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French Language School in Paris | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| celevictus Newbie Korea, South Joined 5216 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: Korean* | Message 1 of 10 31 August 2010 at 3:43am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi,
I'm just trying to find some language programs in Paris for next summer, lasting two or three months. I've had French in high school in college and high school (about 6 semesters altogether), but I feel like I've hit a wall in my learning. I would really like to go and learn in Paris, but there are so many programs for this that I just end up being confused. Are there any programs that people have been on/know about that are good? Thanks! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5226 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 10 10 September 2010 at 9:38am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm not sure what type of programme you're looking for, but two of the schools I considered for my French studies were: The Institut Parisien (http://www.institut-parisien.com/) , and the Institut Catholique de Paris (http://www.icp.fr/).
I heard about the Institut Parisien through an article in the New York Times; and the Institut Catholique through David Applefield's very useful book "Paris Inside Out: the insider's handbook to life in Paris". In the end, I signed up for two months (21 hours/week; full mornings, then additional classes two afternoons/week) at the Institut Catholique. My three ICP teachers were excellent, and I'd certainly be happy to return to the school, and recommend it to others. One caution, though: the facilities at the ICP aren't great. Classes are held in a number of different buildings, some quite old; others newer. And some of the older classrooms may be on the top floor, without a lift / elevator, in an attic room without any windows. The cafeteria doesn't allow students to bring in outside food; and there isn't a student lounge or other space where students can just study quietly, have their packed lunch, or just talk. Also, the language lab is only open for a limited number of hours. But, if I had to choose, I'd much prefer to have excellent instruction and poor facilities, than vice versa. I've heard that the classes at the Cours de Civilisation Française (based at the Sorbonne) tend to be quite a bit drier. In the 2003 edition of his book, Applefield quoted an assistant director at the school as saying, "Our specialty is written texts and the history of literature more than conversation". Perhaps someone else on the forums can tell you if that's indeed still the case. One of my then classmates went on to take more courses at a private school which she reported as being livelier, more conversation-focused, and having a range of free social activities and in-town excursions. If you're interested, I may be able to get the name of the school from her. Let me know if you have any specific questions about the programme or classes at ICP. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| celevictus Newbie Korea, South Joined 5216 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: Korean* | Message 3 of 10 12 September 2010 at 1:41am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi songlines,
Thanks a lot for your post! I agree with you that it's better to have good instruction and poor facilities than the other way around...but it'd be nice to if the facilities were also nice :P Are the classes at ICP more conversation-based? And are there dorms or apartments that students can use for lodging? And is it possible to have a lot of contact with actual French people, so as to be able to learn by applying the stuff from the classroom? And lastly, could you ask your friend where she went to for the private school education? Thanks a lot! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5226 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 10 14 September 2010 at 8:38am | IP Logged | ||
Course content: If you take the 21 hour per week sessions, the morning sessions (9-noon) will be "general" classes: a mix of grammar, discussion/conversation, and some written work. The "workshop" afternoons two days a week (2-5 p.m.) were definitely more oral/aural: things like discussions on films (or segments from films), and our individual student presentations. No grammar or written work for the afternoon sessions. For the super-intensive months (September and February), the course material as a whole is similar, but the "workshop" and "general" elements aren't scheduled separately. (I was at an Elementary level; the higher levels may have more written work.) One caveat: the first day of a new session had only the placement test and some other administrative stuff. No actual coursework. There's an online placement quiz that students take beforehand; it'd be a real improvement if they could add a spoken component to this, and start instruction on Mondays at 9:00 a.m. Here's the link for the brochure for the ILCF at the Institut Catholique. http://www.icp.fr/en/Faculties- Schools/Institut-de-Langue-et -de-Culture-Francaises-ILCF/Institut-de-Langue-et-de-Culture -Francaise-ILCF-Paris Accommodation: No dorms. The school brochure says that it can "advise" you and give you addresses of halls of residence, and hostels after your arrival at ICP -- which doesn't sound particularly helpful. I doubt a new student really wants to wait till term has started to look for accommodation - and, what's more, be doing so on his/her own, in a new language, at the same time he/she's trying to get over jetlag, and starting coursework. The school can pre-arrange a homestay, so I did that for one month. It can be a good way to improve your conversational skills, IF you have a good host. Unfortunately, my first host was - while polite - hardly "accueillant". We had very little conversation, and what there was tended to be extremely stilted. There were also a couple of other significant issues, so after a week I asked to be given a new host. - And what a difference that made..! - My new hostess had far less fancy accommodations, but was enormously welcoming and friendly, in a way that the first one hadn't been: she bathed me in French conversation all the time we were together. So - as I've also heard from some other immersion students - homestay can be a wonderful experience, and an excellent introduction to French language and culture; or it can be something of a grim ordeal (some hosts seem to do it just for the money). For my second month, I rented a flat, as I'd previously planned to do. If you're looking for a Hall of Residence: A friend also told me about Cité Internationale (also referred to as the Cité