VIN’s language/culture/homestay volunteer program is a program fit for those who want to learn something about Nepali culture and to some degree would like to integrate into the friendly Nepali society.

As a volunteer, you would be placed into a typical Nepali home in the village. During the day, you would be given language lessons. These lessons, taught by experts, would not only teach you the language, but also could teach you the cultural norms of our country. You will also be given a chance to help out at the nearest local school.

This program has been known to pull volunteers out of that “visitor’s bubble” and integrate them into the place of an accepted family member of a Nepali household, an equal member of the general community. 

Home-stays and cultural exchange programs can be arranged in most areas of Nepal with our 35 Host families. Participants will be placed with a Nepali family in a small rural village for the duration of their stay.  
 
This provides the volunteers with an excellent opportunity to learn about all aspects of Nepali culture, lifestyle, language, food and people. Volunteers should remember that this is a cultural exchange and that an effort to offer some knowledge of their own home culture and customs to the family with whom they stay will be appreciated. During their stay, volunteers will attend 2 hours of language lessons in the morning and in the afternoon.  
 
They will also have the opportunity to visit and help out at the local school. Home stay programs are best organized from August to December which is the time when most large Nepali festivals take place. This makes for an overall more exciting experience for the volunteer. Nepali culture is distinctively friendly and open and often participants are made to feel as though they are part of the family. VIN’s local coordinator will be on hand to help volunteers.  
 
LEARNING LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
 
Nepal is a very rich country in culture and landscape. The country is a hodgepodge of ethnic groups and sub-groups who speak over 100 languages and dialects. There are numerous festivals that are celebrated throughout the year in traditional style highlighting enduring customs and beliefs.
 
Nepali is the national and official language of Nepal. It is used throughout the country on a regular basis. Learning Nepali language gives you a different experience. Your stay will be richly enhanced when given the opportunity to communicate outside the tourist realm.
 
VIN has a number of experienced and professional language trainers. It applies learner centered teaching methods with a comfortable and friendly atmosphere. Trainers can be available at a convenient time and place for the learner.
 
Although VIN has its own designed course book, lessons and teaching techniques can be adjusted in accordance with the learner’s needs and suggestions. VIN guarantees that the learner will feel a difference and a new kind of confidence within just a few hours of being a student. We provide short term (hourly basis) and long-term (more than two weeks) language classes. In the long term courses, the learner can learn different cultural norms and values from the community in addition to the basic Nepali taught. Learning a language means to assimilate oneself into the culture of the target language and essentially to integrate into that particular society. Keeping this socio-linguistic principle in mind VIN believes that village (family) stay is the most effective component to learning the Nepali language and culture.
 
Before leaving for the village stay, the learner will be given detailed information about cultural aspects of village life. Then, the learner will be taken to a village and placed with a family by a language trainer. The host family will be given an orientation on how to deal with and serve food to the volunteers.