I'm going to put cultural differences and French driving laws on hold for a minute to talk about what I've been doing over the past two weeks. In addition to my host family stay, I've been taking classes at Institut Français des Alpes (IFALPES). Classes are taught all in French by French faculty. It's basically like a typical French class in the United States...but in France of course! We were placed into varying levels based on our performance on a written and oral test, which we took on day one. IFALPES is operated in conjunction with IPAC, which is a French university with about 1500 students.
My class is a fairly good mix of different cultures. Americans make up the majority of the class (two from Michigan, several from the Chicago area, a few from Colorado, one from Minnesota, another from Texas, and one from Florida/Peru), but there are other students from Scotland, Japan, China, and New Zealand. Compared to what I'm used to, these people definitely add a different dynamic to the class...which is a good thing. For Anglophones learning French, there are some words that look the same, are spelled the same, and even sound the same. For some of these non-anglophone students, their first language may have close matches with completely different words, if any at all.
I have classes from Monday through Friday, for four hours per day. Monday, Thursday, and Friday, I have class in the morning from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Tuesday and Wednesday I have class from 1:30pm to 5:30pm. We also receive one 20 minute break each class period (vive la France).
So far, it has been a great experience. It's hard to believe that only two weeks remain. Tomorrow, I'm heading to Geneva, Switzerland for a day trip to visit some museums and the United Nations building. Next weekend, I'm planning on heading to some of the chateaus in the Loire Valley. Stay tuned for more photos and updates.
By the way, thanks for reading. I really do appreciate it!
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ReplyDeleteWhat?! I cant believe you forgot to add Peru (or at least Miami) to the melange of cultures, lol.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies. Problem has been fixed! :)
ReplyDeleteHello!I am almost ready to take the decision and enroll for 2 months of french classes at Annecy?Do you think it's worth it? Am I going to learn french?Is it a good school?Is Annecy a nice city?
ReplyDeleteSorry for all my questions, but I can't decide whether it the right choice for me to go to Annecy for French!Thanks!
Annecy is a gorgeous city. I wouldn't have wanted to stay anywhere else in France, especially for the summer. IFAPLES is a decent place to study, though I'd recommend that you have some basic knowledge of French before attending. It's not impossible to go if you don't, as I know of several people who did, I'm just saying that it will be easier on you if you do.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think it's a great place to study and learn the language. Hope all goes well for you.
Hello Tyler,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Maria, I am from Colombia, South America. I came across you blog while searching for reviews about IFALPES. I am trying to make a decision to enroll in July for about a year to learn French.
I was wondering if you could give me an advice about the school, France and Annecy.
Thank you,
Maria