French Exchange Students

Anyone out there ever done a French exchange program, or exchange program in general?

Not bothered if it's "paid" or not, would like to know of any good companies/organisations offering these services! If not paid would be a true exchange with my daughter going out to France to improve her French.

Depends if you get a frisky french 20 year old back, fit of course

Depends if you get a frisky french 20 year old back, fit of course

The French dad at the other end is probably thinking exactly the same TBF.

Yep, did one to Poitiers when I was 15. If everything works out it can be a brilliant experience for your kid, but there are a huge number of potential pitfalls involved - your child could simply not get on with their exchange partner or their family, or they could not get on with you when they come over here, or there could be problems with what they eat (like my family, all voracious meat-eaters, who got stuck with the ONLY vegetarian in France), or the school (the English or the French one, shamefully much more likely to be ours) might treat them as a temporary inconvenience to be ignored as much as possible. Tons of things like that.

But the main factor is your daughter - if she's quite a confident, outgoing sort of person then she'll most likely have a good time and find it very useful. At 15 I was a very shy introverted Morrissey type - still generally had a good time, but could have made a great deal more of it if I had gone out of my way to be friendly, try and speak French to people even if they had good English, etc.

I had my first **** on a ferry from Caen to Portsmouth after a french exhange. Good memories.

I had my first **** on a ferry from Caen to Portsmouth after a french exhange. Good memories.

Puke?

I had my first **** on a ferry from Caen to Portsmouth after a french exhange. Good memories.

Ohhh, a game of Blankety Blank.

I'll be Les Dawson.

Puke?

That was another trip. Big toblarones and small kids on ferries!

I had my first **** on a ferry from Caen to Portsmouth after a french exhange. Good memories.

W*nk ?

Sh*t ??

The French dad at the other end is probably thinking exactly the same TBF.

I say that makes her fair game then

Oddly enough, I did my exchange to Poitiers as well in 2006. Had a really good two weeks, the family I stayed with was really nice (and luckily my exchange partner had come over to England before I went to France so I knew him a bit before I went to stay with him). By the end of the two weeks, I was completely exhausted from having to speak French pretty much 24/7, but it was well worth it and since then I would say that i'm able to converse pretty fluently in French with native speakers.

How old is your daughter btw? Not trying to pick her up, it's just that the earlier that you get into this kind of thing, the bigger effect it will have on your language development so it's better to start 'em young. Make sure she's got a couple of people she gets on with going on the trip as well, because i'm sure I wouldn't have enjoyed the trip half as much if one of my best mates hadn't gone as well.

Oddly enough, I did my exchange to Poitiers as well in 2006. Had a really good two weeks, the family I stayed with was really nice (and luckily my exchange partner had come over to England before I went to France so I knew him a bit before I went to stay with him). By the end of the two weeks, I was completely exhausted from having to speak French pretty much 24/7, but it was well worth it and since then I would say that i'm able to converse pretty fluently in French with native speakers.

 

How old is your daughter btw? Not trying to pick her up, it's just that the earlier that you get into this kind of thing, the bigger effect it will have on your language development so it's better to start 'em young. Make sure she's got a couple of people she gets on with going on the trip as well, because i'm sure I wouldn't have enjoyed the trip half as much if one of my best mates hadn't gone as well.

She's 13, she used to speak fairly fluently (French that is) when we lived in Geneva, just wanted to help her along. She's taking her GCSE next year so any help is useful.

In regards to the other replies, this isn't the muppet show! It was a serious question :-)

Big toblarones and small kids on ferries!

Are we still talking about your first sh ag or have we moved on to the puke?

She's 13, she used to speak fairly fluently (French that is) when we lived in Geneva, just wanted to help her along. She's taking her GCSE next year so any help is useful.

 

In regards to the other replies, this isn't the muppet show! It was a serious question :-)

The GCSE is a piece of p1ss, I wouldn't worry about that. It's when you get to A-level that you actually have to use the grey thing in your skull a lot more. Check if her school does an exchange program first, it's a lot better to have some familiar faces with you to provide a bit of home comfort otherwise it could prove to be quite an overwhelming and off-putting situation being away from home on your own, staying with a random weird French family.

But yeah, I really enjoyed my time in France and i'd highly recommend it to anyone really. Alternatively, a short holiday in a less touristy region of France (three-five days) will give her a glimpse of how French people actually speak, rather than the ones she hears on the GCSE tapes or the Paul Wotton-paced speakers in Paris. I could recommend some nice places in Normandy, friendly locals, small communities and very nice about this time of year. Quite cheap too!