Home-Stays

An integral part of the HCJYF

Students of the Hamilton Junior Year in France stay in French residences with French hosts in order to make the residential component of the program an integral part of their linguistic and cultural experience.

Students find this arrangement a wonderful opportunity to be insiders rather than outside observers and of course to speak French with their hosts and participate in their daily lives.

Arrangements made by the program also free students from the burden of finding a place on their own (which, in Paris, can be very time-consuming and frustrating). Students are expected to eat most dinners with their host families, but their independence is also respected for occasional dinners out with friends and family members, or for evening classes or cultural events.

In Biarritz, all meals are provided by the French hosts. In Paris, students receive half-board (breakfast and evening meals) six days per week.

Students may remain in their homes in Paris during either Winter or Spring vacations, but will be responsible for their meals. Although the Junior Year attempts to accommodate individual requests, the director will make the final decision in the assignment of French families. Students are expected, under normal circumstances, to remain in the same home during the entire academic year.

How are Home-stays Selected?

As part of the application process, students fill out a detailed confidential form describing their living habits. In Biarritz, the Assistant Director and the Director discuss specific needs with individual students (or with students who have expressed a desire to live together) in order to select the most appropriate home for each individual. Paris residences are assigned during the Biarrtiz orientation.

Students may suggest the name of a family with whom they would like to live, if the family is French, lives in Paris and is willing to provide demi-pension. This must be done by May 1 of the year prior to the program.