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Excuse My French

This is not a question but rather a link to a very recent article on living in Paris and studying at the Sorbonne. The student is actually a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, Gregory Curtis. There are some interesting practical tidbits about getting a student visa, but mostly the article is about his experiences as he lives in Paris and studies "French Language and Civilization." Here is the link for anyone who might be interested: http://alcalde.texasexes.org/2014/08/excuse-my-french/. The article is from the Alcalde which is the alumni magazine for Texas Exes.

It is all informative and entertaining, but I was particularly struck by his comments about living in Paris for six months. I think they could be applicable to anyone who would like to live anywhere in Europe for an extended period of time. They come in the next to last paragraph of the article.

Posted by
893 posts

What a great article! Thanks for passing it on, I really enjoyed it!
Mimi

Posted by
32350 posts

Lo,

Interesting article! Thanks for posting.

Posted by
33820 posts

What a fabulous article! THanks so much for posting it. It reminds me why my dodgy French is so dodgy. That certainly is one good way to become a temporary Parisian. I loved the day he forgot his map, and the day he forgot he was speaking French.

Good insight.

Posted by
197 posts

Just as a reference, the official name of the program is "Cours de Civilisation Francaise de la Sorbonne" (or CCFS). I took this course for one semester in 1979 in the middle of living in Paris for two years. You can earn various certificates at the intermediate or advanced level (mine was the simplest; "Certificat de Langue Francaise") that are recognized for credit by many colleges here and in France. It is not an easy course; even the basic courses are taught entirely in French (I was surprised I tested into intermediate right off the bat; mostly based on two years of high school French). The best tip I got to learn French was to read French comic books (look at any American comic book and you will understand). I now have a translation app on my smartphone that really helps in a crunch. As for living in France for an extended period of time, you will acclimate in time and, of course, everyone will know immediately you are not a native and so it is no big deal. This holds true for any country you decide to live in in which you don't speak the native language (by the way, good luck trying to understand some of the Brits in the U.K. when you visit there!).