DDA

Our daughter is considering studying french for 6-9 months at a language school in Tours- Institut de Touraine. Does anyone have any experience with either the school, or Tours as place to spend some time? Thanks.

adrienne

My niece did her semester abroad in France and went to the Institut de Touraine for the first month before going to the French University associated with her school. She said that there were students from all over the world going here before their study abroad programs, no matter where in France they were to end up. Sort of a "crammer". Students are assigned to classes according to their ability to speak French. Here's an excerpt from her blog about the school:

"The Institute de Touraine, where we are studying in Tours, is unlike any school I have ever studied at. I think I explained briefly about the school in a previous post, but just to recap – the school is attached somehow to the Université de Tours, and it exists solely to teach people from anywhere in the world, of any age, French. You can go for a month (like we are), for a few months, for an entire year if you wish. Students are divided into small classes based on their proficiency, and the teachers are great – dynamic and interesting, I’m really impressed.

What makes the school so unique is the number of different countries the students are from. In my petit class of 12 alone, we have students from Korea, Japan, Oman, Belgium, Iraq, Colombia, Thailand and England. So I’ve had a chance to speak with people from all over the world, and hear about their homes, their lives and why they are in France. The student from England, Sam, has actually become good friends with all of us from Holy Cross, and hangs out with us outside of school as well.

Before I left, I heard it again and again “Aren’t you nervous? Everyone there hates Americans!” It’s such a cliché, but it’s so common, I kind of came to expect it. If my first week here has taught me anything, it’s just how untrue that is. I’ve had chatty, fun conversations with girls from Germany and Korea, and discussed the war with the woman from Iraq. The other night all of us from HC went out, and a French guy came over to our table just to talk to us and hear about the US, why we were in France, what we thought of Tours. People are so friendly and I love it – hearing about places from all over, talking in awkward, broken French, and feeling like I’m really making the most of this opportunity. "

She stayed with a host family and one problem was that the host mom did not have internet access. My niece was not able to tap into an unsecured router so could only use her email from school. She also said that the bus system did not operate frequently on Sundays so perhaps a bicycle would be good if your daughter is staying for a long time.

I believe Tours is fairly close to Paris and easily accessible by train. One thing your daughter should consider is that a lot of students are only at the Institut for a short time before moving on to wherever they will be living until the end of the academic year. My niece had a support system of 6 other students from her college, although they were not friends before the trip to France; they studied in Tours together and then moved on to Dijon together although they each lived with different families in both towns.

I think my niece enjoyed living with a host family although I don't know if there are any other options than living with a family. Here's what she wrote after two weeks in Tours:

"And so it’s Friday; two weeks ago at this time I was en route to Newark airport, not quite believing what I was about to do. Now I’m settled in Tours, speaking French daily, and things are becoming surprisingly…routine. In a good way. Living and eating dinner in a relative stranger’s home is no longer so odd, and the constant presence of baguettes and a cheese course at each meal seems less quaint and more normal. I don’t spazz out and start counting on my fingers whenever I try to read a clock (Europeans go by a 24-hour clock). I feel comfortable and I’m more confident in my French."

Hope this helps. Your daughter is very lucky to have this opportunity.

Pat_in_Mich

My daughter studied French in Tours for 8 weeks in the summer of 2006. It was an excellent experience for her. There are always a lot of young people from everywhere studying there, so there are plenty of opportunities to meet with people from all over. It was an easy trip into Paris on the train and she was able to go twice during her time there, once for Bastille DA and once to watch the ending of the Tour de France.

Sarastro

I spent 6 months at the Insitute de Touraine and recommend it highly. However, for anyone to learn a foreign language he will need to actually speak it and the best way to do that is among French people, not fellow students in an academic atmosphere.

If you are serious about obtaining a high level of fluency in and cultural understanding of French for your daughter, send her to participate in one of the activities offed below (both of these programs are government sponsored):

http://www.ucpa.com
http://www.gard-decouvertes.fr/

DDA

Thank you all for your help. Sarastro, thanks for the links. Though our daughter is not too sporty--the idea is a good one. She is finishing her Master's in Global Health. Perhaps some volunteer work would help to get her into the community. (Or perhaps a part time job if the visa would allow--she has experience as a barista). Is Tours a pleasant town to spend some time?