In the Louvre on Bastille Day

Author: Sarah Long | Majors: Art and French

Going into this program, I had just finished intermediate II of my French studies and my sophomore year. I had been studying French out of a textbook since early high school, so this program offered me the perfect opportunity to practice speaking outside of a controlled classroom setting. As someone whose goal is to work in the film industry, being bilingual gives me an edge in an extremely competitive field. When I researched this program, I found it was the perfect one to get a taste of full immersion.

One way the program provided immersion was through four-hour French classes taught by French professors. Given that we were in the south of France, many professors had a southern accent that forced us as students to pay attention more closely. Coming from U of A classes where the professor, usually American, speaks French slowly in a Parisian accent, this change caused us to focus more on the pronunciation of words. The instructors understood this difficulty and would often repeat words or thoroughly explain their definitions.

Besides just the professors, the people of Perpignan themselves were extremely kind and interesting. My last day in Perpignan I wandered into a record shop and ended up having a two-hour conversation with the owner. He was an older man who spoke some English, so we spoke half French and English to discuss our favorite bands. He ended up telling me about his experience touring with bands such as the Clash and the Cure when he was a teenager, and how he used to be a radio host and interviewed famous musicians such as Patti Smith and PJ Harvey. Meeting the owner was one of many exciting encounters I had just walking through the city. Many times, when I walked through downtown alone or in small groups, those living in Perpignan were extremely interested in striking up a conversation. Most of the best encounters I had were people I ran into by chance while wandering through centre-ville (downtown Perpignan). This friendliness didn’t just stop in Perpignan. For Bastille Day, a few other students and I took a small trip to Paris by train. There we met many Parisians, who after learning we spoke some French, were more than happy to invite us to dinner with them or show us the city. Although I learned lots about French culture from living with my host family, meeting strangers in Paris and Perpignan showed me the wide range of lifestyles available in France.

I would recommend this program to students who were looking to complete a French minor or were interested in doing a longer expedition to France in the future. While it was not enough to become fluent, as we were constantly around American students and there a short time, it exposed us to how quickly native French is spoken along with the vast differences in American and French culture. Because of how hard French is to understand and how fast it is spoken, I wish I had practiced more with listening before I left. There were many resources, such as Duolingo or Podcasts, which could’ve helped me practice comprehending hours of spoken French beforehand. Having used these resources little to none beforehand, trying to understand French spoken by a native speaker for the first time was extremely difficult. However, with more practice, I hope to return to France in the future to improve my listening and speaking. Having returned from France now, I am excited to share all it taught me, including traditional French cuisine. However, as an avid lover of salt and trashy American food (something there was a shortage of in Europe), the first thing I did when I returned home was order a large plate of extremely processed Mexican food at La Huerta.