FRENCH STUDY GUIDE 2020 FRENCH STUDY GUIDE 2020


Clockwise from this image: Students in Montpellier; adult learning in Bordeaux; credit for the hard work; AF Marseille; beautiful Bordeaux


STUDY ABROAD Imagine starting the day with a friendly bonjour, fresh coffee and viennoiseries – and an even fresher attitude to learning. Outside your window is a view of tangled, sun-kissed vignobles, or the ornate monuments and mansard rooftops of a centre historique. Inside, you’re rubbing shoulders with like-minded language students of all ages and walks of life. This scenario might be closer than you think… Read on for our round-up of the best language learning institutions in France.


Alliance Française Aix-Marseille Provence Promoting la langue française across the country and all around the world, the Alliance Française’s branches are many and diverse, and we would highly recommend doing your own research to find the best fit for you. But just to get you started, we’ve picked a couple of our


130 ❘ FRANCE TODAY Dec/Jan 2020


favourites here, starting with the Marseille school. One reason for this choice is that it’s hard to top this vibrant port city when it comes to location. Here, not only do you benefit from Provence’s generous sunshine and gentle climate, but there are heaps of hip hangouts in the city for you to test your newly-acquired speaking skills in, and the sea is only ever a short wander away. The Alliance Française Aix- Marseille Provence offers courses all year round, including intensive summer courses, and will enable you to sit exams for recognised qualifications. www.afaixmarseille.org


Alliance Française de Rouen-Normandie


The second Alliance Française entry on our list is in Rouen, which is itself a medieval marvel of a city for you to discover and explore during your studies. Alongside standard classes there are intensive and ‘super


intensive’ courses during the summer that will improve your grammar as well as your fluency. And if you’re fretting over where to stay, don’t – the Alliance Française de Rouen-Normandie offers furnished apartments, studios and host family set-ups, all at reasonable prices. You’re only just over an hour from Paris too, and the school itself is just two minutes à pied from the railway station; so a quick jaunt to the Ville Lumière is always a possibility on your day off. www.afrouen.org


CIEL de Strasbourg Alsace is where France meets Germany, and historically the language spoken here is Alsatian, which is a dialect of German with an extensive French vocabulary. However, the official language is French, and this is certainly what you will hear spoken in Strasbourg, a chocolate-box city that is home to colombage houses, flower-


strewn waterways and a world-famous Christmas market. It is in this charming setting that the Centre international d’études de langues (CIEL) offers a variety of programmes for foreign students, including general French to bolster your communication skills and business French for


professionals. Upon completing your course, you’ll walk away with a certificate, European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) points, irreplaceable memories, and perhaps even some flammekueche for the road. www.ciel-strasbourg.org


F&C Experience With the Alps as their backdrop, Morzine dream-team Fred and Carol (and their charming famille, complete with pooch Nouki) are on hand to help you along on your language journey by offering a number of mixed packages that combine work and play in one package. Their basic


IMAGES © INSTITUT FRANÇAIS D’OCCITANIE, FRANCE LANGUE, MILLEFEUILLE, ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE, NEWDEAL INSTITUT


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