I ate 10000 calories a day of French Food and my brain burned them all learning to speak French Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

My professors were all French and their way of teaching & structuring the class was very French. We had few grades and were expected to study quite a bit on our own. My hardest class by far was Panorama du Thèâtre Français/Panorama of French Theater, as it required large amounts of dense/difficult reading and in-depth analysis. I felt that I learned a lot and improved my french a lot by taking the class but I think that even those in the class with higher levels of French than mine were struggling to get the grade they wanted. My other four classes were all fairly time-consuming but I felt they were doable and I learned a lot from each. The difference in the educational system of my home university and in the IES program is profound. Even though the IES classes were geared towards American students, they were still, in most ways, French-style classes. For my teaching internship class, I had to do research and write an essay describing the differences between the French and American educational systems and most of those differences are true of the relationship between Austin College, my home school and IES Nantes. However, instead of describing all of those systematically and academically, I'm going to give my informal impression: whereas the American educational system has become more and more touchy-feely, the French system has stayed more emotionally detached and discouraging. Professors, in general don't act as friendly in the classroom, students are verbally encouraged less often, and feedback on assignments is often bluntly and brutally honest. HOWEVER, I REALLY LIKED THE FRENCH SYSTEM - as a college student, I don't need my hand held while doing assignments and I don't really want constructive criticism etc - I want to be challenged and, in my opinion, that was the great thing about taking french-style classes. I'll admit, there were a few times when it got overwhelming, but that usually had more to do with work-load and my choice of classes.

On-site administration of your program

It was awesome...they took good care of us and wanted to make sure that our whole experience was a good one.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

Nantes is a great city for walking - you can walk almost anywhere. Biking is a little dangerous, but also doable. My host family was awesome - they were very supportive, taught me a lot of french, cooked great food, took me out to their country house, introduced me to their friends, and were very authentically french. The neighborhood was great and I walked to school. I had to buy only a few items to settle in...mostly toiletries and a map.

I enjoyed cooking while I was there but some host-families will accommodate this better than others. My host parents made great food and, because I walked around four miles a day, I ate a lot. Also - future students: the best Kebab place that I found was La King's on Rue de Dobrée. My favorite bakery is L'Artisan on Rue De Gigant, right by Place Canclaux.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Really too many to list - I also traveled quite a bit and had a great time doing that.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Nantes was a great place to live. I went to the doctor once and it was cheap and easy.

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

The only people I spoke Enlgish to were the other Americans in the program. My host family didn't speak English, nor did my professors, and only rarely would the the staff of IES Abroad speak English to us. I spoke french all the time and it was great.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family

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• Americans