Article N° 2 – published in Paris Marais
WHY NOT MAKE IT A CULTURAL VACATION ?
through a unique French immersion program in the South of France
Instead of idling away the time lying on a beach or sitting in a café, why not live the intellectually invigorating adventure of learning to speak French along with fascinating people from all over the world ? These could be a Dutch engineer working on a UN project, a Canadian journalist, a Swiss banker, a German psychiatrist, a Hollywood starlet and at one time, the Queen of Norway, Australia’s former prime minister, a Canadian minister, Vidal Sassoon, etc.
French language schools which provide complete French immersion are rare to come by. This special program is offered by the Institut de Français in Villefranche-sur-Mer, (next to Nice), a renowned school set in a breathtaking setting on the French Riviera, which runs a unique intensive French course of 8 1/2 hours a day, with 2 on-site meals, 5 days a week, all year-round.
The results are impressive : first, because the teaching standard is top notch; secondly, the program is extremely varied, ranging from audio-visual classes, language lab, discussion-lunch (with a teacher) to practice sessions, linguistic games, songs, role playing in everyday situations, commenting on newscasts, commercials, a demonstration of crepe making, a presentation and tasting of cheeses, etc.
Add to that, organized evening activities such as : cinema showings by a teacher, going to the theater (after having studied the play), to a restaurant with teachers, a wine tasting evening, a full-day excursion (with a teacher) in the hinterland to renowned villages like Saint Paul de Vence, the Matisse chapel in Vence, Grasse, the perfume center of France, etc.
All of this makes attending this unique French language school a truly unforgettable experience !
