I am beginning to plan a trip to Paris for the summer of 2003. (I love the planning aspect, so I start as soon as possible) For this trip, I am interested in staying three months and enrolling in a language immersion program. My husband and I are going to do this together--we are both in our twenties. I have had a litte French, and he is a complete beginner (We both plan on taking a refresher course before we go.) <BR>I have done a little research (inlcuding searching for posts on this forum). I have found a lot of helpful information, but am still overwhelmed by choices. Does anyone have first-hand expereince with language schools. Any suggestions (including any about living in Paris for three months) would be appreciated. Thank you

I thought I push this to the top, just to see if any of the people, who check out Fodors in the evenings has a reply.<BR>Thanks for any suggestions.<BR>-Amy

I've done this and have a detailed section on my personal Paris pages at Virtualtourist covering this topic. But if you've searched this site for prior posts, I guess you saw that? I have posted several times on that topic in response to similar questions, so I guess you want some others comment. I think there was even a very similar request earlier from a married couple, also. Anyway, as I said before, I've attended both the Sorbonne and L'Institut Catholique de Paris and recommend both highly, especially the latter. I prefer university courses, myself. Some private schools can be reasonable and more flexible in time frame, but for 3 months they would get rather expensive by contrast to university programs.

I attended a total immersion school in Tours, called Centre Linguistic pour Etrangers; it was a private school, run by a youngish couple; maximum of 7 in each class. Folks were attending from all over the world. <BR>It sounds as tho you have your heart set on Paris, but just thought I'd throw this out. Visit their site at www.cle.com

Whoops, correction to the above: www.cle.fr

Christina, thanks for your response I saw your website at virtual tourist and found it to be extremely helpful. What did you find to be the differences between the Sorbonne and L'Institut Catholique de Paris? Every school is beginning to look the same to me. I really want to come away with a stronger understanding of French. I'm also worried about the difficulty in arranging accomodations for a couple (without paying a fortune, of course!)<BR><BR>Sue, the Tours class sounds interesting, but you're right. I have my heart set on Paris! Thank you for your response.<BR>

Years ago, while spending my Junior year in College abroad, I attended The Alliance Francaise in Paris on the Blvd. Raspail. I think they are still in business. I attended for a whole school year but the courses run a month each, if I'm not mistaken. I think you would enjoy it. All levels are offered.

hi, well, I think I mentioned most of the main differences I found in those two programs. The Sorbonne has a younger demographic because many colleges use that as their summer program. L'Institut is not used too much by American universities for that, but is highly regarded by French teachers so a lot of them go there in the summer to brush up, plus a lot of Catholic staff (priests, nuns, brothers) who are part of that "order" go there in the summer to study French, also. There is a wider variety of students from more countries at l'Institut, so it's more diverse. I met students from Ireland, Croatia, Brazil, Sweden, Italy, etc -- whereas the Sorbonne seemed to be mainly American, Canadian, British, Japanese.<BR>I was older and liked the older demographics of ICP.<BR><BR>Both had good curricula but I just thought you learned a little more at l'Institut, maybe because of the clientele (more serious), and there was a wider variety of classes (I was at higher level, though). The Sorbonne main grammar class was fairly rigid in structure (which I don't mind), following typical French format, but we didn't seem to do much of anything the last week, so I thought we missed some instruction.<BR><BR>Also, the l'Institut had classes in one campus location in St-Germain--the Sorbonne has buildings all over Paris and classes were really spread out. I really preferred the residences at l'Institut, also, they were much nicer than the Sorbonne, but that may not be an issue for you as I don't think they took couples in their residences. the L'institut CP also had extra-curricular activities which were a lot of fun and way to meet others -- one folkloric night (where students from all countries could do an "amateur" hour and sing/play songs from their country--it sounds corny but was wonderful, I especially remember the folk music from Ireland and the fellow from Croatia who played the guitar and sang folk songs. Anybody could volunteer and perform. <BR><BR>Both schools had high quality teachers, I think I liked my ICP one better than one at the Sorbonne, but that's probably random. That's about all I can think of right now.

Some years ago, I enrolled in the Sorbonne program, starting first in the intensive one-month September program before the regular year-long academic program that began in October. The intensive course demanded a higher level of French knowledge than the normal program; you had to pass a fairly stringent placement test to get in (and they were very cruel with the results--everyone had to gather in a large room while they assigned you to your primary instructor. If you were left sitting at the end, then tant pis, you hadn't made the cut and were on your own.) My classmates ranged in age from early 20s to late 50s and it was a mix of Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Venezuelans and Germans. Our instructor was terrific and we were kept very busy throughout. All our classes were taught in the main Sorbonne complex off the Blvd. St. Michel, except for a language lab class that was held a couple of blocks away.<BR>As you make your plans, please check the school's requirements regarding residency permits/visas. Even though you will be staying just 3 months, they may still require a student visa. <BR>I would recommend against the Alliance Francaise. They tend to proceed at the rate of the slowest person in the class and there can be a LOT of repetition. Also, this is just my experience, that in the few AF classes I've taken, the student attitude toward study was very casual, which was annoying for me and held back the whole class.<BR>

I thought the previous reply was a bit harsh against The Alliance Francaise. After all, Amy said her husband knows no French at all. I was the product of 15 years of French schooling in the states, 8 of those years having half a day of French with the nuns. As I said I spent my JYA (Junior Year Abroad) in Paris studying at The AF. I enjoyed it tremendously and went on to become a French teacher after college. Amy, The AF seems exactly what you and your husband need.

