We are looking for Bulgarian host families for students from the USA!
For the YES Abroad program, American Councils Bulgaria is looking for five host families for American students who will spend the 2023/2024 school year in Bulgaria. Host families must live in Sofia.
For the eighth year, Bulgaria will welcome high school students from the United States as part of the U.S. Department of State's YES Abroad program. It is aimed at the cultural and educational exchange to bring the two countries peoples closer together. The participating American students will spend the next school year outside their home country, living with a Bulgarian host family and attending a Bulgarian school. The host family will host the American student from early September 2023 until early June 2024, when the American students depart back to the United States.
More about the program: https://www.yes-abroad.org/about/about-us
How do you become a host family?
Contact American Councils - Bulgaria to get application documents and more information:
- bg@americancouncils.org
- 0877333013
Applications for the YES Abroad program will be accepted until July 30, 2023.
More about the YES Abroad host families
Host family care is a long-term commitment over ten months (September 2023 - June 2024). The host mother and/or father are expected to provide meals, and appropriate living arrangements, including accommodation in a private or shared room with another child in the family, and support the student in various situations. The presence of the foreign pupil in the home should not change the daily routine of activities; on the contrary, he/she should be treated not as a guest but as part of the family. In this way, the perception of Bulgarian culture and way of life is encouraged through everyday and seemingly ordinary activities.
Participants in the program undergo an intensive Bulgarian language course in the first weeks of their stay in our country. However, for better communication, it is good that at least one of the host family members has a basic knowledge of English. Participants are between 17 and 19 years old, and their stay is coordinated and administered by the American Council on International Education - Bulgaria. The host family signs a contract and communicates closely with the organization throughout the student's stay. The American Council, in turn, provides the necessary moral and material support to the family in case of need.
Living with a host family is vital to the success of the program. The family is expected to provide the student with the necessary support in socializing in the new environment and understanding the Bulgarian culture, as well as in daily life and academic activities. Hosting an international student in the home presents many opportunities for the host family. This way, its members can learn first-hand about American culture, overcoming stereotypes and "mistranslations". Experience has shown that such cohabitation is very valuable for the children in the family, broadening their horizons and limits of tolerance and, in more practical terms, improving their command of the English language. Lastly, such relationships between the student and the host family usually remain warm for life.
For more information, contact the American Council for International Education - Bulgaria Branch at bg@americancouncils.org or call 0877333013