Admiring the view of Lyon
I would first and foremost like to thank the John Speak Language Trust for supporting me during my experience in France.
Thanks to your support not only have I been able to cover living costs, but I have also been able to explore more of the country and live new cultural experiences.
Visiting a really cool Ancient Egyptian Exhibit!
On a day trip to some islands off the coast of Cannes
The opportunity to study abroad has opened my eyes to lots of new experiences such as education in France, French way of life and all the rich cultural experiences France has to offer. It has also been a fairly international experience as I have made friends with French people and with people from all over the world. Furthermore, with Paris being such an international city, I have got to try lots of new cuisines and inventive food such as an 100% vegetarian restaurant where they prepared your food for you on the table! I also visited many museums such as the Louvre, l’Orangerie and the Musée D’Orsay. I also had the chance to visit a once in a lifetime display of Ancient Egyptian artefacts, most of which had never left Egypt before, and learn about the connection Rameses II and how a Frenchman used his name to crack Hieroglyphs in the 1820s.
When I embarked upon my study abroad adventure in Paris, I had no idea what challenges it would bring. Learning how the French university system works, making some mistakes (and getting lost!) and learning how to live in a big international city such as Paris. In recent months, there has also been many strikes in the French capital and, at times things have been very chaotic, but through speaking with locals I have come to see it as a quintessential cultural experience! Given all the French history that I have learned while here I really feel that I have a deep understanding of why strikes and workers’ rights are so important to the French People.
While in France and with the support of the John Speak Language Trust, I was able to travel to lots of different places for the first time.
Trying French Cuisine!
In the beautiful village of Eze!
I was able to visit a friend who was studying abroad in Lyon twice and she showed me round the beautiful city and let me practice my French with her Host Family which was very interesting as they spoke with a different accent to those from the Parisian region. I also visited Dijon and Versailles. At the end of my time in France I organised a trip to the south of France which was amazing! It was lovely to escape the city for a while and see where French people go on holiday. As I felt quite comfortable navigating the French rail system at this point, my friend and I travelled by train almost everywhere and took some buses in order to get to more hard-to-reach places, such as the medieval village of Èze which I absolutely loved.
All of these experiences which have shaped me, and my knowledge of French and French culture would not have been possible if not for the John Speak Language Trust.
France, particularly Paris, has a higher cost of living than that in the UK and with the help of the Trust I felt a weight off my shoulders which allowed me to make the absolute most of my time abroad.