Canada: A study of a bilingual country which gave a new perspective to this American student Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

I took four courses in French and 1 in English. I took two business courses, 2 political science courses, and 1 French grammar course. I did not have any exchange students in my classes except for the grammar class. Classes met 2x a week for 1 hour 20 min. each day. Courses were difficult, but similar style of teaching to Wesleyan. Lecture, often with powerpoint over the assigned readings for the day. Evaluation consisted of midterms and finals with a 10+ page research paper and some shorter papers as well. Only had textbooks for 2 of my classes. Mostly read articles sent by the teacher or excerpts from textbooks they had scanned. Homework load seemed less than at Wesleyan.

On-site administration of your program

Orientation week was a waste. There was only an activity for an hour or two per day for the 10 days we had to be there before class started. Our bus passes were not activated until the first day of classes, so we could only go grocery shopping on the fourth day we were there, when we had a shuttle provided for us. Luckily, I had brought a few days of food with me! My coordinator changed 3 times during the time period from which I was accepted by the school in early summer to the time I left. Communication was horrible between coordinators and exchange students. You had to solve all of your problems on your own. It was very much a lesson in independence. There were very very few activities organized throughout the semester for the exchange students.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The university arranged housing for me in the nicest building they had on campus. I had my own bedroom and shared a bathroom with one other girl. There were four of us in the dorm with a small living area and full kitchen. My French did not improve as a result of my living arrangements because I spoke English with my roommates, two of which were Anglophone, and one of which who was an international student that did not speak French. Luckily my roommates brought all of the kitchen ware, because I had only brought measuring cups. I brought a fitted sheet and borrowed an extra pillow from a roommate and bought a blanket there. I absolutely loved my roommates, and they became friends for life.

There were some great restaurants in my town, although they were a little pricey. They gave me a food stipend for the semester which was plenty, and I cooked all of my own food, which I was really happy with. Two great restaurants in town are: Laughing Buddha and Respect is Burning.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Very few events were arranged by my program, except I did go on a trip to Niagara Falls, which was amazing. I went home with a roommate over Canadian Thanksgiving break, and then organized a trip to Toronto with two of my roommates at the end of my semester. Most of the exchange students became friends with a group of international students spending 4 years in Canada, some students who had moved to Canada from other countries, and some locals. I mostly spent my free time with that group, and we explored the town and went out together.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

The town was medium size (approx. 160,000) and so it felt very safe to me. The university dorm was locked after 5:00, which I liked, so that only students living there could get in, and there was a porter at the door during that time. Although the campus was more spread out than my home university, I felt comfortable walking across the campus late at night to my dorm from the library or the pub.

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

It was extremely difficult one the first day of my French classes. I was literally just trying to pick out words that I could understand. It got much easier as the semester went on, and in all of my French classes, discussion and vocal participation were part of the grade, so I was forced to speak in class often, which was good. I also spoke with some of my peers before and after class, which helped with informal conversation skills. I wrote a lot of papers and emails to professors, so my written French also improved a lot.

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• Dorm

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• International Students
• Local Students

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• Local Students

• Roommates/ the people I met

• Coordinator/ exchange students communication