Montpellier - The best city in France! Past Review
By A student (French / Sociology, University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse) - abroad from 01/04/2012 to 05/18/2012 with
ISEP Exchange: Montpellier - Exchange Program at Université Paul Valéry (Montpellier III)
So much! I learned a lot about myself, about many different cultures, about different people. It was most definitely worthwhile and I wish I could do it every semester.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Lots of classes! It was a full school week, just like school here, but the classes were much easier and less time-consuming. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
It was difficult at first to communicate, they had a lot of people they were in charge of and it was hard to be clear on everything we were supposed to do. However, after the first two weeks or so, everything administration-wise went well. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I liked where I lived! It was a dorm room to myself, right across the street from campus, and all my friends lived in the same building or surrounding buildings. |
| * Food: |
I didn't have a meal plan, so I mostly made my own food in my little kitchenette. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I know I could have tried harder to become friends with more french locals, but it was hard when you are in classes all day with other exchange students. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
One girl got mugged (they just took her purse), but they moved her the next day into our dorms (she had been living off-campus through a different program). That was a little scary, but she wasn't injured and the staff took care of it right away. Otherwise I felt just as safe there as I do in La Crosse! |
| 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) |
It was definitely hard, there are a lot of expenses at the beginning that I didn't foresee and was nervous about using too much money. But I kept it pretty cheap many weeks, it's easy to spend very little on food if you pay attention to what to eat! |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | No |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | $90 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Try to eat out less! Especially when traveling, save money where you can. It's not hard to grab some food from a grocery store and eat it throughout the day as opposed to buying fast food all day. |
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 |
They wouldn't let us speak in our native languages, so yes, speaking the host language was very very encouraged! |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Advanced |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | French 300-400 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Practice with native speakers!!!! I made a couple french friends and they would be really patient with me and want me to try hard at speaking french instead of relying on English. Also, just start practicing with yourself. I started speaking to myself in my head in french a couple days before I left so I could get used to it as much as I could. |
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 had had more money, so I wouldn't have worried about it so much while I was over there. It was little things, like shopping with friends, and having to only buy one or two things because I had such little money. But you don't need to be a millionaire to do things! I also wish I had tried to make more local friends. I had such a great time with my American and international exchange friends, but I know if I had spoken and hung out more with french people, my skills would've improved that much more. I also wish I could have told myself that the first few weeks are HARD. It takes a lot of getting used to, but once you get past that hump, everything is amazing. |
