Enjoying the city of Rennes, the French culture, and visiting friends in Europe Past Review
By Eilise E (International Studies, Trinity University) - abroad from 08/27/2012 to 12/22/2012 with
CIEE: Rennes - Liberal Arts
I learned a lot about being independent and figuring out travel and language and living with a random family on my own. I also learned how to rely better on the support system that was provided through the program.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
It was fairly easy coursework but that was necessary because of the language immersion. I would've drowned if it had been both difficult to learn the language and lots of in depth coursework on top of it. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Helpful, kind and always had smiles on their faces. Even though it was a really stressful time they kept level heads, had done this for many years and were easily able to guide us through the process. Daniel pushed us to only speak in French and as did Staci but if you had an emergency they would speak in French. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I loved my host family and they took great care of me. One of my highlights of the trip was when they were able to meet my family from the states. |
| * Food: |
Puri always took great care of me and tried to get me to eat more and more. She made wonderful home cooked dinners always with fresh veggies and fruit. The lunches were easy to pick up with our meal tickets though at the end of the program I had too many tickets left over. Though it did made me ration my money for lunch it wasn't good that we lost some of the money we put into the program just because we didn't all use the tickets the same. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Rennes was a small town, it was hard to get completely integrated but by the end I felt like I could blend in pretty easily if I kept my mouth shut. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I never got sick but those in my program were taken care of and brought through the steps of the healthcare system by either their host family or the program directors when they got ill. |
| * Safety: |
Rennes is one of the smallest, safest cities I have ever been to. I walked home by myself late at night on multiple occasions. It was like walking through the sleepy suburbs. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
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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) |
I almost never bought anything aside from the occasional cafe but that was more in the beginning. I tried to save all of my spending money for traveling. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 10 euros |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Be very structured when you travel so you know ahead of time what the best ticket options are, don't lose your tickets, make your trains and planes ahead with plenty of time. Don't feel the need to spend a ton of money but at the same time don't be stingy. Don't be afraid to get the occasional coffee or croissant but don't buy a whole new wardrobe while your there, for starters you won't be able to fit it in your suitcase back. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
The directors and monitors were always requiring us to speak in english along with my host family spoke no english. When we were with other students from the program though we spoke in english after getting worn out trying to use french all day. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Intermediate French II |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Don't speak english with your host family or teachers. Work in your daily life to order things in your foreign language and talk to people on the metro as well. They'll be enthralled by the english but you can always answer back in french. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I wish I had improved my french a bit before going so that I could've tested into one level higher and therefore gotten 8 more credits to transfer back to Trinity. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Histoire de France |
| Course Department: | History |
| Instructor: | |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | I am spacing on the teacher's name but he was helpful and very enthusiastic about his work. He loved history and didn't mind slowing it down to teach it to a bunch of students who really didn't speak his language. We had three exams but not much else outside of that, it was work on your own time or don't learn the material and fail the exams. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | Not yet...please don't mess things up Trinity. |
