunteers and Arabic students at the Excellence Center have mentioned how much they enjoy teaching English words to their host family. Altogether, the relationships built and the language skills that will be refined through a homestay are reasons enough to consider this living accommodation while in Hebron. If you are serious about studying Arabic and are eager to immerse yourself completely in Palestinian culture, then a homestay in the way to go.