Thanks everyone for your responses. It's so nice to get first-hand information (which is why we all love this website). <BR>Christina, I'm sorry for asking you to repeat what you already had mentioned on you website! I guess I'm a little nervous about planning this whole thing. Three months is the longest I've ever planned a trip for!<BR>Thanks again everyone.

Amy,<BR><BR>If you are interested in private lessons, I have a friend who is working on her Phd. in English and is currently teaching French college students at the Sorbonne. <BR><BR>I could help you get in touch with her if this is something that you would interested in. She is very bright and has a wonderful Parisien accent.<BR><BR>Ciao,<BR><BR>RJS

no need to apologize, I didn't recall exactly what I said on my web site, probably less, and it was no big trouble or I wouldn't have done it.<BR><BR>As for the AF, I didn't go there in Paris, but I have also heard that it is not as good quality instruction as some other places. I've read that in articles I've cited on my web site and I've heard some of the French teachers I had at ICP say the same thing. So, it isn't really harsh, a lot of people do have that opinion, it isn't unusual. I think it depends how seriously you want this to be. The fact that your husband hasn't had any isn't relevant to picking AF as all of these programs have classes for complete beginners.<BR><BR>I had to laugh at Btilke's remarks about the Sorbonne profs embarrassing you -- they do that all the time, I remember one of mine reading the grades out loud in class in front of everyone (your final grade), and at orientation, they called out the class you were placed into by exam in front of a large assembly and if you didn't understand you might miss your class! Luckily, I had had several years of French at that point so understand my name (which is German and sounds funny with a French accent), but I thought it could be difficult for the beginners. One thing I didn't like about my Sorbonne prof was she kind of ridiculed an older Japanese man about a question he asked or was having trouble with and it was really unnecessary, he was trying very seriously to do a good job and work hard, it was just a difficult language for him in comparison to some of us others who know Romance languages more. She wasn't very nice, actually. But, my ICP teacher was really very very nice.

BTilke said: <BR>"Also, this is just my experience, that in the few AF classes I've taken, the<BR> student attitude toward study was very casual, which was annoying for me and<BR> held back the whole class."<BR><BR>The same happened when I went to the Alliance Francaise, both times. But I would go again. It is a very casual place, and has some goof "students" who think they have the right to show off their immaturity in class; I wished that they had been elsewhere. <BR><BR>The Alliance Francaise gives you a test when you register (at the beginning of any month) and then places you in a class at your level. <BR><BR>On my first visit in October (years ago) the classes and fellow students from around Europe and the world were great. In three weeks I was speaking French, starting from nothing. My second experience in May (8 years later) was excellent. We had a small class of about 10, a fascinating teacher, and a beautiful spring in Paris. We got to know each other very well and partied in each other's apartments and the left bank cafes. At the beginning of June, the class was overrun with new students. We May "veterans" and the newbees who had taken over "our class" (according to some) worked it out and had a great time, even learned some more French, and of course kept up the party routine but on a larger scale. I met my wife from the newbee group, so the Alliance has had a profound effect on my life. <BR><BR>How much French you learn depends a lot on when you are going and your attitude, and whether or not you have a singleton jerk in your class; it only takes one to skew it up. Students come from around the world, NO English is spoken, and the labs are very good (though I don't have any others to compare them to).<BR><BR>

BTilke said: <BR>"Also, this is just my experience, that in the few AF classes I've taken, the<BR> student attitude toward study was very casual, which was annoying for me and<BR> held back the whole class."<BR><BR>The same happened when I went to the Alliance Francaise, both times. But I would go again. It is a very casual place, and has some goof "students" who think they have the right to show off their immaturity in class; I wished that they had been elsewhere. <BR><BR>The Alliance Francaise gives you a test when you register (at the beginning of any month) and then places you in a class at your level. <BR><BR>On my first visit in October (years ago) the classes and fellow students from around Europe and the world were great. In three weeks I was speaking French, starting from nothing. My second experience in May (8 years later) was excellent. We had a small class of about 10, a fascinating teacher, and a beautiful spring in Paris. We got to know each other very well and partied in each other's apartments and the left bank cafes. At the beginning of June, the class was overrun with new students. We May "veterans" and the newbees who had taken over "our class" (according to some) worked it out and had a great time, even learned some more French, and of course kept up the party routine but on a larger scale. I met my wife from the newbee group, so the Alliance has had a profound effect on my life. <BR><BR>How much French you learn depends a lot on when you are going and your attitude, and whether or not you have a singleton jerk in your class; it only takes one to skew it up. Students come from around the world, NO English is spoken, and the labs are very good (though I don't have any others to compare them to).<BR><BR>

Sorry for the double response. Fodor's didn't respond when I posted. I clicked the post line a second time thinking that nothing had happened.