France: Challenging, fun, an experience I'll never forget. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The teacher was excellent. She completely catered to the needs of the class, augmenting not only our vocabulary and grammar, but also informing us of the cultural aspect of different places in Paris. The workload was fairly heavy, especially because I had very little experience in French prior to the class, but I definitely learned a lot from this class, and if I could change anything, I would have wanted even more (even though it was already quite heavy). The grading system was a little bit confusing. It was based on the improvements of each student. Also, the French grading system is more difficult than American, so that was a little strange to behold at first. Still, I loved my professor and learned an incredible amount from her and the overall experience.

On-site administration of your program

All of the administration was quite free and open to talk to any of the students. They always left their office doors open, so that anyone could pop in and ask a question. They were also very knowledgeable about the host country, so they recommended a variety of fun places and things to see and experience.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Living in a hotel was nice because we had someone clean our rooms every week and we got care packages in the kitchen and bathroom. However, the internet was very spotty, and the location was a bit far from the center. It took about 30 minutes by metro. Even so, it was very easy to navigate around Paris, and our hotel was quite close to the metro stop.

We were given excellent food whenever we went out. I'm a pescatarian, but I decided not to be strict about it overseas, so I was able to try both the pescatarian and meaty meals. I always gained weight on the weekend trips. When we were not eating with the program, I usually cooked at home, but I did go out a few times with friends. Nicolas was an excellent restaurant/wine chain. We had lunch at the same place for most of the summer, so the food got old after a while, especially because most of their menu had meat in it, but for the most part it was very good. The second lunch place was amazing and was a great way to end the term.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

We traveled around France quite often over the weekends and in class. It was very fun and educational to see all of these different places with the program so that we could get more of historical information about the significance of each place.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

We were given information about health issues in the orientation. There was only one healthcare issue, where someone fell ill after partying too much. However, everyone else remained relatively healthy (there was a cold every now and then), and if not, we all knew we could go to the pharmacies.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

I had 5 weeks of summer French prior to this course, and I can now speak quite well and understand fluently. What definitely helped was being able to use what we learned in class in every day speech. Just practice using the second language until it's memorized by speaking with French people, and practicing amongst classmates.

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• Hotel

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• Americans