Just back from a 1 week language school in Paris.
Aug 28th, 2006, 10:20 AM
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Just back from a 1 week language school in Paris.
I wanted to make a quick report about my experience at the ELFE language school. ELFE is short for Ecole de Langue Francaise pour Etrangers.
I chose this school because it was in Paris, offered a 1 week class, was open the only week in August I could attend, had several different types of accommodations available and selecting morning classes only would leave time for exploring the city the rest of the day.
The school is located near Place de Clichy in the 9e. While the classrooms are rather spartan the staff was exceptional.
My experience with the school was extremely positive. I would recommend this to any adult interested in improving their French.
Was one week long enough, no, but that was all I could manage. There were three in my class. After two days, one student was moved to the next class level so for three days there were just two of us. At the end of the week I received an Attestation that I had completed one week in an Elementaire Advance class.
My stay at a host home was even better than the school if that can be imagined. A mother and daughter I met from Philly were in the beginner class and stayed at the Terrass Hotel, a 4* rated hotel with very good rates through the school.
Many students are there for multiple weeks. A test on the Monday of arrival places you in an appropriate class. I was in a class with a student who was completing his 8th week and one completing her 3rd week.
I would be happy to answer any questions about the school. Their website is at www.elfe-paris.com
Deborah
I chose this school because it was in Paris, offered a 1 week class, was open the only week in August I could attend, had several different types of accommodations available and selecting morning classes only would leave time for exploring the city the rest of the day.
The school is located near Place de Clichy in the 9e. While the classrooms are rather spartan the staff was exceptional.
My experience with the school was extremely positive. I would recommend this to any adult interested in improving their French.
Was one week long enough, no, but that was all I could manage. There were three in my class. After two days, one student was moved to the next class level so for three days there were just two of us. At the end of the week I received an Attestation that I had completed one week in an Elementaire Advance class.
My stay at a host home was even better than the school if that can be imagined. A mother and daughter I met from Philly were in the beginner class and stayed at the Terrass Hotel, a 4* rated hotel with very good rates through the school.
Many students are there for multiple weeks. A test on the Monday of arrival places you in an appropriate class. I was in a class with a student who was completing his 8th week and one completing her 3rd week.
I would be happy to answer any questions about the school. Their website is at www.elfe-paris.com
Deborah
Sep 3rd, 2006, 07:28 AM
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I don't want to hijack DeborahAnn's thread and her review about ELFE, but I did want to mention that if others are researching French immersion courses, they might want to have a look at letour's and my separate reviews of Millefeuille Provence, and of the Ecole des Trois Ponts (reviews by justretired and marcy):
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34836218
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34835671
I live in Paris (where my husband has taken lessons), and in the past few years I have completed some immersion programmes in other cities. Collectively, we would recommend CIEL de Strasbourg (especially its French for business programme), CUEF de Grenoble at the University of Grenoble (especially its French for law programme) and Millefeuille Provence. We would recommend against Alliance Francaise in Paris - (too high a student-teacher ratio - an "usine" (factory) as some have called it, and lots of unmotivated students in the classes, at least their daytime programmes).
Two useful sources for researching schools are the quality associations, SOUFFLE and FLE (http://www.souffle.asso.fr/ and http://www.fle.fr/). These associations have established a charter with criteria to which member schools must adhere, and the schools are inspected. I used these websites to select the schools I've attended. (Paris ELFE is a member of SOUFFLE.)
I've been studying French, using a variety of resources and schools, for the past few years, and would be happy to answer questions, too.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34836218
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34835671
I live in Paris (where my husband has taken lessons), and in the past few years I have completed some immersion programmes in other cities. Collectively, we would recommend CIEL de Strasbourg (especially its French for business programme), CUEF de Grenoble at the University of Grenoble (especially its French for law programme) and Millefeuille Provence. We would recommend against Alliance Francaise in Paris - (too high a student-teacher ratio - an "usine" (factory) as some have called it, and lots of unmotivated students in the classes, at least their daytime programmes).
Two useful sources for researching schools are the quality associations, SOUFFLE and FLE (http://www.souffle.asso.fr/ and http://www.fle.fr/). These associations have established a charter with criteria to which member schools must adhere, and the schools are inspected. I used these websites to select the schools I've attended. (Paris ELFE is a member of SOUFFLE.)
I've been studying French, using a variety of resources and schools, for the past few years, and would be happy to answer questions, too.
Sep 3rd, 2006, 01:05 PM
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A half day would be great. Do you have to stay there? I'd prefer an apartment. Thanks for the info!
I'm trying to figure a week by myself in some January. DH isn't going to Paris anytime soon, and I'm missing it already.
I'm trying to figure a week by myself in some January. DH isn't going to Paris anytime soon, and I'm missing it already.
Sep 6th, 2006, 08:07 AM
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Kate, there are so many schools available in many different regions of France. Luckily a search here should bring up many possibilities for anyone seeking information.
I think last winter someone posted about her experience at ELFE as well.
Danna, I think you can choose your accommodations separate from ELFE or go with one of their arrangements. I chose an "executive home stay", others were in a 4 star hotel and I know another student from Japan chose a hostel for her 4 week stay.
Deborah
I think last winter someone posted about her experience at ELFE as well.
Danna, I think you can choose your accommodations separate from ELFE or go with one of their arrangements. I chose an "executive home stay", others were in a 4 star hotel and I know another student from Japan chose a hostel for her 4 week stay.
