studying abroad

[nicole2121]

Hi everyone,
I am interested in studying abroad, I ideally would love to do it Paris or some where in Italy.

I have no clue how to go about even getting information about this. Do I already need to be involved in school here? ( by the way I'm living in Vancouver) or can I find something without going to university here?
anyways anyone got any info???

[me]

some years back, i studied for a year in Germany. but, i'd had years of German language classes in highschool and college before i went.

i know that French classes were in Canada's school curricula for many years, don't know if that's still true. but some basic language skills would certainly help.

an Uni in Vancouver might could give you more info. call one, ask if they can share some info w/ a non-student.

- d

[MuvverRussia]

What do you mean by studying? A language class? Full degree etc?

The easiest (and probably cheapest) way of doing it is to enrol in a Canadian University. Then try and get a year abroad as part of your degree. If you want to go the whole hog though, the easiest way is to contact the universities directly - tell them you are an overseas student, ask about their tuition fees, method of application etc.

When approaching unis for information, don't tell them that you aren't a student there. Instead, you are thinking of applying and are enquiring about the overseas opportunities that they offer through their degrees .

Also the language barrier could certainly be an issue, especially at bachelor level. Unless you are looking at an English speaking country, you'll probably find that tuition is in the local language.

[CuriousToronto]

OOoooooohhh a question so up my alley! Yaaay! ;D

I guess you could say I'm the resident study-abroad in Paris expert. I've done it in the recent past and will actually do it again in about a month. I have a ton of advice to offer as a result! (See the questions for Curious Toronto section of the board OR my website kepenate.blog-city.com and search back to the earliest posts) I planned the trip myself (I did it after undergrad) and as such had to read a lot and do a ton of research.

It would help a bit to know what you wanted to study and your current situation. I'm guessing you've finished high school? Also, how long do you want to go for?

If you answer those questions I could orient my answer more towards your position.

As a starter however I think you will be pleased to here that you do not currently have to be in University to get to study abroad.

Cheers!

[nicole2121]

Well I'm not surrently enrolled in university. But I just completed a 1 year college program.

I'd be interested in going to Italy & learning italian or going to Paris and takign some french courses (I'm fairly fluent in french as I graduated from a french immersion hihg school) either that or something fairly general.

thanks for the imput

[CuriousToronto]

With your current situation as you have described there are a lot of options available to you! They range from small schools (not always all that helpful) to world reknown institutions.

Since you said you said you wanted to do a program in Paris I will start there:

* Paris IV - Sorbonne --> This would be the grand daddy of all the programns and where I studied. If there is one school in France that people have heard about it is the Sorbonne. That's a bonus when it comes to putting stuff like that on your resume. They're methods are also EXCELLENT! If you go here you will learn a lot. Tuition in the language and civilization program for foreigners is definitely not as cheap as if you were registered in a regular diploma program. Still worth it though! Note that here you have the option of short to long term programs. And they offer both diploma and certificate programs.
URL: www.fle.fr/sorbonne/fra/intro.html

* L'Institut Catholique --> Also a VERY high regarded institution. Not a University 'cause it's private. Private also means slightly higher tuition for their language programs. The bonus to the Institut is that they tend to have smaller class sizes than the Sorbonne. As such a lot of people say they are superior. I considered going here but opted out of it 'cause although it is well respected in France, in Canada nobody would have heard of it. They also offer short to long term programs.
URL: www.icp.fr/ilcf/

* L'Alliance Francaise --> I know this may be a bit of a shock. Especially since they have branches all over the world . . . But the Paris branch is supposed to be superb! They have lots of courses available and many of them lead to special certifications. Some of my classmates took classes at the Sorbonne and Alliance classes on the side. Their instruction is supposed to be quite intensive.
URL: www.alliancefr.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=211


Then there is outside of Paris. The best known schools are in the capital but there are still good ones elsewhere. THE most notable one is in VilleFranche on the French Riviera. Lovely location? Yes! Excellent instruction? Yes -- in fact the school is often used by countries trying to train diplomats in the language. Expensive? Yes! Yes! Yes! Therein lies the problem with Villefrance but people who have gone say it is well worth it because of how much you will learn!
URL: www.institutdefrancais.com/


Anywayz, I recommend figuring things out on your own rather than doing it through a program like EF or even through a University in Canada. Sometimes the University programs are a rip-off. They'll enrol you as a regular student in the regular programs but charge you Canadian tuition fees. Crazy when you consider that French students pay something ridiculous like 200Euros/year!!

I hope what I gave you is a good start. There are certainly a lot of other programs. To help you find one that meets your needs and in general to find out about studying in France I refer you to the following websites:

EduFrance: www.edufrance-canada.com/ They have this little search tool that can help you find the right program.

Egide France: www.egide.asso.fr/

In terms of Italy I'll have to get back to you . . .

Cheers!

[kena]

curioustoronto said:

Anywayz, I recommend figuring things out on your own rather than doing it through a program like EF or even through a University in Canada. Sometimes the University programs are a rip-off. They'll enrol you as a regular student in the regular programs but charge you Canadian tuition fees. Crazy when you consider that French students pay something ridiculous like 200Euros/year!!

Similarly, if you plan to study abroad in a country where tuition is more expensive than at home, those programs are an excellent idea. My lil'sister is studying in a super expensive private university in South America which costs several thousands of dollars per semester for the price of our relatively cheap Quebec education (~1.5k/semester).