Paris Language Schools
 

Hi, I am wanting to attend a language school in paris for 4 weeks. I am 27 years old and speak only a little French. Want a nice social setting; restaurants, nightlife, etc. Also, want to stay in a hotel not with a family....any one have ANY suggestions. Thank you in advance!

Do you have an Alliance Francais near you? (French cultural centre) if so they have reams and reams of information on every language school all over France. Just a suggestion.

I am not sure, I live in Los Angeles. I will check it out tonight. Thanks for the advice!

Check out Eurocentres. My son (18) went to Paris last summer and lived with a host family near the Eurocentres school. He LOVED it. They test you for your appropriate language level and place you in the correct class for your level. Check out their website at www.eurocentres.com. They have branches across the U.S. They've been around awhile because my brother-in-law used them when he went to Germany back in the 80s, so they're reputable.

Topping for Cotie who just joined and got buried quickly.

bonjour, Cotie -- they do have an Alliance Francaise in LA, I used to live there. A lot of French expats in it and a bunch of UCLA students (including me).

I know a great school for you in Paris, exactly what you want. L'Institut Parisien near the Motte-Picquet metro stop in the 15th arr. I went there a week (just a conversation class to meet people and brush up some), and the teacher was excellent. I had reviews and knew about them before, though, so knew they had a good reputation. It's a popular school, at least with other nationalities (maybe not Americans so much, I was the only one I met there--others in my class were from Mexico, Russia, Switzerland, etc.).

One big advantage to this school, unlike many university-based programs, is that you can sign up for a week at a time and tailor your own schedule much more. You can usually get in classes you want at the beginning of most weeks. Prices are very reasonable, and they have a nice facility. A lot of the people going there are either expat residents, businesspeople, etc., not just college kids doing summer language things.

They have some housing office if you need help, but you can stay wherever you want, everybody in my class had their own arrangements on that (apartments or whatever). I think they can help arrange a room in some local residence facilities, if you need it. I've posted a few times on here with some suggestions on those (ie, FIAP Jean Monnet in the 14th arr, etc.).

For four weeks, you might want to consider one of those resident hotels rather than a regular hotel (unless cost is no object, of course). YOu could even arrange an apartment rental, if you wanted. I actually liked the few residences I stayed in because you get to meet more people that way.

Here is their URL, post back if you have questions:
http://www.institut-parisien.com/home.htm

There are other schools in Paris, also, of course, like the one named above (which also has a URL), but I think Institut Parisien is one of the best. Here is a French website used by educators for such programs (le petit guide FLE), you can see what they have listed for Paris:

www.fle.fr

Alliance Francaise does have classes in Paris, of course. I like them very much where I live, but for some reason, I haven't heard good things about their Paris one. It's an option, of course, but their schedules aren't as flexible as Institut Parisien.

Wow, this is such a great site. Thanks for 'topping' me bardo and Christine thank you for the loads of information....going to check out the website now.