Strikes, Travel, Language and Love! Past Review
By Justine P (International Relations and Affairs., SUNY - College at Geneseo) for
SUNY Geneseo: Montpellier - Universite Paul Valery - Montpellier III
While I learned so, so much French while abroad, I also learned that fluency is going to take a lot of work and so I can't stop here. After my semester in France, I spent a month in different parts of central Africa and was extremely happy to have the opportunity to speak French with people there as well. I don't know that I'd want to live in France again, but I do see myself continuing my students in a francophone African country.
Review Photos
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. |
In addition to the two-week orientation program, I took three classes during the semester. The two that were for foreign students were a bit slow in terms of content but the professors were engaging. My third class which was integrated, or with international and French students, was in a huge lecture hall even though there were less than fifty people in the class. The professor mumbled into a microphone, and read off of a powerpoint with tiny font. Even though I was extremely interested in the subject of the course, the this teaching style was a huge turn off. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
We were all scared of the program administrators. They were extremely rude to all participants. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My host mother was amazing and her apartment gorgeous. She was very welcoming and patient with my french. We had a white board in the living room to write new vocabulary on and she was more than open to us having my friends over for dinner parties. The neighborhood was safe though there was a ten minute walk to the metro, a twenty minute ride to school and then another ten minute walk from there and so commute for early morning classes was... well... early. |
| * Food: |
I'm a vegetarian and found cooking and eating to be easy in France. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Our program didn't organize anything after the orientation, but I did travel quite a bit during the semester. During the summers, the city had a wine festival each Thursday evening. There were thousands of people, wine tastings, tons of food vendors and live music. These were so much fun! Each Saturday morning, my friends and I would go to a great farmer's market that was held along the base of a giant Roman aqueduct. After collecting bread, wine, cheese, olives and other delicious things, we'd sit in a park that overlooked the Mediterranean on one side and the mountains on the other and picnic. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The only interaction that I had with a doctor was when I needed a yellow-fever shot for a trip into Africa. |
| 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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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I didn't go to bars too often, but I can imagine that my friends that went out several times a week spent quite a bit of money on alcohol. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | 300 level |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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| Language acquisition improvement? |
While I did often speak English with my American friends, I started dating a student at my university early in the program and spent most of my time speaking French with him and his friends. Without this opportunity to be completely immersed in the language, I don't know that I would have made so many improvements. Additionally, I spoke French with my host mother on a day to day basis and met once a week with a language partner. Any practice was welcomed, and I'd go out of my way to make small talk with shop-keepers or even people conducting surveys in the streets. Another big connection was with my friend who had taught French at Geneseo through the exchange program and was then back in Montpellier to finish his phd. He lived across the street from my host family and graciously invited my friends and I to dinner or to various events throughout the semester. |
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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A Look Back
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | To celebrate Thanksgiving, my friends and I decided to have a big dinner. We wanted to invite all of our French and foreign friends so that we could share this holiday that is so important to us. We ended up having forty people packed into a tiny apartment with too much wonderful food. Because many states from the US were represented, we had an awesome range of different Thanksgiving foods. After we were all stuffed, we went around and everyone said what they were most thankful for, first in English, then in French. I said that I was most thankful that my time in France overlapped with everyone else's. There are so many different programs to choose from and alternatives to study abroad but we happened to have that opportunity to be together. I think that this would be true of any program. Each one would have its ups and its downs, but overall, the experience of being abroad is one that changes each semester, based on the students who participate in the program and the locals that they are able to interact with. |
