Food in Paris is awesome Past Review
By Sam B (Quant Ec, Tufts University) for
CIEE: Paris - French And Critical Studies
Studying abroad in Paris was an amazing experience. It's great to get out of America for a while. France has some amazing food. Don't go there if you don't like ham or cheese.
Personal Information
| The term and year this program took place: | Spring 2006 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Two of my classes were in french (and the professors only spoke french, albeit slowly) and the others were in english. The classes in french focused on the language, and the classes in english focused on history and culture. The professors were very enthusiastic, and had varying levels of teaching experience. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Seemed at times to be bootstrapping a bit, but that gave it a nice personal touch. The program doesn't have the resources of much larger programs, but gives a lot more individual attention due to its size. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Very nice housing with a quite attractive and laid back french lady. She had an apartment in the 13th arrondissement on the 6 line, halfway between place d'italie and denfert rochereau. She kept her apartment in pristine condition. <br /><br /> Host lady was very nice. She let me have my space, but was eager to hang out and speak french. She didn't speak a word of english while I was there, though I strongly suspect she knows the language. Every homestay that my friends were staying in was very nice. Rich people seem to like hosting CIEE students. |
| * Food: |
Food in paris is awesome. Program doesn't provide food though. (Except for some awkward arrangement that you can negotiate with your host family.) |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Lots of time to be social and explore the city. Great group of people. The program offered weekend trips every few weekends. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Paris is a pretty safe place. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Cook more. Eat out less. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
The program did its best to teach us the language, though there is only so much you can learn through coursework in one semester. Take phonetics - the class was very helpful in learning the nuances of the accent, and the professor is off the wall. My pronunciation is now much better than my vocabulary or grammar. The school places students in housing with french-speaking host families, and gives plenty of time for cultural immersion, which is the best way to learn the language. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Go somewhere that doesn't speak english. |
