opinions on going to france????

Bring it on!!!

ok so im interested in going to france in january for about a month but iv become totally confused with all the different organisations u can go wit. any1 have any opinions on who to go with....or whether to go on a homestay r in a boarding school????

callaway92

I dnt undrstnd ur txt spk

Bring it on!!!

eh....i want to go to france on a language coarse, but I don't no how to go about it.
any clearer?

djcervi

Hi There is a company called Living Language which are based in Dublin which organise French and Spanish homestays for about 6 weeks during the school year. Basically you live with a family and go to the local secondary school that the child of the host family is going to (You are always put with somebody close to your age).Also you have a tutor from living language who lives near you and who sets you homework and corrects it. You meet him/her once a week and they give you their number so you can call them whenever. It's pretty expensive but it's a really good course which will get you fluent in the language provided that you commit to it so I would only recommend it if you are serious about learning French.
I did the Spanish homestay for 6 weeks in Vigo, Spain 2 years ago in TY and honestly I had such a good time and made friends plus I'm ridiculously fluent in Spanish and am aiming for A1 in June. I'm doing French as well for the LC and there is such a big difference between my knowledge of the 2 languages because of the homestay. I will admit I was a bit homesick at the start but there is a family there to help you plus there will be at least somebody from your family who will be in your host school there but you will make friends in the school provided you make the effort to talk to them when they approach you or when you approach them even if your French is limited (which sounds daunting but that's how you learn). If you are interested contact Living language at www.livinglanguage.ie and they will send you an information pack about it.

As regards French exchanges Personally I would not bother with them particularly if it's under 3 weeks as you will learn nothing and remember your exchange (and perhaps the family) will probably speak English most of the time when with you, as it was the case with me when I did a French exchange in TY. I had no classes and spent most of my time doing activities with my Irish friends and the French guys which was alright but was kinda boring. You also have to take into consideration that if you don't like your correspondent you are kinda in trouble as you would have to host them in Ireland which was what I had to do. I think only 2 people in my year who did the French exchange still keep in contact with their guys. I learned more French in Euro Languages college last summer then during my French exchange although I would have gone to France on a language course for 3 weeks if I had the money.:(
Anyway good luck and feel free to PM if you have any queries

Bring it on!!!

thanks a million!
that sounds really good....il def look into it.
just a few questions...so do you think one month is too little?
did you have any problems with the family you stayed with, im just a bit nervous about getting a weird family?

djcervi

No to be honest a month is fine but in school when I was organising my homestay I was told that to benefit from any homestay 3 weeks is the bare minimum. The longer you can go the better you'll pick up the language.
As regards my family I had no problems I got on very well with them and they had 2 daughters who were around the same age as me. I was 16 and they were 15 and 17. They were in my school and one of them were usually in most of my classes which helped me as I had someone to talk to and she introduced me to people which helped me make friends. As regards the school I went to classes in the different subjects plus mostly the Spanish language & literature classes, the English classes (there I did my Spanish language hw for my tutor and helped the teacher when she needed somebody to read out a text) and French through Spanish (one of the daughters did French and the class was good fun) :pac:. Usually the school will accomodate your subjects as you want them (I wasn't expected to do any hw in my school just the living language hw set by my tutor). You go to the school during the course just to meet people. I really liked my family the mother and father were very warm and always talked to me and made sure I was okay and learning Spanish (I'm hoping this summer to pay a visit to the family). I have talked to people who did the similar course but in French and they seemed to enjoy theirs as well so I'd recommend you to contact them.
The good thing about the course is if you don't like your family you have a tutor from Living Language (who is local) to confide in, to deal with your problems and if needs be change families. (which is not what you would get in an exchange situation). I was nervous at first prior to going that I would get a weird family and it would be a disaster but the best thing to do is to take the homestay situation as it comes and don't decide to not go just because of worries that you'll have a bad family. Remember you'll have back up when in France so there is no need to be worried.

I hope I answered your queries well. Sorry if I'm blabbering on. lol

Fad

Dont drink too much while there!

You'll learn nothing, most of my year(6th now) have spent up 2 months is whatever country and they know shíte all because they were drinking the entire time and too hungover to learn anything.