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Language Schools: An Introduction
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more about
language schools
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by David Applefield
Living in Paris without speaking French is a little like being myopic in the Louvre: you can feel your way around in a stumbling, bumbling kind of way-but deep down you know you´re missing the essential beauty of the experience. Because of this, learning French is the key to truly appreciating Paris. And despite all the headaches, embarrassments, excruciating silences, garbled tenses and gender mutilations, figuring out how to communicate in French is immensely rewarding-and necessary. Shopkeepers and bureaucrats are friendlier, the complications of life in a new city are less overwhelming and the language offers endless insights in French culture and thinking. Most importantly, if you speak even a little French you can start to make French friends, a crucial step towards understanding and enjoying Parisian life.
But how to go about learning French? The most obvious answer is enrolling in a language school, but it´s also possible to meet with a tutor, teach yourself with self-study books, or plunge right in by living or working with French people.
Of the five million foreign visitors each year, more than 50,000 people come to Paris from all over the world each year just to study French, and there are about 30 French language schools, scores of private tutors and numerous get-togethers that exist solely to help foreigners in Paris become conversant in the local language. The trick is finding out what´s best for you. This is especially important for people who need a student visa because you have to register and make a down payment before you even set foot in France-with a valid student visa (see visas). Because there´s so much choice-and because the choice you make will probably influence your whole experience here-it´s important to consider all your options carefully. To do this, you have to be realistic with yourself. How much French do you have already? How much time and money are you willing to commit to learning French? Are you more interested in spoken, written or professional French? Do you learn better in groups or on your own? Do you want to achieve perfect French or will French that will just get you around suffice? Would you rather learn by classic schoolroom techniques or through interaction with other people?
There´s also a section on how to study with a tutor or on your own, and a lengthy but far-from-definitive list of schools that teach French to foreigners.
It´s recommended to check out a number of the schools that are listed. Although the larger schools often come with a reputation, they also tend to offer big classes, and with careful research, you can probably spend the same amount of money, attend a lesser-known school and receive a lot more personal attention-or learn with a new or unusual teaching tools such as interactive CD ROMs. But be careful: schools that teach French to foreigners are usually private and completely unregulated by the government so it´s important to check what type of teaching credentials the instructors have and how long the school has existed. One more note: please remember that all prices listed are subject to change.
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