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Trying to embark on a bon voyage as a university scholar finding out overseas in France? We lately caught up with Audrey from Washington State College, who studied overseas in Paris throughout the fall semester.
Uncover how Audrey’s fall semester in Paris helped her enhance her French language expertise and meet different college students from world wide!
Selecting a Program Vacation spot & Time period
When you resolve to examine overseas, you get to decide on the place on the planet you need to go. Fortuitously, AIFS Overseas presents a variety of packages in thrilling places across the globe, so you’ll be able to select a vacation spot that greatest aligns along with your educational wants and pursuits. Audrey Hepburn famously mentioned that “Paris is at all times a good suggestion,” and that definitely was the case for this Audrey who wished to apply her French in a giant metropolis:
“I selected Paris as a result of I wished to expertise residing in a giant metropolis, and I wished to enhance my French literacy. This system in Paris additionally had courses that will switch again nicely, so I might nonetheless have the ability to graduate on time.”
Audrey opted for a fall semester program, which allowed her to expertise Paris because it modified from the nice and cozy summer season to the winter vacation season:
“I believe that going to Paris within the fall [semester] was nice as a result of I used to be capable of expertise [different seasons]. To start with, it was nonetheless summer season, so I bought to expertise the solar; then it bought chilly, and I bought to expertise a real winter. The vacationer ranges modified loads whereas I used to be there, so I bought to see the town throughout peak busy time, and a mellow, lower-tourist time. In November and December, I used to be additionally capable of expertise the Christmas markets with mates, which was superb.”
One other advantage of finding out overseas in Paris throughout the fall semester (and through winter break) is the prospect to see the Eiffel Tower adorned with snow, like Audrey did:
“My good friend referred to as me on the someday it snowed in Paris. She advised me to rise up and get to the Eiffel Tower as quickly as potential. We ran to the metro and bought to see the Eiffel Tower because it sparkled within the snow!”
Why AIFS Overseas?
With regards to selecting a supplier, faculty college students and up to date grads go along with AIFS Overseas for all kinds of causes. For Audrey, it got here right down to suggestions from friends, scholarship alternatives (which we encourage you to use for!), and our superior inclusions like actions and excursions that we offer with each program:
“I knew lots of people who studied overseas with AIFS and beloved it. After I seemed into it extra carefully, I beloved that it had places I wished to go to, in addition to scholarship alternatives and enjoyable excursions related to each program.”
Lecturers Overseas
Regardless of the place you go along with AIFS Overseas, you’re in for a rewarding educational expertise. For a hospitality enterprise administration main like Audrey, the American Enterprise School, Paris provided a great worldwide studying expertise. Although courses are taught in English, the varsity nonetheless feels intimate, with college students from over 80 nations studying collectively in small courses:
“It was attention-grabbing going from a big faculty campus to a small metropolis constructing for a college, but it surely was cool to have the ability to meet a bunch of individuals from all world wide who had been finding out on the college.
There have been AIFS college students, different college students from related examine overseas packages, Parisians, and worldwide college students in nearly each class I used to be in. There have been normally between 15 and 35 college students in my courses, and all had been taught in English excluding my French class.”
As Audrey talked about, she took a French language course along with her enterprise courses. Regardless of the problem of whole language immersion, Audrey loved the course and famous how a lot it helped enhance her French proficiency:
“I beloved my French course as a result of it was totally spoken in French. It required me to essentially concentrate, and it elevated my understanding of the language a lot quicker.”
Housing
Housing is included in all AIFS Overseas packages. Some packages supply the choice of a homestay, the place you’ll be able to reside with an area household and have interaction extra deeply with the tradition. Hear Audrey describe her homestay expertise and the way it helped her develop as an individual:
“I used to be in a homestay with a roommate. This meant that I used to be in an residence with a number household however shared a room with one other scholar in my program. The household made us one dinner per week and at all times had breakfast choices accessible. The toughest problem was studying the right way to reside with individuals I barely knew and will solely talk with in French. It was troublesome at occasions, but it surely pushed me to be the very best model of myself.”
Actions & Excursions
As Audrey talked about at the start, one of many deciding elements that helped her select AIFS Overseas was the excursions and actions every of our packages present. This typically consists of excursions of your host metropolis and day journeys to discover regional websites. These actions and excursions aren’t simply nice alternatives to study extra about your host nation’s historical past, geography, and tradition—they provide the prospect to bond with fellow contributors exterior of the classroom.
As Audrey defined, her favourite AIFS Overseas exercise was their farewell dinner:
“My favourite was the farewell dinner as a result of it gave us all the chance to hang around one closing time, and we bought to all strive Raclette. It was among the best dinners of my life.”
Solo Journeys
Along with becoming a member of excursions included in your program, you’re welcome to set off by yourself throughout your free time and journey to your coronary heart’s content material. For Audrey, Good stands out as one in all her favourite journeys throughout her time overseas:
“I beloved going to Good as a result of it was the primary time I had ever seen the Mediterranean Sea. It was the bluest water I had ever seen, and I bought to expertise it when it was nonetheless summertime!”
Ultimate Ideas from Audrey
Reflecting on her unimaginable semester overseas in Paris, Audrey can’t assist however suggest this examine program to everybody:
“Anybody and everybody ought to do that program. My cohort was very combined, with individuals from all around the U.S. and Japan. We met individuals from all world wide at our college, and all of us college students had very totally different French comprehension ranges. For that reason, I believe anybody might thrive in this particular program.”
Are you able to take the leap and examine overseas like Audrey did in Paris? We’d love that will help you begin your journey!
Right here at AIFS Overseas, we all know a factor or two about serving to faculty college students examine overseas. Our packages are extremely inclusive, which takes a whole lot of the stress out of planning. From coordinating your housing to offering issues like cultural and social actions, excursions, complete insurance coverage, 24/7 emergency help, on-site employees, and extra, you’ll take consolation in understanding you’ll have help all through your whole expertise overseas.
