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老外游中国：英语课换免费食宿[文章来自:考试与评价 VF\NTE e3"uI {JI?]
Free lodging in China, but only if you speak English[文章版权 禁止转载:考试与评价 LjP1
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想要到中国旅游，经济又不太宽裕的老外们注意了：中国部分家庭从上月起开始提供英语课程换免费住宿服务，只要每天能够保证至少两小时的英语交流时间，来中国旅游的老外便可以在提供该服务的中国家庭免费住宿。推出此项服务的是中国一个叫“老友记”的非盈利性组织。他们指出，目前国内英语课程的学费日渐看涨，而同时各大城市，尤其在上海，旅游业住宿的费用也随着上海世博会的召开而逐渐升温，提供这样的服务既可以满足外国游客的需求，同时也能为普通中国家庭找到纯正的生活英语学习环境。据该组织创始人介绍，此项服务推出一个月来，已经有5000个中国家庭申请加入。除免费住宿外，申请此服务的外国游客还可享受机场接送及一日两餐的服务，另外还可用英语课程换取导游或者中国烹饪课程等服务。[文章版权 禁止转载:考试与评价 W}86+4eJiw]v="zFroG]
Visitors seeking to see China on a budget would do well to brush up their English language skills to take advantage of a scheme that offers free lodging in Chinese homes in exchange for English tutoring.[文章版权 禁止转载:考试与评价 7+i EI!|B&9
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With the cost of one hour of English tuition costing up to 500 yuan ($73.26) -- unaffordable for the vast majority of Chinese -- a not-for-profit Chinese organization called Tourboarding launched the initiative last month.
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Lodgers must speak at least two hours of English a day in return for their keep while their Chinese hosts can learn for free from a resident live-in English teacher.
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"In the past 30 days, 5,000 Chinese families have signed up," said Ken Chen, 38, one of the founding members for Tourboarding.
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Chen said the aim of the company, which is run online (www.tourboarding.com/), is not to make money but to provide opportunity for the millions of Chinese keen to learn English.
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Tourboarding hopes to tap into foreign demand for cheap accommodation in China, particularly in Shanghai, as hotel prices have soared since the start of the World Expo in May.
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"Travel industry hates us, people love us," is the motto on its website, which prides itself on offering travelers airport pick-up and drop off, free accommodation with a family and two meals a day.
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Travelers can choose to exchange their language for free accommodation, tour guiding or even Chinese cooking lessons.
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Yang Yang, 16, a female student in Shanghai advertises her home on the Tourboarding website to prospective travelers: "The house is next to a lake, green is good. We can offer single rooms for you to live. My parents want me to invite a woman."
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Chen said Yang is just one example of a rising number of Chinese opening their homes to foreigners in the hope of improving their English.
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"We accept travelers from all over the world. In the future we will copy this model to imitate in new, booming countries such as Russia, Brazil and Vietnam," said Chen.
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Chen who quit his job at Nike Sports China, joined forces with Nuno Zhang, 28, an ex-Google employee to create the Tourboarding concept. The company started up in April.
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He added that the website would rely on donations from travelers until volume traffic increases.
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"In the future we will bring in advertising to make the service sustainable but we will not charge hosts at all as they are from a developing country," Chen added.
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