Universitaire). This is a complex of several halls of residence, established by governments (or benefactors) from different countries. I won't go into detail on this, as it may be a tad off-topic for this HtLAL thread. Here's the website: http://www.ciup.fr/en/ ICP is one of the institutions the Cité Internationale / Universitaire serves (there's a drop-down list of approved institutions, which you can see only after several screens of the online application), and (despite what the website says) you don't necessarily have to be studying at Master's level. Contact with other French students: I notice the ICP/ILCF brochure mentioned French conversation groups with French-speaking students. None of my teachers mentioned this, so I don't know if it's still on option. One possibility, if you were applying to the Cité Internationale/Universitaire, would be to request a place in one of the houses where French would be more likely to be used. (The Cité Internationale/Universitaire was established to foster international friendship and understanding, so each "house" reserves a certain number of places for students from other countries.) More notes: You may also wish to do a search in the forums for other language schools/programmes in Paris (or elsewhere in France?). And, depending on what you're looking for, or what language background you already have, one programme - which may be perfect for someone else - may not be a good fit for you. I think I was particularly lucky, in that my first month was with a superb group of classmates: all twelve of us were all eager to learn; and learn we did, in an atmosphere of enthusiasm and mutual support. There was much laughter; much of it at our own mistakes. Ours was a diverse group; French was the only common language, so we spoke it almost exclusively, even during breaks and outside of class. The second month, it was a larger class, with a significant contingent of Anglophones. A small claque from one particular country would slip into English (even during class!) when speaking to each other. As you can imagine, it changed the dynamics/ ambience of the class somewhat. (To be fair, they were quite young, and for some it may have been their first overseas trip. There was probably a comfort level in speaking in English to each other; but still - it seemed such a wasted opportunity.) For meeting actual French people: Try meetup.com , and/or join a group that focuses on something you enjoy: film, hiking, etc... Or see if Couchsurfing.org has any Paris social events planned (pub nights?) while you're there. Or, if you're a member of Couchsurfing, BeWelcome, Servas, Hospitality Club, or other hospitality exchange network, you could try to contact a member in Paris for coffee / get-together. These networks aren't intended to provide long-term accommodation (a couple of days, perhaps; two months, no.), but members are sometimes happy (or may even prefer) to meet for a coffee or drink. Keep in mind that you may initially find the courses (and jetlag, settling into a new city, etc.) so tiring that you won't have a lot of energy for socializing. Hope you find this helpful. I'll send an e-mail to my friend to ask her about her second school. Edited to tweak spelling and formatting. Edited by songlines on 20 September 2010 at 7:47pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| microsnout TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Canada microsnout.wordpress Joined 5488 days ago 277 posts - 553 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 5 of 10 14 September 2010 at 6:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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You may also want to consider the Alliance Française
the Paris location is the "mothership" of this organization. I have not been there but I have taken courses at their Toronto location and have known people who speak very highly of the Paris location - it is large, with great facilities and offers many options for lodging including dormitories and homestays. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5226 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 10 07 November 2010 at 10:11am | IP Logged | ||
An update: I've just heard from my friend (she'd had problems with e-mail access): the school she tried was France Langue . It was much more conversation-focused than the ICP, more social (organized excursions to places around town), and with "hardly any homework". From her experience, she found the standard of instruction at the ICP generally at a higher level, and more consistent. But, of course, others may find the presumably more relaxed and less academically rigorous approach at France Langue better for them. You can compare the prices from the respective websites. Here again is the one for the Institut Catholique de Paris's French language programme . Edited by songlines on 10 November 2010 at 8:45am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5226 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 10 10 November 2010 at 8:24am | IP Logged | ||
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Another postscript: I've managed to dig up the old New York Times article in which I first heard of l'Institut Parisien: Learning French the French Way, and also excerpts from David Applefield's book, in which he writes about language schools in Paris.
And there's also another New York Times article about the Nice branch of France Langue from the April 8, 2001 issue of the NYT. It also helpfully contains (at the end) a list of some half-dozen other language schools in Nice. Keep in mind that, as all of the above articles are from a while back, prices will have changed since then (if the references to "francs" aren't a sufficient giveaway!). Edited by songlines on 10 November 2010 at 8:34am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| songlines Pro Member Canada flickr.com/photos/cp Joined 5226 days ago 729 posts - 1056 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 10 10 November 2012 at 6:18am | IP Logged | ||
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A brief update: It seems that l'Institut Parisien has now become part of France Langue:
http://www.france- langue.com/learn-french/about-us/school-presentation.html
And the website for that location is: http://www.france- langue.fr/paris-opera/ (If you try the old www.institutparisien.fr site, it'll send you to the home page of France Langue Paris Opéra, or France Langue Institut Parisien. The link above to my friend's France Langue school sends you to the home page for their France Langue Paris Victor Hugo location. ) Edited by songlines on 10 November 2012 at 6:32am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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