Macs

We need a your insight on Language Immersion Programs. We are a couple, 40 years old, moving to North Africa to work, so we need to be functional in French by Christmas or Mar 05 at the latest. Speed of learning and Quality of instructor are the most important factors.

We have narrowed our research to 3 programs and want feedback: (1) the Eurolingua One-to One Homestay Programme in Tours and Montpellier; (2) Accent Francais in Montpellier; (3) ABM Formation Langues Seminarires.

Last detail: we have a 2-year-old, so we would need an accommodating Host Home or input on how to put her in a quality day care for 6 hours/day.

Please comment on any experiences you know of with these 3 groups and the best way to "check them out" . We plan to visit them in June before starting in September.

crepes_a_go_go

I am leaving next week for a 6 week immersion study in Tours. I will be studying at Centre Linguistique pour Etrangères and doing a homestay for my accomodations. I picked this school because of the small class size - only 7 students max per class. Also, there is another frequent poster here who attended this school and recommended it highly. I am 44 returning to university after 25 years to finish my degree in French. The other poster, grandmère, was an "older" student like me when she studied there. She says there were all ages from 20 to 60 and that integration came more from your level of French than from age. Because I am doing the program for college credit, I was limited to one of about a dozen schools approved by my university.

I'm sure you've done your homework and have seen these schools are not cheap. While one on one tuition was out of the question for me, CLE was the best value for money, especially with this small class size. I found only 2 other schools offering less students per class. One was in Québec, Canada and the other in France. They both had a class max of 6.

Macs

To: Crepes A Go Go: Please post how your Tours experience goes after 6 weeks, including quality of instruction and homestay. We will visit Tours about June 12, so we may try to visit with someone from that program. thanks.

grandmere

Crepes, have you received word about the family you'll be staying with yet? You mentioned a while back being concerned about the length of time you'll be in one household. I imagine both you and the family will find the balance as to how much time you want to spend together, etc. And you will have homework. We had class a couple of afternoons a week ( in addition to the 5 mornings), and on those days you definitely will need evening time for work. And it stays light outside so long that it's easy to forget how late it's getting to be, etc. I went end of May, so my daylight hours were a bit longer than yours will be at the beginning.

My daily commute to CLE was about a 25 min. pleasant walk, but my friend stayed in a "suburban" location that required a bus ride. Everyone I talked to was very happy with his/her housing.

I didn't realize that you were getting credit for the classes; that's great! What an exciting experience you have ahead of you; I am very happy for you.
Make sure you keep in touch with us when you can!

Sue

crepes_a_go_go

Hi grandmère! Hope Macs doesn't mind us hijacking his thread!

I have indeed received the info on my hosts and have already corresponded with them. Sounds like it will be a great match. I will stay with a couple in their 50s with 2 grown daughters. The wife is the directrice of an elementary school and the husband is retired (imagine, already retired in your 50s!) but from what, I do not know. They live in a very old, 4 story house in the center of town, next to the cathedral. She says it is a 10 minute walk to CLE. She says they host 2 CLE students at a time, each with a different mother tongue. Sounds reasonable with such a huge home. My room will be on the 3rd floor (US 3rd). Hope I can navigate those stairs! Not used to stair climbing so this will be some good exercise to help burn off all that delicious French food I will be consuming!

Thanks for all your words of encouragement. Your telling me of your experiences sealed my decision on this school and has bolstered my confidence. I will be continually checking my emails and doing my daily dose of Fodors. I am off to Paris Thursday next!

Macs

What is your feedback after a few weeks at the CLE Course? We come over in a month and want to meet with them. What do you suggest?

grandmere

Macs, I would suggest puttings Crepes' name in the title if you want input from her; she may not see it on this thread.

crepes_a_go_go

sorry, not checking fodors much right now. don't have much free time! yes, CLE is great. please come and talk with isabelle and herve. i will be here thru 06/04 so if you come before then, please ask to meet me. i am only one of 2 americans here and i am 44 and the other is 17 so it won't be difficult to suss me out - LOL! best of luck. the city of Tours is parfait!

grandmere

Gee, I'm surprised that there are so few Americans at CLE; they were many more than that when I was there. Isn't it a wonderful experience to be talking with people from all over the world in your only language in common, French?

crepes_a_go_go

yes grandmere, i am very surprised to have been the only american here my first 4 weeks. we have had several englishmen and women though so i have had a few kindred spirits along the way. and yes, it is very interesting to converse with other nationalities and learn about their cultures. that is very important to me since i am a teacher. thanks again for all your encouragement. i wish i knew your name so that i could tell isabelle and herve that you are still so happy with the time you spent here. ciao for now!

crepes_a_go_go

grandmere, i just had a thought. if you'd like, you could email me directly if you'd like me to inquire about the family with which you stayed or if you like me to convey your sentiments to isa and herve. just a thought but if you like, i'd be very happy to pass the word. the family i am with has hosted 50 students over the years. they have pics of them all and are still in constant touch with many. it will be the same with me - they have integrated me into their family and that has been wonderful. you can write me at [email protected].

grandmere

Thank you, Crepes a go go; I just wrote to you!