Everything I Could Have Asked For In A Program Past Review
By Emma (Occidental College) - abroad from 01/06/2016 to 05/07/2016 with
IES Abroad: Nantes - French Language Immersion & Area Studies
I improved my French immensely and overall gained so much confidence. I felt really independent abroad and had the best experience I could've hoped for exploring a beautiful city and meeting really great people.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The courses at IES were fun and engaging--I especially loved the art history course I took--and the professors were overall tuned into the level of French students had. University classes were more challenging and faster-paced but the professors were still understanding and recognized that French was not my first language. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The staff at the IES are so sweet, and the center provides a kind of home base for its students. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My host family was one of the biggest highlights for me: they were so sweet to me, made me feel welcome right away. I genuinely felt right at home. |
| * Food: |
My host mom made such amazing food! And Nantes has a ton of great restaurants in centre ville at various price points. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I felt overall very integrated, and the moments when I felt different were generally positive, like university students being curious about certain American things. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
There were protests fairly frequently, and while it surprised me how seemingly commonplace they were, I honestly never felt unsafe. |
| 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) |
Living in a host family definitely helped with many of the costs, as they provided the majority of meals. However, being in France there was definitely temptation with really good food everywhere, and I spent a fair amount going to restaurants and bars with friends. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
IES definitely encouraged us to speak only in French, but there was still a lot of English spoken at the center. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Fluent |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I wish I'd known that there would be time to do/see lots of things throughout the program instead of feeling a bit overwhelmed at first by all the things I wanted to do. |
