The Calanques of Marseille
Author: Sophie McAdara | Major: Political Science | Semester: Fall 2023
In French, like any language, there is a never-ending list of rules in pronunciation and grammar. However, the biggest lesson I learned during my program was to turn away from my typical rule-following and scheduled-out life, let loose, and enjoy learning the language through interactions with people and new places.
During my 81 days abroad, I was based in Grenoble, France, through Academic Programs International’s (API) Intensive French language program, but the “intensive” aspect of the title was nothing to fear. The University of Grenoble Alp’s campus is beautiful and nestled in three mountains surrounding the city. It was set up very similarly to a US campus, with 60,000 students, and had regular activities for international students to assist with integration into campus life. During this program, I took a 4-hour daily French grammar class through the centre universitaire d’etudes Françaises (CUEF). While I was in intermediate-level courses, this program can be completed with little to no prior French skills, as they place you in the grammar class based on test scores. My class consisted of around 15 students from different countries and was conducted with continuous assessment, meaning there were no exams; however, there were regular homework assignments. At the end of the three sessions, we received grades, were moved up a level, and continued our course with another professor. The classes were easygoing and interactive but challenged each student’s grammar and conversation skills. Each professor at CUEF was extremely passionate about their job, making us feel welcome by bringing homemade cakes on the last day of classes and helping organize birthday celebrations. I feel fortunate that I had such a tight-knit group of students in my class, which made my experience in Grenoble comfortable and never lonely.
The city surrounding the campus had a wide variety of activities to enjoy, with many coffee shops, tea salons, and diverse restaurants. One thing I did not expect from my stint abroad was to discover a passion for laser tag; my friends and I visited the same laser tag place four times and became quite friendly with the owner.
After class and on weekends, I explored Christmas markets in my town, the French cities of Marseille, Strasbourg, and Annecy, with my program. During the included excursions with API, I felt that we received a great taste of local culture in each town, including visiting the festival of the Alps in Annecy and eating a ton of traditional French alpine food, such as tartiflette, raclette, and Alsacienne sausages. My favorite place that I visited in France was the Calanque National Park near Marseille. After visiting the city with my program, a few friends and I got up super early on our last morning, took a bus, then another bus, and then hiked an hour through towering mountains of white rock to get to the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Even though it was October and the water was freezing, we all went for a swim in the sunshine and relished the experience of being young and taking indulging in spontaneous adventures. These trips were great for bonding with the other API students, as the program is very independent once you are left free in the city.
During the weekends, API did not have an excursion planned for us; I was fortunate to travel to Krakow, Poland; Rome, Italy; Venice, Italy; Lisbon, Portugal; Prague, Czech Republic; and Geneva, Switzerland. The nearby Lyon airport and I quickly became great friends.
This program allows one to live with a host family or in a studio apartment. This semester, I chose to live in an apartment as I had lived with a family in a previous study abroad experience and wanted to try something different. I loved living in the student residence, as I had a beautiful view of the mountains from my windows and had a high level of independence. I cherished the experience of becoming a regular at my local boulangerie, boucherie, and marché, discovering restaurants, and taking the tram daily through the city.
I chose this program because I had taken French for a few semesters and had some wiggle room in my academic program. I secured some classes toward a French minor and learned about the set-up of European cities, furthering my goals of working in affordable housing and city planning. The most challenging aspect of this experience was adapting to the language and trying not to get discouraged when I made a mistake with the cashier or blanked on an easy word in the middle of a sentence. However, each day, my skills improved, and I found that in the smaller towns of France, people were much more patient and willing to practice with me in French. I thoroughly enjoyed this program and will remember the friendships I made, the places I went, and the pastries I ate forever.