La Vie à Paris Past Review
By Julia K (French, Barnard College) for
Columbia University: Paris - Reid Hall
Yes! I learned a lot about how to research in French, how to babysit in French (and babysit in general--I learned so much from that experience and I was able to understand French culture a lot better).
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Grading is different because for the most part it was on a french scale, between 1 and 20, as opposed to a letter grade. This system was fairly easy to get used to in some ways because I felt that the French professors knew that as American students in a foreign country we had a lot to get used to. Teaching methods were somewhat harder to get used to because it is more lecture oriented than seminar style, and in some ways French professors have a slightly more condescending attitude towards their students than American professors, at least in my experience. |
|
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The Reid Hall program is very supportive, however they did seem somewhat disorganized at times. My expectations were met, and I liked that the program size was neither too large nor too small. |
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
|
| * Food: |
I loved the bread and the cheese and that things are often very easy to find fresh, but I didn't like some of the frozen dinners that my host mom gave me from Picard. Also it was difficult to get lots of good veggies. |
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
They did plan some nice outings for us-particularly movie screenings, plays, trips to Reims and to Belgium, too. |
|
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
|
| * Safety: |
Paris was very safe! I had no complaints about safety. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
|
Finances
|
* 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) |
|
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Approximately 70+ euros/week on food. maybe 20 euros/week for extraneous things. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | N/A |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Multiple 3000 level French courses at my college |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
|
Other Program Information
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
|
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
|
| * What could be improved? |
|
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I would say, this program isn't the greatest for facilitating language ability improvement, however it is great in terms of academics, (which can be stressful though). |
