And so it begins...

OK, so the last year has been all about work. I've built the site alongside working full time. The database is completed and only a few little tweaks remain.

What sets Xilfee apart?

• You can see a comprehensive profile of your host or student.
• You choose who you stay with / invite and properly vet them.
• We give you the chance to view potential hosts or student prior to your visit via photographs and / or video.
• You negotiate your tuition / accommodation fees.
• You can organise all of your course & activities before any trip s finalised
• We don't take any money from the student / host for any trip - making it cheaper for a student yet more lucrative for the host.
• You have the opportunity to post / read feedback on hosts / students.

Now we need people to sign up, so if you're interested in hosting foreign students in your home, whilst at the same time earning a little money you're in the right place!

Alternatively you may just be a student looking to improve your language skills outside your full time education course but unwilling to risk being put with complete strangers through one of the many agencies which exist. In this case too, I say take a look through this site. You may find a host family you like, or you may leave your details for a potential host to find.

As a host you can set out the options you offer for courses teaching students.

These include:
Languages taught,
Ability levels taught,
Any areas of specialisation / experience you have,
Amount of hours you can teach per day,
Amount charged (per hour) for teaching,
Amount charged (per night) for accommodation.


Students can also register and state which languages they want to learn, their ability in that language, how long they are looking to stay for.

Of course there are various other question asked during registration too, but it shouldn't take too long to complete (you can also return to your profile to complete / update it at a later date)

As illustrated above you can view the profiles of any host or student, including up to 6 pictures and 1 video clip. We don't give out address details to anyone, Premium Members will get access to the e-mail addresses of other Premium Members.

The Search pages allow students and hosts to pick out various criteria against which they wish to search.

This allows you to narrow down your search to only those registered users who fit your specification. Options include (but are not limited to) :-
Host / Student sex,
Language of choice,
Length of the course,
Language ability.


We do not sell or give your details to anyone else. The only detail we release to other Premium Members is your e-mail address.

The story so far...

Our project to build Xilfee started back in 2001 or so... back then it was a completely different idea we had.

The Early Days...

We started out in 2001 bringing over groups of students to the UK as local agents for a couple of companies. Our responsibility back then involved finding a set number of hosts to accomodate a set number of students. In addition we had to find TEFL teachers, and a venue for 1/2 a days teaching of this group of students. The students would then spend the afternoon out in the local region visiting 'cultural' landmarks or participating in various sporting activities. We had to organise these too including transport, submission & management of a budget and find adult chaperons. Finally the host families had to be managed, this involved vetting them at the start, resolving any issues which cropped up and paying them.

These language courses are very popular on the continent and are a great way of improving the English language skills of overseas students. We also felt it would benefit our own children to introduce them to foreign students and other languages at an early age.

A change of direction

We continued with these English Language Courses for a couple of years. However we began to ask questions of the whole process. Why was nothing done electronically & what better ways could we find of matching our students to their host family. It was here that the idea of Xilfee first developed in our minds, albeit in a slightly different format...

Why not develop a website where the students and host could post their details and / or search the database for suitable matches themselves. Apart from taking the stress out of matching up the students and families, we could now ensure a little 'pre-visit bonding'. At this time we still wanted to maintain control over lots of aspects but we were sure that this was the way to progess. So in 2003 From All Around the World was born, little did we know that our project was so far off completion.

Frustration
To cut a long story short we had a long period of development on our site and a number of web developers helped to progress the project in one way or another, but in the winter of 2006 we decided on another change! The website was to operate as a 'meeting place' for hosts & students and they would agree all aspects of potential visits between them - our involvement would be cut to a minimum as would our fee, but we would do all the web work ourselves.

So by the start of 2007 I was in full time work and embarking on learning the web skills necessary to build Xilfee myself, the site progressed throughout the year up to the current point in time. It's been a long hard journey but we have learnt a lot and now we need your help.

Hello

Well, its late in the evening & I've been working hard to get this blog up and running...

I hope that this has finally cracked that problem and I can move on tomorrow to be a little more creative. In the coming days I will spend a little time outlining how our Xilfee site works and what we hope to achieve with it.

If you have any comments or suggestions I'd be delighted to hear them - any help is gratefully received!