Lyon by night, the banks of the Saône
I moved to Lyon in late August 2023 and spent the next six months exploring this wonderful city and all that it has to offer. Before arriving in France my level of French was adequate having studied the language since primary school up to university level, however living and studying in a foreign language is a completely different feat to navigating a foreign country as a tourist. Moving abroad was a long time coming for me: I had spent the odd week or two in France on holiday or staying with family friends however I had a real hunger for spending a significant period of time in the country to practice the language.
I felt that I had done all I could in the classroom and now was the time to give it a go in the real world.
I was quite apprehensive about studying at a French university as academic language can be difficult to get my head around in my mother tongue let alone in a foreign language! However, after a few weeks, I settled into the style of teaching and really started to enjoy my classes particularly those on French medieval Kings and the history of the French language. Once the language became easier to understand, the only remaining challenge were the 8am starts, a very foreign concept to a British undergraduate student!
Views of Vieux Lyon
My evening view
Living with a French host family was essential to my improvement in the language. Even when you’ve just woken up in the morning or after a long day you are forced to communicate. You learn so much quicker when you are surrounded by the language, even if it just listening to other people’s conversations or the TV on in the background. You hear a word and you think, I like that, I’m going to write that down and use it. It was nice to live in a family environment particularly when you have just arrived in a new country.
It was fitting that with the support of the John Speak Trust, I was able to live in the neighbourhood of the Croix Rousse, the centre of the French silk industry in the 18th and 19th centuries!
Over my six months in Lyon, I tried to involve myself in as many activities as I could to truly integrate myself in the city. This involved joining the university football and table tennis clubs, and volunteering at a local music venue (as I wrote about in my January monthly report). I even bought myself a pétanque set to play with friends on autumn evenings in the many squares around the city. Pétanque is played by people of all ages around Lyon whatever the weather however I decided to stop in late November when gloves started to be required!
Rugby World Cup at the Pétanque Club!
One of my favourite moments in Lyon was in September at the start of the Rugby World Cup in September. Fred, my host in Lyon, invited me to watch the opening match of the tournament at his local pétanque club. Watching the match in a stuffy little clubhouse amongst some rather drunk French men was the best way to experience France beating New Zealand. In a way that sporting tournaments often do, the country was united for that brief moment until it all came crashing down against South Africa later in the month. I was also lucky enough to be in Lyon for the Fête des Lumières in December, the festival of light which attracts millions of people to the city each year.
Thanks to the support of the John Speak Trust, I was able to take full advantage of my time in Lyon. The scholarship helped to ease the financial burden of moving to a new country, without which I would not have been able to make the most of my stay.
I completely support the trust’s encouragement to reside in accommodation with native speakers as this was crucial to my improvement in the French language. I highly encourage other students to apply for this scholarship as it will enable you to truly profit from your time spent abroad.