One Semester in France is not enough Past Review
By Brian C (Television and Radio, concentration in International Communications, Ithaca College) for
Institute for American Universities (IAU): The School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Aix-en-Provence, France
It was worth while, and I wish I stayed for a year instead of one semester.
Personal Information
| The term and year this program took place: | Fall 2009 |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The classes could have been a little harder, there was a decent amount of work after classes but they weren't overwhelming. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The dean was difficult with students and didn't offer much help when needed. She gave an air of intimidation which caused anxiety among students in the program. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I lived with a host family who had a son, and they also hosted another American student. <br /><br /> The family was amazing, they were as nice as could be. Their son was a little overwhelming but it wasn't unmanageable, and it was interesting to see a real French teenager. |
| * Food: |
My host family cooked dinner and every night was something new and delicious. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
We had a professor who set up events, and gave information about events around town, and without her we would never have been able to find them. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
The town was incredibly safe, and the accessibility of hospitals if needed was very easy. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* 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) |
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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | I wasn't informed that the city i was going to live in was the second most expensive in France. It made buying lunch everyday very difficult and expensive. |
Language
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Being immersed in the culture was amazing. I was able to speak French every night at dinner with my family, and i learned proper grammar as well as useful terms and appropriate slang. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
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Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Introduction to Western Philosophy |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Christopher Carsten |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | The subject of this course was an introduction to philosophy. The teacher was what made this course miserable. He acted as if we had a foundation in philosophy and had certain knowledge about the subject, when all but one of the students did. He was never open to opinion and his always seemed to be the right one. He also assigned extensive work and at the end of the semester decided it was irrelevant. He also didn't treat students with respect and thought that because we were below him in the hierarchy of education, we owed him a certain amount of respect. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
