On April 20, I got my acceptance letter for my study aboard scholarship.! I am going somewhere in Japan and as of right now, I am not sure as to where I am placed and who's my host family. In order to celebrate my acceptance, I decided to post a guide on how to write a host letter.
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Personally, I feel as though not many talk out or clarify about writing host letter when it comes to the study aboard process. Host letter is quite important. It's an honest introduction made by yourself (duh!) to your future host family. The letter is supposed to be intimate yet, public. Yeah, I know it's a bit strange but, it will make more sense once I explain. Recommended length is perhaps 4-5 paragraphs (including introductory and conclusion paragraph). Make sure, your letter isn't too long or short. Too short would it seem like you aren't too interesting and sluggish. Too long could bore your possible host family. Your outline should be in this order: introductory, SAYL*, SAYL, SAYL, and conclusion Similar to the name, go ahead and introduce yo' self! In this paragraph, it is wise to avoid going into details about your interests and relationships. It is way better to give each big aspect of your life, it's own paragraph. For example, this is okay, "I live with my two parents and have two siblings." but, this isn't, "I live with my two parents, Raymond and Elizabeth. My dad is an inventor and we constantly go the movies together and...". Put all of those juicy details into one of the body paragraphs. For the body paragraphs, focus on a big part of your life. It is recommended to go into your interests (like your favorites), your relationships (this can include both family and friends) and school life. However when talking about these things be aware to not put in personal information. Most of the times, study aboard companies put these on a forum or send them host family that can fit your criteria. So, it isn't a good idea give out names, phone numbers, etc. You could tell them those things yourself if you want to when you meet your host family. In the end, conclude your letter. Tell why you think it is important for you to study aboard and the beneficial parts and effects of foreign exchange. This can be a bit tricky but, view this part as if your travel agent or a charismatic salesman trying to ease into booking a trip. If you are still blank, search up pros of foreign exchange or maybe ask people around on their feelings about. That could give some inspiration. Your concluding sentence should be something like this, "Thank you for reading my letter and please consider hosting me. From, Jane.". Here are a few tips that I can offer:
★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★
Personally, I feel as though not many talk out or clarify about writing host letter when it comes to the study aboard process. Host letter is quite important. It's an honest introduction made by yourself (duh!) to your future host family. The letter is supposed to be intimate yet, public. Yeah, I know it's a bit strange but, it will make more sense once I explain. Recommended length is perhaps 4-5 paragraphs (including introductory and conclusion paragraph). Make sure, your letter isn't too long or short. Too short would it seem like you aren't too interesting and sluggish. Too long could bore your possible host family. Your outline should be in this order: introductory, SAYL*, SAYL, SAYL, and conclusion Similar to the name, go ahead and introduce yo' self! In this paragraph, it is wise to avoid going into details about your interests and relationships. It is way better to give each big aspect of your life, it's own paragraph. For example, this is okay, "I live with my two parents and have two siblings." but, this isn't, "I live with my two parents, Raymond and Elizabeth. My dad is an inventor and we constantly go the movies together and...". Put all of those juicy details into one of the body paragraphs. For the body paragraphs, focus on a big part of your life. It is recommended to go into your interests (like your favorites), your relationships (this can include both family and friends) and school life. However when talking about these things be aware to not put in personal information. Most of the times, study aboard companies put these on a forum or send them host family that can fit your criteria. So, it isn't a good idea give out names, phone numbers, etc. You could tell them those things yourself if you want to when you meet your host family. In the end, conclude your letter. Tell why you think it is important for you to study aboard and the beneficial parts and effects of foreign exchange. This can be a bit tricky but, view this part as if your travel agent or a charismatic salesman trying to ease into booking a trip. If you are still blank, search up pros of foreign exchange or maybe ask people around on their feelings about. That could give some inspiration. Your concluding sentence should be something like this, "Thank you for reading my letter and please consider hosting me. From, Jane.". Here are a few tips that I can offer:
- Don't put anything in the letter that could prevent you from getting the host family and application. I don't know how hard that could be for some people but, try not to. It is not the brightest idea to talk your frequent recreational drug usage or, you how much stuff you lift from your local Dollar Tree. Study aboard companies doesn't want you or your host family sitting a jail cell in a different country.
- Be aware of the country you writing these letters to. If you know that you writing a host letter to a country is pretty conservative on certain acts, please try to avoid to talk about that. Of course, there are progressive folks in countries like those. It is safe not to mention them. Additionally, if you do not know if a country is alright with certain things, avoid adding it in.
- Include some of the stuff from the country into one of the paragraphs. I am not saying to go full butt kissing but, draw some connections from the popular cultures and norms into your life. Simply saying that your interest is learning that country's language in your free time or you love a show that is currently being there is a nice way to connect with your host family. That being said, don't lie! Don't talk about how you read all of that country's iconic literature even though, you don't know one of the names of any authors there.
- Steer away from taboo subjects. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT TALK ABOUT POLITICS AND RELIGION!!! Please don't go on about how you love a leader that everybody and their mam know that treated the country you want like crap or, traumatizing event that impacted and sacred that nation. It is okay to talk about how you go to church and youth group and stuff like that. It is not okay to talk about your religion is the best in the world and other religions can go suck eggs. Just be kind and safe.
