La Vie à Paris Past Review

By (French, Barnard College) for

Columbia University: Paris - Reid Hall

What did you gain/learn from your experience abroad? Was it worthwhile?
Yes! I learned a lot about how to research in French, how to babysit in French (and babysit in general--I learned so much from that experience and I was able to understand French culture a lot better).

Review Your Program

* Overall educational experience

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Grading is different because for the most part it was on a french scale, between 1 and 20, as opposed to a letter grade. This system was fairly easy to get used to in some ways because I felt that the French professors knew that as American students in a foreign country we had a lot to get used to. Teaching methods were somewhat harder to get used to because it is more lecture oriented than seminar style, and in some ways French professors have a slightly more condescending attitude towards their students than American professors, at least in my experience.

* Host Country Program Administration

On-site administration of your program

The Reid Hall program is very supportive, however they did seem somewhat disorganized at times. My expectations were met, and I liked that the program size was neither too large nor too small.

* Housing:

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

* Food:

I loved the bread and the cheese and that things are often very easy to find fresh, but I didn't like some of the frozen dinners that my host mom gave me from Picard. Also it was difficult to get lots of good veggies.

* Social & Cultural Integration:

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

They did plan some nice outings for us-particularly movie screenings, plays, trips to Reims and to Belgium, too.

* Health Care:

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

* Safety:

Paris was very safe! I had no complaints about safety.

If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? Yes

Finances

* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? Approximately 70+ euros/week on food. maybe 20 euros/week for extraneous things.
Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? N/A

Language

How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? Intermediate
What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? Multiple 3000 level French courses at my college
If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition?

Other Program Information

* Where did you live?

Select all that apply

  • Host Family
* Who did you live with?

Select all that apply

  • Host Family
* Who did you take classes with?

Select all that apply

  • Americans

A Look Back

* What did you like most about the program?
  • The academics
* What could be improved?
  • More literature classes offered!! There were none offered through Reid Hall!
* What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? I would say, this program isn't the greatest for facilitating language ability improvement, however it is great in terms of academics, (which can be stressful though).