The French education system is relatively similar to ours here in the United States. Generally, students take 15 to 17 hours of classes per week for 12 weeks. Each class generally lasts 1 to 3 hours. In small classes they will have many small assignments, a midterm, and a final exam. In larger, lecture style, classes the students are only assessed by written terminal exams. The grading scale is quite different in France. Students are graded on a scale of 1 through 20. An A in the United States ranges from 14-20 in France, an A-/B+ ranges from 12-13, a B/B- would range from 10-11, and a C/C- ranges from 8-9.
I will be taking 15-17 hours of class per week as well but it will depend on how I do on the placement exams when I arrive. I will not know my schedule until I arrive in France and take the language placement exams. If I am placed in the more beginner level courses (A1 or A2) then it will be 15 hours. If I am placed in the higher courses (B1, B2, C1, or C2) then I will be taking more hours up to 17 because I will be able to take courses other than just language learning.
At my host institution there are many services and resources that students can take advantage of throughout their stay. There is a language lab, a multimedia lab, a language room for independent learning, a media library with books, magazines, and newspapers. There is also a break room for students that contains a conference table, work desks, TV set, refrigerator. There is a cafeteria, a student’s restaurant, a student’s house, the culture, sports and medicine offices, the registration office, the international office that are available for all students to use. French professors are generally not as accessible as our professors are here.
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