Hundreds of families in the south east London area regularly host students from all over the world. One of these is a West Wickham family of seven, the Blackmans, who have been hosting for years

While most of us might think five children is enough to deal with at one time, Jean Blackman says her family enjoys hosting foreign students.

"We do it because we want our children to experience and appreciate different cultures and they love it."

She says being exposed to the students has resulted in her 14-year-old being able to speak fluent French.

Jean started a hosting company 12 years ago after having two children within 17 months of each other. "I did not want to go back to work but I wanted to do some form of work."

She says families host students for two reasons. "Some do it for financial reasons because they get a nightly fee to take in a student, while others do it because their children have left home and their house just feels empty."

"There is one lady who hosts students, who says she would not know what to do with herself if she did not have the students to care for."

Jean says when she started, there was clearly a need to provide quality homestay accommodation in the area, but the company started off small with one coach arriving every now and then.

Over the past five years it has grown rapidly and she now coordinates 170 families who host students in the area.

There are now at least five to seven coaches of students (about 450 students) who need accommodation every week and they usually stay for short periods of between two and six nights.

The students, aged between 12 and 18, come from countries such as America, France, Holland, Italy and Germany and they come here on cultural/educational visits.

They study English at school and visit the UK in order to be immersed in the culture and to learn English with native TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) teachers.

This is partly because a lot of business is conducted in English across Europe and they need to learn it.

"Most of them already speak some English because they learn it at school, so there's never a problem with communication," Jean says.

"Instead, you might have a few lighter moments like when my daughter completely misheard a French student asking her for a fork and knife ..."

In the summer, students often stay for longer periods of up to seven weeks.

Some of these are young American adults who come to work in London for work placement purposes.

This suits some families who only like to take students during half term and holiday, Jean says.

A French teacher, who is bringing a party out here this month, says he values the visits to England.

He said: "The experience of many visits to the UK allows the student to discover a foreign country and culture and give them the opportunity to travel in a safe atmosphere.

"The culture they discover will open their eyes to new things and allow them to appreciate the British way of life.

"What is most important is not the size of the bedroom but the welcome offered by host families. Practising English in different situations gives them long-term benefit and adaptability for their future professional life."

So if you think you would like to become a regular host for students, call 020 8289 2762 or 020 8777 0029.