What I learned in French class this week
 

Bonjour from Provence, where I have been studying (encore!) French at Millefeuille*Provence, just northeast of Avignon in tiny, don*t blink-your-eyes village called St. Genies de Comolas. I am using a French keyboard, so this may be brief! My learning curve with the keyboard is on a par with my French!

It*s hard not to compare this experience to that of last summer when I studied with my daughter in a similar but smaller program called Parlons en Provence in nearby Noves.I don*t want to rate one over the other, however, as both have their charm. I will try to simply describe this program on its face value.

MP accepts perhaps 15 students at a time; they can take students (over age 20 I am told) at a range of levels and coordinate programs for them in subgroups. One takes an exam and then is placed in a group. They also consider your interest in studying French and adapt the curriculum somewhat to your stated needs. My discussion classes were never more than 3 students; we met as a group with three different teachers over the course of the day. One can pay more (a bit steep I thought) for individual instruction within the daily schedule. My immediate study group, as well as the larger group of students was very congenial and the teachers and directors were lovely.

The setting is an old chateau in reasonably good repair; there is a pool and one can borrow one of two velos (my daily outing!) to peruse the countryside. The environs are mixed; one notices the mining and related industry in the panorama. They are literally cutting a mountain down to size...sort of sad to see but one needs rocks I guess! I did manage to find many tiny chemins through vineyards and along the edges of fields of turnesols that made for pleasant biking. It was kind of fun to bike across an old bridge that allows secondARy traffic over the Rhone.

I lost about é pages of reporting, so I will try to recap here:

The food is very good: simple Provencal meals served evenings with inexpensive local wines. We had presentations every evening and my favorite by far was the degustation presented by a local wine specialist. There I think that my learning curve was a little better! The mix of students was surprising and welcome: Indonesians, Scots, Germans, Lithuanians, Swedes, along with a couple of other Americans filled our ranks. Nearly all of the students were taking the course for professional reasons; the others weres spouses who were accompanying there partners in Francophone settings around the world. My goal was to learn the subjonctif, and I think that I have laid some good groundwork for catching myself and inserting the subjonctif form where it wants to go. I know that I still have a long way to go; I find that the French language tends to have many nuances, and that you may think that you have understood something only to find that another grammatical element rears its head and demands to be accomodated! I also think that this kind of intensive weeklong program can turn your brain to whipped potatoes and then it*s hard to assess what you*ve really gained. Some progress is evident, but then one can also feel that one has regressed at times and has slid back down the hill into a morass of grammatical muck! Why, indeed, must mountains come tumbling down?

D*accord, I*ve had about enough of this computer, so I sign off here. It*s off tomorow for a few days of croissants, wine and biking (not serially) in Eygalieres before heading back home where the way that I pronounce pour will matter not.

Having technical difficulties again. It has been fun studying French and then getting the chance to use it elsewhere, including today, when I came back through Paris to catch my flight home; what a finish to today*s race to Alpe d*Huez! The Maillot Jeune seems to be up for grabs! If anyone wants further info. on my travels and studies, just ask. I Aam losing patience with the French keyboards!
Letour

As this thread looks like a monolugue I'll post a reply :)

I feel your pain in using the European keyboard! Hopefully next year I'll have the same complaint, yeee-hawww ;)

Just wanted to say that I have been rading the thread as well - and am enjoying it

What fun to study French - encore! I hope you will post more details. I'm sorry I missed this when it was originally posted (I don't know how that happened!)

Anyway, it sounds like fun and I'd love more details. . . maybe from your regular keyboard. :)
Linda

Letour, Thanks for this interesting and useful report! I too cursed those French keyboards on our recent trip. I never realized how much of my typing was by touch rather than hunt and peck until then.

Thank you very much for the unusual trip report.

Learning never stops. I just started in with Pimsler Spanish. Never mind travel. I need it for work.

FauxSteMarie:

If you're learning Spanish with Pimsleur, you might also want to complement your studies either with a book from the "Teach Yourself" series (one of the best I've found for learning languages) and/or the BBC Spanish language series called Suenos. I liked Suenos because it combined grammar and vocabulary lessons with lots of interesting information about Hispanic culture throughout the world.

