Introduction

At a glance

SomedayTalk Homestay is an English camp held twice a year, during the summer and winter breaks. Programs are called “2026 Summer”, “2026-2027 Winter” and so on.

How it is organized

The kids form groups by house. Each house has a head host who leads the group, and each group has teams of about four students. Every team is looked after by one host.

How groups, hosts and tutors are matched

1. 1
   The online teacher shares the child’s level and personality
2. 2
   A host’s admission interview checks that the child is ready for homestay lifeIf the child cannot read yet, or is too young to be cared for, the application can be cancelled at this step; the contract fee is then fully refunded.
3. 3
   The host gives a level test
4. 4
   The host who fits the child is chosen
5. 5
   The tutor who fits the child is chosen

Location

The homestay houses are in Quezon City, Metro Manila, about an hour by car from the airport (up to three hours in heavy traffic).

Safety

This is what parents worry about most. Since 2015, running the program twice a year, there has not been a single safety incident. Safety is planned in from the start, and the hosts check everything carefully.

How long

• The stay can be extended; let us know early so we can plan.
• For elementary students the time away counts as absence at school in Korea, which does not affect moving up a grade.
• Middle school students can usually register it as a field-study program, so it is not counted as absence (check with your school).
• If a child comes home early for personal reasons, the host and housing fees for the rest of the stay are still due. See the Regulation.

When to start

Opinions differ, but in our experience the summer of grade 4 works best.

• Children can live away from their parents by then, and their Korean is settled enough to dive fully into English.
• There are six chances to join before finishing elementary school; in middle school the stay is limited to three months a year, so it pays to build English early.
• Children who started earlier had better pronunciation, fluency and English thinking. Younger kids adapt to English Only more easily and absorb the language faster; closer to adolescence they tend to “think English in Korean”.
• From experience, grade 2 is a little early and grade 6 a little late, but every child is different, so we decide together in consultation.

Meals

In a recent three-month program the kitchen served 109 different dishes 306 times: 41% Korean, 34% Western and 25% Filipino. Favorites such as jeyuk-bokkeum came back often. See the 2018-2019 winter menu.

Health care

Hosts are with the kids 24 hours a day. When a child has a fever or feels sick, the host checks every two to three hours, even at night, contacts the parents first, and gives medicine or goes to the emergency room as the parents decide.

• Diliman Doctors Hospital, a large hospital, is less than 10 minutes away.
• An emergency room visit can cost over 100,000 won, which travel insurance pays back. Travel insurance is required.

Reading

Every weekday evening the kids read for an hour from books that fit their level: reading aloud, summarizing each page and a short Q&A with the host. Hosts give parents feedback on reading once a month. The kids have read 58 books so far.

• Geronimo Stilton
• Holes
• A to Z Mysteries
• Roald Dahl
• Monster
• In Too Deep
• Wonder
• The Alchemist

English Only Policy (EOP)

EOP is the heart of SomedayTalk Homestay. Apart from calls with their parents, the kids use English only; speaking Korean earns a small penalty (helping with chores).

Living in English only is hard at first. First-timers need about two weeks to a month to get used to it, and the hosts work through it with them. After that the kids begin to think and speak in English. Their Korean can get a little rusty in the meantime.

Working with parents

Programs can be tailored to each child. Parents and the host share a Telegram room where they talk about what the child needs, special requests and even changes to the classes. Unlike programs that run the same way for everyone, our hosts take parents’ suggestions on board.

Super Group Class

Ask other parents what makes the program different and they say the Super Group Class, developed since 2015.

Every Friday afternoon all the kids come together for debates, oratory, event hosting, monologues, presentations, spelling games, poetry and storytelling. They then watch their recordings with the teachers and see their friends’ performances, which motivates them a lot. Even kids who are shy about speaking in public feel a real sense of achievement afterwards.

Costs and how we run it

SomedayTalk Homestay is run without agents and without profit. The base cost is explained on consultation.

• Personal activities and purchases are charged at cost, and every expense is shared.
• Any expense over 50,000 won (for example a month-end party at a hotel or Airbnb) needs parents’ approval first.
• Once you confirm, a contract fee is paid per month of stay; it is not refunded if the child does not join after confirming.
• If a child comes home early, the host, housing and tutor fees for the rest of the stay are charged. The host still looks after the child’s English, and the child can continue online with the same tutor.
• The official summer stay for elementary students is two months; for a shorter stay, the host and housing fees for the days not used are paid.

See the Regulation for details.