<p>I'm starting to look into study abroad programs for next year (still trying ti figure out whether fall or spring is a better fit for my schedule) and found that Vanderbilt has a really good relationship with GT in France. Has anyone heard of this branch in terms of anything, to give me some perspective? It seems like a great opportunity because the classes are taught in English, I'd always wanted to go to Europe, and there's no additional program fee like there is if I went to Australia/New Zealand, but I just figured I'd ask yall if you've heard of it.</p>
<p>Also -- and this may be the wrong place to ask, but -- how hard is it to learn conversational French if you have a background in Spanish? I think I'm taking some classes at a local university this summer, so I could probably take French I at the same time (no time in my regular school year schedule), but would this + some independent study be enough to travel around France fairly comfortably? I know the program itself is in English, but I'd like to explore the country if I do end up going.</p>
<p>GT-Lorraine is an extension (not a satellite of GT) which means that courses and programs are run from the main campus in Atlanta (this is different than a satellite campus which is largely independent of another campus, for example UT-Austin and UTEP). In fact, the GT-Lorraine coordinator is in Atlanta.</p>
<p>The classes offered are the same as the GT classes offered in Atlanta and while GT-Lorraine has faculty permanently in France, many of the classes taught to undergraduates are taught by Atlanta-based faculty visiting France. GT has the same hiring requirements for faculty and same admissions requirements for graduate students, so the caliber of research and faculty is comparable to Atlanta. GT-Lorraine doesn’t have an undergraduate program, so all other undergrad students in your classes will come from other universities (mostly GT’s campus in Atlanta).</p>
<p>Well since your first question is pretty well answered, I’ll go with the language thing. Spanish and French are fairly similar, more so than Spanish and English; but to carry on a conversation without sounding like an idiot takes at least a couple years of study. But in many cases people will be forgiving if you start a conversation in French, and then try to switch to English once you have problems. In the end the French would rather hear English than bad French.</p>