Absolutely Amazing Semester Past Review
By Abigail D (Scripps College) - abroad from 09/02/2015 to 12/19/2015 with
IES Abroad: Nantes - French Language Immersion & Area Studies
I learned about myself as a person more than I ever thought possible. I also learned how to explore a city by myself, an incredibly valuable lesson. I learned that I can tackle a city on my own, that I can live abroad for an extended period of time. I drastically improved my French, and had an amazing time doing it. I cannot express highly enough how meaningful this experience was to me, easily the best thing I have ever done for myself.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
I think that the IES courses are less rigorous than I am used to at my home university, but that is not to say that I didn't learn a lot in each subject that I studied and I will use the knowledge that I gained for the rest of my academic career and my life. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administration was INCREDIBLE. I cannot get over how amazing they were -- whenever I needed anything, IES staff was there for me every step of the way. Even if I needed the littlest bit of help, I would go to them and leave with an immediate solution. They were incredibly supportive. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I loved my host family! They were some of the best people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, let alone living with them in their house. I was immediately welcomed into their house as if I were actually part of their family, and they were wonderful in every way possible. Not to mention, I never spoke English with them, and my French drastically improved! |
| * Food: |
The nightly dinners with my host family were simply magical -- I think that this is the memory that I will cherish the most from my study abroad experience. The food was consistently delicious, and when I couldn't make it to a dinner, my family would leave me plenty of food in the kitchen and I could help myself. I also loved the way that I was able to learn about the French dining experience as a cultural phenomenon through a real French family. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I tried my best to participate in the many cultural activities that were going on in Nantes, but it can be a bit intimidating at times. I was also looking forward to making more French friends, and while I did make a couple, it was hard to approach them in classes. That being said, the IES assistants did an amazing job of introducing us to various events going on in the city, and I did my best to attend every single one of them, which helped a great deal. The city had so much to offer! |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I didn't have any health issues, thank goodness, but from orientation, it is clear that IES does an amazing job of making sure that we have access to all the healthcare resources that we might need. I did not need any vaccines specifically for this program. |
| * Safety: |
I felt perfectly safe in Nantes. Even at night, I never felt out of place or uncomfortable. There was some catcalling but nothing that I am not used to here in the USA. |
| 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) |
I had to buy groceries for lunch about once a week, and would have to go out to dinner on the weekends, but my friends and I would find cheap food so that we weren't spending too much. I did not travel that much around Europe on my own so in that sense I saved a lot of money. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Maybe around 35-50 euros |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I did not do this, but I know that people bought the EuroRail pass which is 50 euros and they were able to get cheap SNCF train tickets. |
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 |
IES has a strict "en français s'il vous plaît" policy, and does not tolerate English being spoken in the program center. It was a very encouraging atmosphere and I felt very comfortable speaking French and being taught how to speak better by making many mistakes. |
| 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? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | An upper division French course |
| 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 in English! Easier said than done with your study abroad friends, but it helped immensely for me to try and speak French as much as possible. |
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 wish I knew how wonderful the experience was going to be, and would have thus considered staying for the year. |
