Learning French in France

Maybe you’ve learned some French at high school, evening class or university. You may also have visited a French-speaking country on vacation, or at least thought about the possibility. A natural next step, if you have the opportunity, is to take a French language course in a Francophone country.

I had been thinking about doing this very thing for some considerable time. Apart from being a fun experience, studying in a French-speaking environment seemed like a great practical way to improve my French. What better way to build confidence in one’s French speaking and listening ability than being surrounded and immersed in French? Also, there would be cultural and travel opportunities when not in class.

The stars finally aligned and I had some spare time to spend a month studying. I had visited France before on holiday and decided to return for more serious purposes. I had previously attended evening classes at the Alliance Française in Jordan and New Zealand, where I was impressed with the quality of teaching and the availability of library materials and cultural activities. There are more than 800 Alliance Française centres around the world.

I looked at a number of schools in France before deciding on the Alliance Française in Lyon. It is a very popular school with more than 2,600 students each year, representing more than 130 nationalities. Being a larger school, it has many class levels, so can cater for students of varying abilities and be more likely to group students of similar ability in the same class.

The school also has a library and organises cultural activities. Another important factor is that it can help with a range of accommodation types to suit different budgets including student residence, host family and private accommodation.

Another key factor that attracted me is that the Alliance Française in Lyon has been awarded the French as a Foreign Language (FLE) quality mark. The mark is awarded jointly by three French Ministries to French language centres that meet a set of objective criteria related to quality of teaching, service and management. There are around 95 schools which hold the FLE quality mark. You can search them at the website link above.

Lyon itself is a large city with many attractions including an old town, Roman amphitheatres, a fine arts museum, and an excellent park. (I’ll go into more detail about Lyon’s treasures in a later blog post.) There is also plenty to see in the surrounding area, including Annecy and Geneva to the east.

I am currently on my way to Lyon where I will be studying at the Alliance Française during April. I’m very excited about this opportunity and look forward to sharing my experiences as a student at the school and of living in France.