Showing posts with label learn French. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learn French. Show all posts

Thursday, 17 February 2011

French A level Revision in Nice

With the exam season looming (I'm always staggered at how quickly it comes around each year), we know that there are plenty of you, noses to the grind stone, keen to brush up your French prior to your A level exams. When you have a limited break at Easter, it's not easy to commit to time out for a week to concentrate on just one subject, but it's definitely worth the investment. We've known past students to get a grade better than anticipated on the strength of that one week commitment!

CESA put together a special one week course so that A level students could concentrate, practise and polish their French language skills just before their exams, without disrupting their school work. We've run the programme for over 10 years and have had many happy students, some of whom return each year as A2 students (having attended as AS students the previous year).

Warning - this French A level course is no holiday! With 30 contact language lessons per week plus a cultural programme to ensure you see something of Nice and the local area and a requirement that you stay with local French hosts (so you have to speak French out of school as well) you'll come home feeling thoroughly immersed, mentally challenged and we hope totally inspired by all things French!

The A level course in Nice is our solution to meet your revision needs, and you can see past A level student comments on the CESA blog (all girls of course, the boys always promise feedback, but never seem to quite get round to it!)

French A level Course notes
30 small group lessons plus activity programme and a Saturday excursion
Aimed at Yr 12 & Yr 13 students studying for AS or A2 exams (or IB/Highers).
Max 10 students per class
Price includes French host accommodation, single room (shared room available for friends), breakfast and evening meal.
Minutes per lesson: 45

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Arrival: Sunday PM
Start Date: Mon 18 April 2011
Finish Date: Fri 22 April 2011
Excursion: Sat 23 April 2011
Departure: Sunday AM

Duration: 1 week
Holiday breaks: None
Public holidays: N/A

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See CESA Course Finder for current details:

2011 Course fees
Tuition & Accommodation : EUR 660.00
CESA Admin fee : EUR 45.00

TOTAL : EUR 705.00

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Please note
Course fees include tuition as booked, placement test, course certificate, teaching materials and student book.

Accommodation notes
Students aged 16/18yrs can ONLY stay in private household, 1/2 brd accommodation. All options are offered to students aged 18yrs+. Shared room accommodation only available to two students booking together.

Travel/transfers
Transfers: Free arrival service from Nice airport/station offered by private household, 1/2 board hosts ONLY. Between 08.00/22.00hrs on a Sunday. Transfers are not offered for other accommodation options or at the end of the programme.

Books and materials
Materials inclusive in course fees.

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So if you're having a quiet (or frantic) panic about your French prior to the A level exams, do call us - it is hard work, we expect you to put in the hours but fun is allowed (as are coffees in French cafes, walks along the Promenade des Anglais and ice cream whilst strolling around the old town). Somehow mastering the subjunctive with other A level students is just more fun when the classroom is in Nice and you can enjoy a little Riviera sunshine!

Wednesday, 9 June 2010

What parental permission to give for a French Summer School course in Hyeres?

Question:
I have a query concerning the Option 2 'Full Evening Permission' for the French Summer School in Hyeres, France which appears to allow freedom until very late in the evening. Our daughter is a sensible girl, but I wonder which is the more common Permission for a fifteen-year-old girl?

Answer:
I quite understand, giving permission only until 8.30pm doesn't seem enough, whilst the second option to 11.00pm or 01.30am at the weekend seems very late indeed, especially to British parents.

However do bear in mind that

1/ The school want to ensure the students are safe and suitably entertained, that is why on these late nights the students are taken to : Port Mirabar, the marina/beachfront area of La Londe-les-Maures
Check out the map reference on google : La Londe-les-Maures
La Londe-les-Maures is a small place where the students can shop until 11.00pm(or later at night- this is the South of France after all) they can also wander round the Marina, go for an evening swim at the beach, eat crepes, have a coffee or a coke. The students also enjoy sitting on the beach into the late evening, enjoying the warmth of the evening and chatting together.
They are taken by coach/shuttle bus by the college. In the week the last one leaves La Londe at 10.30.00pm (it takes around 20/30 minutes) to get back to the residence to be in by curfew for 11.00pm. At the weekend there are two shuttles running, so one will leave around 10.30pm/11.00pm and then again at around 01.00am. So they swim or stay chatting on the beach until late. Exact times are arranged by the Director in charge of the camp, but the students will be told exactly what is happening.

2/ This area is far safer than many locations I can think of. Remember they don't have drunkness on the street issues that UK has to suffer either. It is quite natural in the South of France for adults and children of all ages to be out this late at night.

3/ The French language students are only allowed out ONE evening in the week, and one or two weekend evenings (depending on their course duration). So they won't get too tired for school during the week.

4/ When they do go out they tend to keep together and frankly all (bar maybe one or two) of the 15yr olds will be doing this (and all of the older students).

5/ The school staff will make it very clear where to catch the bus back and at what times they will be running. They've run this for many years - so they know how to handle the situation and the teenagers.

I hope this helps.

Link : French language courses for Teenagers in Hyeres

Wednesday, 27 May 2009

Learn French Verbs

Whenever we're asked what preparation a student with only basic or rusty French knowledge should concentrate on before they go on a CESA course, one of our first comments is always - learn your verbs! Of course it helps if you refresh your vocab generally (and your grammar and your pronuciation etc etc) - but to get you going, to give yourself a real kick start, the verb is king! The work you do beforehand will really pay off once you're abroad, ensuring you get the most out of your time on a French language course in France with CESA.

We all know the key to speaking French well is developing the confidence to use it - but to gain that confidence, you need knowledge. To build that knowledge you need a solid foundation and that's why knowing plenty of useful everyday verbs is so important.

That's why I'm so keen on this French Verbs website - if you're trying to learn French this is a must for you. Here you'll find a great list of verbs (in a compact format) that gives you a word for most situations (and if you think something has been missed, the author would love to know so he can add it to his list).

So get memorising and there'll be no stopping you!

PS If we find something along the same lines for other languages I'll let you know (if you know of something out there already - please share it with CESA)!