Any French speakers who could help out?

[Jonette]

Ds is going on a school exchange and neither of us speak French well, but just looking for wording to express something along the lines of the following:

Thank you for hosting me and I am looking forward to my stay. Here is a small token gift from England, I hope you like it.

Something like that. Doesn't need to be word for word - just a similar sentiment.

Fuck it, I can't even say it in English lol.

Might be worth mentioning that he doesn't speak French? So something like, I apologise that I don't speak French or something.

Not sure of the protocol for this sort of thing with host families.

I should mention ds doesn't have a word of French at all as he is studying German.

He's going there to learn French, no? So a note that he writes himself with his current French will mean more than a perfectly written one from an internet stranger.

No, he's going to play music.

Oh, cross post. Why is he going on a French exchange in that case? What is he hoping to get out of it?

It's one of the towns paired with French towns exchange things. I said school, but it's not with the school.

It's a trip abroad which happens yearly, with each hosting every second year. So France host this year, next year it will be us. He's not hoping to learn anything, I think it's an EU thing.

We don't have to pay anything, not sure whether the council does (it's organised by the council), so I don't want him to start off on the wrong foot arriving there with one arm as long as the other and not even a Bonjour in his repertoire!

Merci de m'avoir reçu chez vous. Je suis très content de venir. Voici un petit cadeau. Désolé que je ne parle pas français, j'étudie l'allemand à l'école.

Forgot. J'espère que vous l'aimez. After cadeau

user1471596980 That sounds parfait!
Maman me l'écrit and also offers her greetings - if she could remember a word of French!
I think they speak English quite well as we received the itinerary today which involves a lot of 'intervention' which I am presuming they mean to say participation!

Quick question - is he sending the present before hand or giving it to them at the beginning of his stay or at the end?

Merci du fond du coeur de m'acceuillir dans votre maison. J'avais tres hate de vous rencontrer. Voici un petit cadeau de l'Angleterre, j'espere que ca va vous plaire.

Cordialement,

Name.

(I'm French Canadian so the style is a bit informal, maybe someone with more knowledge of the actual French culture would write it differently. It's written as if he is giving them the note as he meets them there, not as if he is sending the present in advance).

A level dd came up with similar!

The French people I know would say 'chez vous' rather than 'dans votre maison', I think.

I was thinking of him giving it to them at the beginning of the visit? I've never hosted anything like this before, so I don't actually know what's typical.

yes sounds good. At the beginning is good, sets the tone! He is very brave by the way, it's fab. I hope he enjoys it!

What does 'hate' mean?

What is he giving them just out of curiosity?

hate there is an accent on the a, it means looking forward to. www.linguee.fr/francais-anglais/traduction/j%27ai+h%C3%A2te.html

He's totally blasé about the thing which is why I want to compensate the poor unfortunate family who is hosting him! He's a polite boy, but you just worry that they might think he's an ungrateful brat if he doesn't even bring something small.

Merci du fond du coeur de m'acceuillir dans votre maison. J'avais tres hate de vous rencontrer. Voici un petit cadeau de l'Angleterre, j'espere que ca va vous plaire.

@QueenBlueberries has it. That's perfect! I'm a French speaker and couldn't have worded it better.

We still haven't figured that bit out! I was thinking something musical, but not sure what else we could send that isn't tat or keyrings or teatowels lol. Any suggestions for that also appreciated!

Also will only be bringing a carry on case, so can't take up room.

I'm still worried about the 'hate' What sort of accent does it need?

if you click on the link www.linguee.fr/francais-anglais/traduction/j%27ai+h%C3%A2te.html it will show you the accent. It's circomflex accent, like a little pointy hat on the a.