Paris is an amazing city! Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

The homework was much lighter than I was used to, which made it easier to go out and travel! That does not mean that classes were easy though; some were a piece of cake and others I had to work a lot harder. The translation course and teacher were wonderful. The fashion class sounded interesting but was a waste of time. Phonetics, though an interesting class, does not have much to do with linguistics (which is why I took it) and is basically designed to improve pronunciation.

On-site administration of your program

ISA Paris is really good at planning wonderful trips, both outside of the city and within. They are really not good at helping with housing situations.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The location of my homestay was just about the only good thing about it. My roommate and I lived with an older lady who treated us like unwanted tenants. We tried really hard to do what she asked but she just kept coming up with more things that we weren't doing right. Thankfully Paris offered enough places to go that we didn't spend much time in the apartment, but dinners were really miserable.

Parisian bakeries are amazing and they're everywhere! Dinners with our host lady were pretty bland, but food out in the city is great. I had a sandwich for lunch every day and I never got tired of them--don't underestimate those baguettes! If you start to crave food from back home, check out Breakfast in America. There are two locations in the city.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

The trips we took were so great, especially Morocco. If you have the chance, gogogogogo on the Morocco trip with Gabriel. I traveled around a lot while I was in Paris but nothing compared to that trip. The ISA staff also planned a lot of visits to places around the city, from a ballet performance to museum tours to a live comedy about Paris. All of these were really great!

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I had no health or safety problems in Paris. I was actually really surprised by how safe I felt in the city, and some of it may be due to the fact that my homestay and the university were not in touristy areas. Follow the guidelines they give you during orientation and you should be fine.

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

Some people would try to talk to me in English but as long as I persisted in speaking French, they usually switched over. Most of my language improvement happened just from being around it everyday, and using it in normal situations, such as ordering some delicious pastries! My language skills would have grown more if I had been in a better host family situation, however.

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• Host Family

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• Host Family