I am a high school Junior looking to study French in France for a summer or possible semester. I don´t have any French experience so I would have to start at a beginner level. Does anyone know of any programs in France that aren´t crazy expensive? It would have to be a residential emmersion programs as well as a program with intensive studying possible.
Are you taking foreign language now in school?
The problem with “immersion” programs in France is that so many people speak English there and will try to help you out as soon as it becomes evident that you’re a beginner. If you really want to jump-start your language learning, do your first immersion program in a more controlled setting that really shuts down all use of English. The Middlebury program in Vermont is probably the gold standard for beginner immersion. https://www.middleburyinteractive.com/summer-language-academy/languages/french-academies As you can see, they also have a program in France, but it does not take total beginners - you have to have at least a year of French study first. (Also, Midd’s programs may not meet your “not crazy expensive” criterion.) But if you were to get started with the domestic program this summer and then take second-year French your senior year (more than realistic from both of my kids’ experience), you could potentially look at doing an AFS year in France as a gap year before college. https://www.afsusa.org/study-abroad/programs/france/high-school
I am currently taking spanish, but I am not very motivated to continue learning it.
Thanks so much. This looks great! It is pretty expensive, but you get what you pay for I assume.
We sent our daughter to Spain through CIEE.
Here’s their link for France:
https://www.ciee.org/go-abroad/college-study-abroad/locations/europe/france
They were excellent! I highly recommend them. Her host parents didn’t speak a word of English, so she certainly had an immersive experience. She went to a regular (not private) high school and became fairly fluent in Spanish. After she gets out of college, she’s thinking about living in Spain for a couple of years and teaching English.
Also look at Switzerland and Belgium. I have found that people from multilingual countries are more likely to engage with a language learner because, culturally, they are accustomed to working across languages.
But I would not waste my time going with no French at all. What language are you taking in HS?
There are French immersion programs in Canada which are relatively reasonably priced. Depending upon where you live in the US the travel costs might be quite modest also. There are several programs available at universities in Montreal and in Quebec city. There is also a program at the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick, and at Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia. There are probably programs further west as well.
Ha, I always forget about Canada! I’m also looking for my daughter.
Just saying. I did a respected program in Germany, (prep to live there,) with 0 experience in the language. After 2 months, no way I would have taken German 2. In contrast, after studying French since 8th, I did 6 weeks on a program in France. Huge difference. I had skills to polish, I could already communicate.
Each program was fully in the foreign language. But going “from zero to 60” is tougher.
I plan on taking a semester of French before the next summer. Would you still not suggest taking an immersion course? Also, are there programs like the Middlebury, but less expensive? Thanks.
“Also, are there programs like the Middlebury, but less expensive?”
For the Université de Moncton, the 2 1/2 week course over the summer is somewhere around $2,000 or a bit more for international students. This is however in Canadian dollars and the exchange rate is currently very good for us Americans. The 5 week course is twice this much (just over C$4,000). I am pretty sure that this cost includes room and board in addition to tuition and fees.
On the first day they will test your ability in French. They will then split the participants into a variety of groups, ranging from people who know no French at all through people who can sit and have a conversation in French quite comfortably. For the first 2 1/2 weeks mostly in the morning you have classes that teach you French. In the afternoon you have various activities that are generally fun. Most of the activities are included in the price. There are a few optional activities which cost a bit extra (such as a trip to visit les roches de Hopewell, which are well worth seeing). The classes and activities are conducted in French, except that they will understand for beginners that you start with no French and the classes are conducted accordingly. After 2 1/2 weeks they will test you again and adjust which group you are in for the second half if you do the full 5 week program.
As such, you show up knowing however much French you know, and they go from there.
At the program in Moncton there is a range of ages of participants. This includes quite a few university undergraduate students and a few adults. There are some jobs in Canada which require some knowledge of French, so that people who have these jobs but live in English only parts of Canada take immersion courses from time to time in order to maintain a working knowledge of French. I think that I have seen some programs specifically tailored to high school students but I am not sure where in Canada these were (I am guessing either Montreal or Quebec City, but I didn’t recheck just now). I doubt that the cost will vary much compared to the costs in Moncton. All of this is rather heavily subsidized by the Canadian government.
Université du Québec a Chicoutimi has a French Summer Immersion program. It is a bit remote but a totally French speaking city. All costs are in Canadian dollars.
Thanks! Although if I plan on taking the immersion course during the next summer, I would like it to be tailored for high school students, like you said. But that course will be helpful if I want to take a gap year before college.
The Penn State Language Institute programs are open to HS students, but I don’t know if there’s “critical mass” in that age group or not. https://language-institute.outreach.psu.edu/about/high-school-and-homeschool-students UVA also has an 8-week immersion program but I don’t see anything on their site about including high-school-aged students.
Millersville has week-long very cheap ones https://www.millersville.edu/forlang/hscamps.php
My kid did 5 weeks in Quebec last summer, as an international student in one of the Explore programs. She also did a 4-week credit session through Concordia Language Villages the summer before. She says neither is really an ideal situation for a true beginner - having some formal background in the language before full immersion is really helpful.
My recommendation, if that’s something you’re really interested in:
1° Concordia Language Village 4 weeks THIS summer (2019)
2° French 1&2 at the closest community college Fall and Spring next year* (2019-2020)
- Apply to CIEE or NACEL or other full-year immersion in a French school
3° Summer immersion in Moncton or Chicoutimi to prepare for full immersion
4° Fall 2020: Year in a French school. You’ll be placed in Terminale or 1e and will get to pick two Advanced subjects (6 hours a week each) in addition to a basic core of classes. You’ll come back more than fluent and the Advanced Subjects would likely carry college credit. You can always add Latin/Greek and/or “Euro” which means a subject taught in English (which would be a 2-hour reprieve for you and fun for the other students).
An idea: try to watch French shows on Netflix and Amazon, first with dubbing to get the meaning and second with the subtitles to hear it in the original Language and try to grasp something, perhaps words that are repeated often.
As someone who speaks 5 languages, I would say your best bet is to study in an area ( an area) that speaks French. The formal programs which teach French in a non French setting are useful but you will not learn the language as quickly. Also, try to sign up for a program with non US students. That way if people have various native languages, the likelihood of falling into English will go down. Canada, France ( esp far from Paris in a rural area) and Switzerland are good choices. You will have to communicate to eat and shop. Also the CIEE programs are great. There are really five things to learning a language: writing, listening, speaking, reading and colloquial use. Not everyone learns all five techniques at the same time. The issue with learning in school is there is a greater likelihood you will learn to write and read better than you speak. Bon Chance!