Location:

Paris, France

Program Type:

Study Abroad

Degree Level:

Undergraduate

Term:

Summer

Program Overview

Program Description:

Our program begins in late June with the orientation session at Choate's Wallingford campus, where students hear as much French as they can handle. The program consists of a four-week home-stay with a Paris, France family and a concurrent academic session.

Students take three hours of classes each morning. Courses are devoted to French language, French literature, history of art, and French history. In addition, each student chooses an artistic or cultural topic to research independently in libraries, galleries, or museums. All classes are taught in French by native-speaking French teachers as well as by members of the Choate French department. Afternoon visits to sites in Paris are a required component of the morning art history and history classes. Students have free time following the afternoon tours to discover Paris before returning to have dinner with their families and prepare for class the next day.

Setting Description:

The primary focus of our program is the city of Paris and its many treasures. In addition to this rich cultural resource, life in a Parisian home can have many rewards of its own. We place students one or two to a household, depending on the linguistic qualifications of the student and on the accommodations available. Host families come in many varieties: some with children, some without; some two-parent, some single-parent; some older families, some younger. The home-stay is an opportunity for students to live in a Parisian apartment and develop a relationship with real French people. This is an important goal for each student and is achieved to the extent that students are willing to reach out and connect to the French world around them.