Deborah
Sep 14th, 2006, 04:51 AM
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I just noticed that there's a new forum on fodors.com, focusing on Educational Travel. It's in a subfolder under "Other Topics". I've just started a thread on "Tips for Getting the Most out of your French Immersion Holiday". Those who are interested in the subject and have posted on threads like this one or started discussion threads might want to set up some cross-posts to the Educational Travel Forum and on these threads to let people know about the new sub-forum and about interesting threads like this one.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34869116
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34869116
I thought for some reason there would be more students in class, but I like that there are very few students in the class.
Sep 14th, 2006, 10:46 PM
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Hi DeborahAnn..
Great info..sounds like you had a wonderful time!
I find when I am in Paris on business and I am in the enviroment, my French just starts rambling off the top of my tongue but back in the US..I am tongue tied...this would be a perfect venue to really absorb the French and enjoy the city as well.I had no idea about the student/teacher ratio.. almost like a private tutor.
Kate W..thanks for the info too..I love that you and your husband live in Paris..my goal at least 3 months out of the year..almost there..
Best to all.
Great info..sounds like you had a wonderful time!
I find when I am in Paris on business and I am in the enviroment, my French just starts rambling off the top of my tongue but back in the US..I am tongue tied...this would be a perfect venue to really absorb the French and enjoy the city as well.I had no idea about the student/teacher ratio.. almost like a private tutor.
Kate W..thanks for the info too..I love that you and your husband live in Paris..my goal at least 3 months out of the year..almost there..
Best to all.
Sep 15th, 2006, 05:46 AM
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mcnyc, as I remember there could be up to 6 in any class. During my week I saw four or less in each class, being there during the time many Europeans are on vacation could account for the smaller class size.
I know one woman was from Belgium and was at ELFE for career advancement. Several were students in their mid to late 20's wanting to improve existing language skills. There were many of us in the 40+ age taking classes for a variety of reasons. My French was not as sharp as I had hoped it would be when I arrived at the school but I was placed in a class that was challenging but the staff made my week very comfortable. Any stress I experienced was due to my own personality quirks
Deborah Deborah
I know one woman was from Belgium and was at ELFE for career advancement. Several were students in their mid to late 20's wanting to improve existing language skills. There were many of us in the 40+ age taking classes for a variety of reasons. My French was not as sharp as I had hoped it would be when I arrived at the school but I was placed in a class that was challenging but the staff made my week very comfortable. Any stress I experienced was due to my own personality quirks
Deborah Deborah
Sep 15th, 2006, 07:11 AM
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Kate,
Lucky you to be living in France to continue your practice of French! It is very frustrating to get the language rolling again and then to have to almost stop cold turkey (dinde froide)upon return to the US. I do try to speak with some French colleagues where I work, but it's still not the same as the immersion approach. We will be in France for a week before New Year's so I doubt that it's likely a time that I could set up a tutorial for a couple of days. My best shot is to try to take some classes at the local Alliance Francaise before departing...
Hope all is going better...
letour
Lucky you to be living in France to continue your practice of French! It is very frustrating to get the language rolling again and then to have to almost stop cold turkey (dinde froide)upon return to the US. I do try to speak with some French colleagues where I work, but it's still not the same as the immersion approach. We will be in France for a week before New Year's so I doubt that it's likely a time that I could set up a tutorial for a couple of days. My best shot is to try to take some classes at the local Alliance Francaise before departing...
Hope all is going better...
letour
Sep 16th, 2006, 03:40 AM
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letour:
Thanks for the message. My week away at Millefeuille did help a lot - with my French and my stress level.
It's amazing how easy it has been get away without speaking French, even though I live in Paris. However, a few of my French colleagues have decided that, now that my workload has eased up and I've just come back from "school", the language will be French all the time, except when we discuss technical subjects. So, I'm getting more practice now - and now, I have the time to continue with regular lessons.
You might not be able to find a teacher, but it might be possible to find an activity that requires you to speak French during the Christmas-New Years period. For example, we took a wine-tasting course (in French) at Lavinia and we're planning to take some cooking lessons at L'Atelier des Chefs. (Of course, lots of enterprises like this close between Christmas and Years, too.) Or, if you want, I could ask my teacher if she knows anyone who'd like to make a little extra money over the holiday period with some lessons. As there is no private email function on this site, you can get in touch with me through flyertalk.com (which does have a private message function) - under the name Kate_Canuck. Too bad that you'll be here when my husband and I will be back in Canada for the holidays, but you should look us up any other time you're in Paris.
Thanks for the message. My week away at Millefeuille did help a lot - with my French and my stress level.
It's amazing how easy it has been get away without speaking French, even though I live in Paris. However, a few of my French colleagues have decided that, now that my workload has eased up and I've just come back from "school", the language will be French all the time, except when we discuss technical subjects. So, I'm getting more practice now - and now, I have the time to continue with regular lessons.
You might not be able to find a teacher, but it might be possible to find an activity that requires you to speak French during the Christmas-New Years period. For example, we took a wine-tasting course (in French) at Lavinia and we're planning to take some cooking lessons at L'Atelier des Chefs. (Of course, lots of enterprises like this close between Christmas and Years, too.) Or, if you want, I could ask my teacher if she knows anyone who'd like to make a little extra money over the holiday period with some lessons. As there is no private email function on this site, you can get in touch with me through flyertalk.com (which does have a private message function) - under the name Kate_Canuck. Too bad that you'll be here when my husband and I will be back in Canada for the holidays, but you should look us up any other time you're in Paris.
Sep 16th, 2006, 05:44 AM
#16
Even those this thread is about short term students, I would like to mention an excellent site for longer term students in Paris -- www.eduparis.net
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