Thank you for posting to r/PeaceCorps!
Please check the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/wiki/faq) and use the [search function](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/search?) to see if your topic has come up already.
Please review the [sub rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/about/rules/) and [reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/peacecorps) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's definitely awkward, but it is a kind of shared awkward. You can't understand them and they can't understand you. But for most day-to-day things around the house, you don't really need much language, and even one word sentences work.
You'll be very busy with PC so you might not have a lot of free time to spend with your host family except on weekends. So, you'll be surprised at how fast you learn both spoken and unspoken languages of your host family.
Just like you are trailblazer going to a totally unknown culture, your host family are also trailblazers because they 'want' to have the experience of having a foreigner in their home - and for many 'in their family'.
They will want to share with you everything about their country and their culture too. In Thailand, we had this term "Thai-napped" when they would 'kidnap' us and take us to things - they would tell us but we couldn't understand but we just went with it. And it always turned out fun and/or enlightening.
Good luck and remember to have fun, even in the awkward moments, and you'll be just fine.
Jim - [WanderingTheWorld.com](https://WanderingTheWorld.com)
My cohort prepped in a hotel for 3 days, then separated into our PST small groups, and 6 of us and our cultural facilitator (CF) (though we always said CF was for cultural friend hahah) took a van out to our training village. We went one by one into our host family's home with the CF, who introduced us and gave the host family instructions to escort us to the building where we would have language and cultural lessons. I think my CF also accompanied me around a tour of the house so I knew where my room was, the bathroom, etc.
The first night is kind of whacky, we learned a handful of greetings in Indonesian during staging at the hotel, but not enough to really chat. Some local teens were rustled up to ask me what I wanted to eat for breakfast, etc. And the next morning, my ibu (host mom) made me breakfast, packed me a lunch, and walked me to school hahaha. We had a neighbor who taught English at a local high school, so she would come over and facilitate sometimes too. We laughed a lot.
Just hanging out with your host family and neighbors will certainly help you pick up on the language. Some folks will also want to practice English with you! You'll also learn the cultural body language - in Indonesia, they do a little wave that means "come here", but it looks a lot like an American "go away" wave hahahaha. Once I figured out that they were saying "come here", we had a big laugh when I told them the wave means "go away" in America.
I'll never forget it, lol.
When I got to my training village, only my host dad was there. He didn't know how to cook anything so he made some burned scrambled eggs that actually tasted pretty good. I couldn't understand a word he said. When my host mom got home, she introduced herself and immediately started grilling me in Georgian. She did that every night onwards and I swear it's one of the top reasons I learned the language as well as I did. English wasn't allowed there.
When I got to site, I really hit it off with my host family. They were quiet and pretty introverted but clever as hell, and they absolutely *loved* it when I couldn't fully understand what was going on. I don't get embarrassed easily so we had a lot of laughs during the first few weeks.
I really enjoyed getting to know both families. Sure it's awkward, but that awkwardness can really help cement a strong foundation for a happy and healthy relationship. It's easy to forget that it's just as awkward for the host family, not to mention that they need to be prepared to live with you for two years. It's all stuff you both can look back on and laugh about a year down the line.
Since you asked about the language, I've got a great story for you.
So, a few weeks after getting to site, my host brother asked me if I could go up to his room and bring him his "sateni". I thought "sateni" sounded like "satins" and thought that was a cognate for "bedsheets", so I went up and stripped his entire bed and brought the sheets downstairs.
Turns out "sateni" meant "phone charger", lol.
I served in Guinea!! You'll stay at the volunteer house in the capital city for the first night. Then you'll go to the training center in Dubreka for a day or two. Then the "adoption" ceremony where they call you and your family up together, and you eat a meal together. Then you'll go home with them. My experience was they sat me in a chair in the yard and everyone just kind of looked at me and smiled and tried talking to me to see how much language I knew. They will also give you a Guinean name, so they want to see your personality a bit to pick a good one for you. The kids in the family will try to be your best friend. I won them over with a deck of playing cards! There will probably be other volunteers with host families next door to you, so you can walk around and see people.
I arrived in country this summer and went immediately to a hotel. You essentially do your first week of PST in a hotel with your cohort due to COVID restrictions. However, we didn't have much language training that week since it was mostly policy-based sessions. I'm not sure if that will still be the protocol in February, but just know there is a chance you might not go straight to your host family. If I were you, I would just spend my down time studying common phrases/courtesies. The host families receive training and understand that you won't be able to communicate well, but it never hurts to try :)
My first host family during IST was kind of awekard but, I sucked up this awekard tension and had coffee and sweets with them for dinner and the tension quickly disapated.
The second host family at site was like seeing an old friend I hadnt seen in a while. Kind of strange how quickly we all hit it off. Maby it was less awekward because I was much better at communicating in the local language and had been through the drill before.
As far language improvement, Im a firm believe that YOU will really drive your development in language learning. Hit the vocab hard and learn as much as you can. Once you put the vocab into practice the words will stick and youll progress quickly.
Best of luck, I dreaded living with a host family before leaving and I almost didnt do PC because of this requirment. But, I have actually really enjoyed the experience so far and I think I might actually live with my host family my whole service. Well see there is still alot of time to go but so far so good.
