“I want to get along with my host family and talk in English about many things…but I simply just do not know what to do!” If this sounds like you, then we recommend a homestay with Maggie.
Every Friday, Maggie`s family gathers together to enjoy a movie while eating some popcorn, and after the movie is done they sit down and talk about whatever movie they just watched. Since you will be talking about how you felt watching the movie and what your opinion about it is, this movie night becomes a great chance to speak English.
No matter who she is hosting, Maggie is able to follow and keep up with them.
Host Name: Maggie Ramos
Family Members: Host Father, Host Mother, Son (1), Daughter (1)
Occupation: Host Father is a Company Manager, Host Mother is a Housewife
House Type: Twon house living room, dining room, and kitchen.
Location: Santa Monica
Distance from House to School: Santa Monica College (15 minutes), EC (25 minutes), ELC (30 minutes)
Reasons to Recommended: Every Friday the family watches a movie together, to its a good chance to speak English and improve your English.
The host mother is an avid flower arranger.
You can get along well with the host, and in turn increase your chances to speak English
It is a custom in Maggie`s house to order pizza or California roll sushi on a Friday night and while enjoyijng some pop corn, watch a movie. And of course, if they have an international student staying over, they are sure to invite them to participate.
While it is fun to get along well with your family and have them bring you places with them, it is kind of rare to find a host family that does something together every week regularly.
Normally, in order to do things with your host family, it is up to you to reach out them and suggest to them that you would like to do something with them. This sounds pretty easy, but sometimes it is really difficult to ask.
Even if you are someone who is adventurous and talkative, if you have just come to America and cannot speak English well, then there will be times where even if you ask a question you will not be able to understand the answer, and then the conversation will unfortunately kind of end there.
There will also be times where you will feel that all you can do is laugh, and you will be worried that actually having a meaningful English conversation is too difficult.
Even if you don't understand the story, you could laugh and fun.
Her kids are very easy going and like talking with students.
They also like watching movies!
Maggie's house is very clean and organized
She used to work as an interior designer's secretary in Orange County, about her work, she said it was a very favorite job and she enjoyed it.
She worked with many pepole
When several companies get together and have a big project, if there is a plan to calculate the cost and make such a plan, Mr. Maggie will write a letter based on that plan and the other party I had the job of sending it to a company.
Besides, she was good at organizing things, such as planning meeting schedules and being in charge of general office work, and it was a perfect job for her, and she was a very cool business lady.
I really liked the job of a secretary, but as soon as my child was born, I decided to concentrate on childcare and quit because I had to drive to Orange County for over an hour.
After my child was born, I started flower arrangements by taking advantage of my strengths in organizing and devising. It is probably because of that sense that Maggie's house is fashionable and tidy.
This is the flower arrangements for her kids birthday.
The flower arrangements on the table, which were decorated by Maggie himself, were all original from the design. Childcare is also quite calm, and now I have time, so it would be nice to have them teach me flower arrangements.
Maggie, who loves cleanliness, has been told by both her children and her husband to keep the room clean, and every morning the bed is tidy and the room is tidied up on a daily basis.
Although Maggie hires someone to help clean her house, you do have to keep your room tidy and do your part of daily chores. Maggie`s house has three rules:
- Organize your room and keep it clean.
- If you are going to be out late, definitely contact them and let them know.
- Be honest with them.
Maggie`s Introduction
You can see just how clean and organized she is from this clip. You can also get a sense of how great she is an interior decorator and flower arranger from this clip as well.
First, let`s start from the entryway and go into the family room.
In this room, the family memnbers usually relax by reading books, but the person who uses this room the most is the seven year old daughter.
She is learning gymnasics and dance, and since she loves singing and dancing so much she often does performances in the family room for all her family members,
This is also the room where Maggie and her family watch movies every Friday. There is also a bathroom right next to the living room, so you can easily slip away to the bathroom during the movie if necessary.
If you step out from the room where you watch the movie and go outside past the window, there is a small veranda. There is a barbecue pit here, and the family often does barbecue parties with their international students.
The bicycles here on the veranda are actually Maggie`s, but she lets the students she hosts borrow them whenever they want.
From Maggie`s house to Santa Monica College, it takes about 15 minutes by bus and 10 minutes by bike. Going to school by bike can end up saving you a lot of money!¥
There are two rooms, one of these is for international students to use.
Summary
By watching a movie together with your host family every Friday, you can easily get quite close to them and improve your English quite quickly.
Furthermore, since Maggie has decorated her house with her flower arrangements, this is a host family with a clean and organized home, which probably will make many women who prefer a neat and clean house quite happy.
Should you have any questions about any of our homestays, please feel free to let us know.
English 
日本語