I hope they were teaching you standard pronunciation in Provence, instead of the local (rather marked) southern accent.

Thank you letour for sharing with us your expereinces. For your next time, please look into l'Institut de Français in Villefranche-sur-Mer. You can do 2 weeks but 4 weeks course is better.

I just found your thread, letour, and found it interesting. Studying French in France is one of those dream vacations for me!

I agree about the French keyboards - very frustrating!

Sounds like fun - sometime I may be asking for the pros and cons of the different programs as I have toyed with the idea of going myself (only to improve my French for personal reasons and fun, not for business or as a spouse as you mentioned.)

Thanks for the suggestion Kate, but for now, I have spent quite enough on Pimsleur Spanish 1 and Rosetta Stone. If I continue on with this past the two programs, I might consider purchasing other materials.

At least it is all deductible as I need Spanish for work.

I wanted to add my review of Millefeuille Provence to letour's report. I found her review quite helpful when I was deciding which school to choose for a last minute "French immersion" holiday. (See also this thread, where I got feedback on L'Ecole des Trois Ponts: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34835671)

I was very pleased with Millefeuille from my initial contact with the school's director (via internet) to the end of my stay. It is very professionally run - as well as very hospitable and friendly.

It is an ideal school for very motivated adult learners with at least a low intermediate level knowledge of French. You are asked to speak only French in classes and the common areas. Since you take all of your meals and breaks with the other students and sometimes the professors, I think that students with less than a "low intermediate" level of French might find the all-French environment, friendly and supportive as it is, somewhat intimidating (unless you're really good at charades).

I ended up in a group of three students, and we seemed to be the most advanced class. We focused mostly on putting into practice what we already knew, with a great deal of emphasis on improving our pronunciation, the fluidity of our speech and the complexity of what we were saying.

The professors do a good job of picking up on students' particular needs and interests and using those as the basis for lessons. In my case, one of the teachers researched the subjects/countries I said I was working on at my office, found French versions of relevant documents from the organisation I work for and devised some exercises and assignments based on those documents.

I shared a similar background and similar motives for learning French with many of the other students. Most were Europeans, in the 35-60 age range, who need French for professional reasons. Most of them work either for international organisations (e.g. European Commission) or work for their home governments in relation to international affairs. The group included an ambassador, a former ambassador, two current/former Ministers, two translators who work for EU institutions (and want to add French to the languages from which they translate into their own language), among others. Everyone was very friendly and very interested in discussing politics, the economy, the environment, etc. We particularly enjoyed the guest lecturers' presentations on upcoming French presidential elections and on nuclear energy in France.

The food is simple and of very good quality, served family style in a pretty dining room. Meals were quite lively. I noticed that the two couples in the group took great care to split up and talk to other people.

I had a room in the annex; it was basic but quite comfortable, clean and functional. It had AC and an ensuite bath/toilet - but no TV. (It did have a clock radio, which I listened to in my limited spare time to improve my listening skills.) My room looked out over the vineyards - about 10 feet away.

My only regret is that I couldn't stay for 2 weeks. Thanks letour, justretired and marcy for your input.

Very good look at this opportunity. Many thanks

Hey, Kate. I've been looking forward to your report and it sounds "spot-on" with my recent experience, although we lacked ambassadors in our group. That would have been fun! You explain very well how the teachers make an effort to personalize your learning. An international accountant did "assignments" related to his professional endeavours, while for me, they recognized that I like to read French literature, so I did some research/reading of a French author. Thus, my classmates and I did our homework together during the same late afternoon period, but we were doing completely different things! That personalized aspect of the course was impressive, along with the overall professional and friendly attitude of the staff. I am not sure that I would have cherished a second week, however; I am sure that my French would have improved further, but I was ready to get out and to try to apply some of what I had learned. Although it's all kind of a brain-crush for me when I am learning intensively that way, I find a few days away to process and to consolidate what I have learned helps alot. Maybe having the weekend off between the two-week sessions would have been sufficient for that purpose, but I was ready for a respite! By the way, letour, in this case, c'est un homme!


A bientot!

Oops, sorry Monsieur letour.

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 (which is rather hard to find) and about interesting threads like this one.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34869116