Hello,
I was looking to spend a small time (even one week) abroad volunteering, studying etc in france. I have been taking french for 5 years now and I would like to apply it. I was wondering if you know any? And money is a problem so less than $2000 will be ideal. If they have scholarship even better.
Thank you so much!
Well any program in Europe is not going to cost $2000, Europe is expensive. A flight from New York to Paris is roughly $1500. I applied for CIEE Summer Language and Culture Program, in Toulouse, France. I applied for a Financial Need and Merit scholarship. I was lucky enough to get a full scholarship to go. There is still time to apply as their deadline is the 15th of this month. Another program would be SYA France, which is a school year abroad. Their deadline is the 15th as well, but that would just be for financial aid as the scholarship deadline was the 1st of this month. Hope this helps!
I am in high school tho? I heard CIEE is not for HS
Is there an office of Alliance Francaise in your city? I wonder if they could point you in the right direction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_Fran%C3%A7aise
@Betudo heres the link for CIEE High School Abroad https://www.ciee.org/high-school-study-abroad/france/
Heres the llink for CIEE High School Summer Abroad https://www.ciee.org/high-school-summer-abroad/
hope it helps
How old are you?
I know that Concordia Villages are starting a program abroad and they do have scholarships. But it’s $6,750 so even if it’s all-inclusive and they have some scholarhips, I’m afraid it’d be way out of budget. Check with them.
http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/youth-languages/high-school-credit-program/credit-abroad
I came accross a cool program in a well-regarded study center that’s in a beach resort. It’s about $360 a week for tuition, you reserve how many weeks you wish. If you can pay more, you can have one extra hour of private tuition. Essentially you have class all morning and for one hour in the afternoon then you’re free. If you go in June, you could ask them to arrange for you to volunteer in a primary school or kindergarten (école primaire, ou grande section de maternelle).
They have a “junior” session that’s all-inclusive for about $800 a week or $1,600 for two weeks (tuition, housing, food, trips/activities), or if you’d rather be with college aged students, they have different possibilities for housing, from sharing an apartment to having a host family to having your own studio. It’s cheaper if you go in June because in July the apartments are rented out to tourists.
Host family with breakfast and dinner is 30 euros a day, so $225 a week. Renting an apartment with roommates (individual rooms, shared kitchen and bathroom) is $140-200 a week. Renting a room in a family’s home is about $160 a week but you must buy your own meals, I don’t know if you can negotiate using the kitchen.
So, $550 to $650 a week for tuition, room&board. That’s $1,650 if you stay 3 weeks (the best length of time to actually benefit from the trip and have best ROI on your plane ticket - 4 weeks also ok), then add the cost of the plane tickets.
It looks like host families are the same cost in July and August, but I find that surprising.
The study center is in a resort town with lots to do in June, July, and August. Beside the beach, there’s a ferris wheel, architectural tours, a museum with old photography exhibits, free concerts, etc. It’s safe and family-friendly for a first trip abroad. In addition, you can easily go to Bordeaux, to the Pointe de Grave vineyards, Cognac, La Rochelle, Poitiers, Saintes, etc. Weather should be sunny and fair, in the high 70’s to mid 80’s.
The IEFE in Montpellier is another good deal.
You buy one or two two-week sessions. 2 weeks will cost you $1,000 (tuition+housing) and 4 weeks will cost you $1,800 (tuition+ housing). Montpellier is a big university town with 60,000 students. Lots to do and see, warmer weather than Royan (high 80’s, sun guaranteed every day). Visits to Nimes, Provence, possibly the beach (by bus).
I think those are the better deals you’ll find, and good value.
Flights departing in late May/early June will cost about $1,000 round trip, so you have to make them “last” - staying less than three weeks kind of wastes the plane ticket in my opinion. The CAREL option in Royan would be $1,650 for three weeks all inclusive, roughly, so cheaper than Montpellier, and with the plane ticket it’d add up to $2,650 or so. Is that within budget, or was the $2,000 including the plane ticket?
thank you so so much!
Do you mind if I email or talk to you in some way for more info?