IES Abroad Paris Past Review
By Virginia B (Biology, General., The University of Texas at Austin) for
IES Abroad: Paris - French Studies
I improved my french, a lot. I thought that the administration was merh - could have been better. But I met a lot of really cool people, most of them from my own college that I didn't know went here, and it was life changing.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 6 months+ |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The workload was kind of what you made it. There was homework, but never checked (even though it would come up on the tests) but our teacher made it intresting with field trips to hole-in-the-wall places in Paris that I would have otherwise not gone to. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The organizations was so-so, but they did make an effort to be available whenever you would really need them and they were knowledgeable about the city. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
To class it was a 30 minute metro ride. In paris the night life is all over but it was never really incovienant to et anywhere. The neighborhood is safe with a running park right around the corner. My host mom was amazing. One niht we went and ate with her son at the resturaunt that he owned and she helped us cook for our class project. |
| * Food: |
The food was great. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
The field trips by the program were kind of lacking, I did not think they were arranged very well and no one was ever on time. But the culture of Paris is unparalleled and you were free to explore whatever you wanted. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I always felt really safe. |
| 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) |
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Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
Practicing french was required in the classroom and in the IES office (unless for emergency)> My host mother only spoke french to me and required my roommates and I to speak french to each other. |
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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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? | Take advantage of all the free time you have on the weekends - take day trips to the small cities outside of paris, they are amazing and the train to/from is relatively cheap. Hop a train and go to the normandy beaches for a day, you don't even have to go on a tour just go to get some sun. Be outgoing and make an effort to get to know the other kids in your group - if you don't it is going to be a lonely ummer becuase the city is so big and you can go the whole time without running into anyone you know. |
