New and Exciting Experiences in Aix Past Review
By Elizabeth Timberlake (Indiana University - Bloomington) - abroad from 06/04/2016 to 07/17/2016 with
Institute for American Universities (IAU): The French Honors Program, Aix-en-Provence, France
I gained a confidence in handling transitions to new or nerve-racking situations and an ability to communicate well with people who are of a different cultural or viewpoint than me. It was very worthwhile.
Review Photos
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. |
Engaging professors who provided us with a variety of mediums through which we could learn, including interesting writing and reading assignments and out-of-classroom activities. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Very helpful staff. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Generally positive experience with a host family stay. |
| * Food: |
Got to eat a variety of food, although eating out was expensive and my host mom prepared less exciting/elaborate meals during weeks 3-6 of the program. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
IAU is predominantly filled with American students, so that's who I spent most of my time with. What helped me integrate more with locals was staying in a host family, meeting locals when we went out at night, and getting involved in a local church. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
Aix overall is very safe. My friends and I had a few negative experiences walking home late at night, so it is imperative to walk home in groups and be vigilant of surroundings. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
The program really helped improve my French, and the friends I made on the program will be friends far beyond the end of the program. |
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) |
Depends on how willing you are to plan ahead and pack lunches vs. buying them out every Monday through Thursday. Also to take into consideration is how much you plan on eating out and how much travel you plan to do. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Make and keep a budget (I made a simple grid in Microsoft Excel to do this), and on a daily basis update it with whatever you spent for that day. If you pay for something in cash and don't get a receipt, write down as a note in your phone what you bought and how much it was so you can record in your budget later. Come into the program with goals for how much you want to spend on extra travel, eating out, entertainment, etc. Try to stick to that budget, but also be willing to alter it accordingly while on your program. The most important point is to just be aware of where your money is going. |
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 |
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| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| 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? | FRIT-F 401, Structure and Development of French |
| 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? | Try to talk in French with other French language students outside of class, even though the tendency is to resort to English. Don't be afraid to strike up conversation with your host family in French as well. |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Direct Enrollment |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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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 now know how to get cheap flights. I used only one source (Google flights) to get my round-trip tickets, and ended up paying a lot more than I could have if I had shopped around some. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Avid AdventurerThe wardrobe you packed was better suited for a semester of camping than club hopping. Outdoorsy, you might forgo a crazy night out for an early all-day adventure. You'd rather take in the rich culture of an old town than the metropolis of a modern city, but for you getting off the grid is ideal. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Writing in Provence |
| Course Department: | French |
| Instructor: | Noelle Mathis |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | This course was appropriately challenging. Dr. Mathis pushed us to write in a variety of forms, and to improve our language ability by having us make corrections to turn back in to her. Dr. Mathis led the class wonderfully and made it very engaging and fun while still a rigorous academic environment. I participated in class as often as or more than I would have at my home institution. We were assessed by grades on regular writing assignments, two reflective essays, and one final exam that consisted of writing one creative piece and one final reflective essay. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | I didn't have any issues, but there was a lot of paperwork I had to fill out ahead of time for my program so that IU would accept the transfer of credit. If I had not worked that all out ahead of time, I expect that I would have had problems. I would suggest, then, that students are clear with their home institution on how the credits will transfer before ever going abroad. |