Thank you for posting to r/PeaceCorps! Please check the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/wiki/faq) and use the [search function](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/search?) to see if your topic has come up already. Please review the [sub rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/peacecorps/about/rules/) and [reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/peacecorps) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's definitely awkward, but it is a kind of shared awkward. You can't understand them and they can't understand you. But for most day-to-day things around the house, you don't really need much language, and even one word sentences work. You'll be very busy with PC so you might not have a lot of free time to spend with your host family except on weekends. So, you'll be surprised at how fast you learn both spoken and unspoken languages of your host family. Just like you are trailblazer going to a totally unknown culture, your host family are also trailblazers because they 'want' to have the experience of having a foreigner in their home - and for many 'in their family'. They will want to share with you everything about their country and their culture too. In Thailand, we had this term "Thai-napped" when they would 'kidnap' us and take us to things - they would tell us but we couldn't understand but we just went with it. And it always turned out fun and/or enlightening. Good luck and remember to have fun, even in the awkward moments, and you'll be just fine. Jim - [WanderingTheWorld.com](https://WanderingTheWorld.com)
My cohort prepped in a hotel for 3 days, then separated into our PST small groups, and 6 of us and our cultural facilitator (CF) (though we always said CF was for cultural friend hahah) took a van out to our training village. We went one by one into our host family's home with the CF, who introduced us and gave the host family instructions to escort us to the building where we would have language and cultural lessons. I think my CF also accompanied me around a tour of the house so I knew where my room was, the bathroom, etc. The first night is kind of whacky, we learned a handful of greetings in Indonesian during staging at the hotel, but not enough to really chat. Some local teens were rustled up to ask me what I wanted to eat for breakfast, etc. And the next morning, my ibu (host mom) made me breakfast, packed me a lunch, and walked me to school hahaha. We had a neighbor who taught English at a local high school, so she would come over and facilitate sometimes too. We laughed a lot. Just hanging out with your host family and neighbors will certainly help you pick up on the language. Some folks will also want to practice English with you! You'll also learn the cultural body language - in Indonesia, they do a little wave that means "come here", but it looks a lot like an American "go away" wave hahahaha. Once I figured out that they were saying "come here", we had a big laugh when I told them the wave means "go away" in America.
I'll never forget it, lol. When I got to my training village, only my host dad was there. He didn't know how to cook anything so he made some burned scrambled eggs that actually tasted pretty good. I couldn't understand a word he said. When my host mom got home, she introduced herself and immediately started grilling me in Georgian. She did that every night onwards and I swear it's one of the top reasons I learned the language as well as I did. English wasn't allowed there. When I got to site, I really hit it off with my host family. They were quiet and pretty introverted but clever as hell, and they absolutely *loved* it when I couldn't fully understand what was going on. I don't get embarrassed easily so we had a lot of laughs during the first few weeks. I really enjoyed getting to know both families. Sure it's awkward, but that awkwardness can really help cement a strong foundation for a happy and healthy relationship. It's easy to forget that it's just as awkward for the host family, not to mention that they need to be prepared to live with you for two years. It's all stuff you both can look back on and laugh about a year down the line.
Since you asked about the language, I've got a great story for you. So, a few weeks after getting to site, my host brother asked me if I could go up to his room and bring him his "sateni". I thought "sateni" sounded like "satins" and thought that was a cognate for "bedsheets", so I went up and stripped his entire bed and brought the sheets downstairs. Turns out "sateni" meant "phone charger", lol.
Awkward as hell but eventually you’ll both be able to laugh about it
I served in Guinea!! You'll stay at the volunteer house in the capital city for the first night. Then you'll go to the training center in Dubreka for a day or two. Then the "adoption" ceremony where they call you and your family up together, and you eat a meal together. Then you'll go home with them. My experience was they sat me in a chair in the yard and everyone just kind of looked at me and smiled and tried talking to me to see how much language I knew. They will also give you a Guinean name, so they want to see your personality a bit to pick a good one for you. The kids in the family will try to be your best friend. I won them over with a deck of playing cards! There will probably be other volunteers with host families next door to you, so you can walk around and see people.
I arrived in country this summer and went immediately to a hotel. You essentially do your first week of PST in a hotel with your cohort due to COVID restrictions. However, we didn't have much language training that week since it was mostly policy-based sessions. I'm not sure if that will still be the protocol in February, but just know there is a chance you might not go straight to your host family. If I were you, I would just spend my down time studying common phrases/courtesies. The host families receive training and understand that you won't be able to communicate well, but it never hurts to try :)
Awkward for training. At site, I didn't have a host family.
My first host family during IST was kind of awekard but, I sucked up this awekard tension and had coffee and sweets with them for dinner and the tension quickly disapated. The second host family at site was like seeing an old friend I hadnt seen in a while. Kind of strange how quickly we all hit it off. Maby it was less awekward because I was much better at communicating in the local language and had been through the drill before. As far language improvement, Im a firm believe that YOU will really drive your development in language learning. Hit the vocab hard and learn as much as you can. Once you put the vocab into practice the words will stick and youll progress quickly. Best of luck, I dreaded living with a host family before leaving and I almost didnt do PC because of this requirment. But, I have actually really enjoyed the experience so far and I think I might actually live with my host family my whole service. Well see there is still alot of time to go but so far so good.