Speaker 1: I Hello, welcome to my video. So in this video I'm going to be talking about my experience studying abroad in France and also I'm going to give some advice to people who might be studying abroad in France and like basically I'm going to talk about like what I wish someone told me before I went France. So I studied abroad from September 2018 and then I got back um I got back around like the last week of June in 2019 so I was there for 10 months and I went to Lyon France. So I went through my university's Go Global program and I think most universities have some sort of Go Global program but basically with my program you have to rank the top three programs or like top three schools you want to go to. So I ranked Lyon first and then I think I did Paris and Switzerland like second and third and the reason why I chose Lyon over Paris was basically like Lyon, the school I went to, Lyon Toit, it has this program called the SELF program and that basically stands for Studying English in Lyon, France. So basically you're put in this program with I think around like 50 other study abroad students from all over the world and you guys take classes together which the classes are taught in English but at the same time you're also required to take like a French language course and like a French culture and civilization course which helps to improve your French and I just thought this program would be really beneficial for me because it's like I wanted to go to France to be immersed in like French culture and to also learn French but I didn't want to like only take classes that were taught in the French language because my French wasn't that great so the SALV program I think it's perfect for people who speak a little bit of French or kind of familiar with French, but maybe not fluent. And it's a really good program to introduce you to France and meet other study abroad students and also other French people. The first few weeks, I just remember being so exhausted and overwhelmed because of the language difference. And it really made me aware of how behind I was in my French and how much more of my French I need to improve. Because I just feel like back home, when you do language courses back home, You do like a lot of like verb conjugation and like you like practice sentences that you don't really speak in real life Like I feel like back home. It's very formal and you learn like you get really good at like writing like I don't know I feel like you get very good at like conjugating verbs and like making like writing sentences that you don't really use in real life But like I I was never really taught how to converse in French and like how to like listen to French people and like respond to them And I became very aware of like how much my conversational French skills needed to improve Like my first few weeks there because like I don't know like in class You'll learn like how to say like how old are you like ask someone how old are they in French or like what's their birthday? Just like stuff like that, but it's like in real life You don't really use like you don't really say that in real life, you know and yeah I'm really happy that I went to Lyon and I did the program that I did in Lyon instead of like going to Paris because I just feel like if I had went to Paris like I like how with Leon they have the self program which is like designed for study abroad students all over the world to like come together and kind of like navigate the study abroad experience together and it's a really good way to meet people versus like if I had went to school in Paris I wouldn't have had that opportunity like I feel like it I don't know I feel like I would have just felt very alone and very like you'd have to like really really go out of your way to meet people especially like other study abroad students because in the Paris schools, you're just with the other French people versus in the Lyon, the CELF program, I was with other study abroad students. And also the good thing about the CELF program is first semester you can take courses with other study abroad students and then second semester you can take courses with French people so you're not just stuck taking English speaking courses all throughout your time abroad. Another reason why I really like the CELF program was because during class discussions, would talk about, we would talk about a topic from our country's perspective and it was just so interesting to like hear about like a certain topic from like everyone's perspective. So for example like I would talk about Canada's perspective and like some people would talk about like, like maybe Germany's perspective or like people from the Scandinavian countries like they would give their, they would give like their perspective and people from like Australia, New Zealand would give their perspective, their country's perspective and I just thought was like so interesting and I just really enjoyed class discussions because they were just so engaging and interesting and even like the professors like I had a professor from I had a professor who was Irish but she like worked as a lawyer in London and also South Africa and that was just so cool I also had a professor from America and like professor from France it was just like so interesting and it's like I don't get that back home which is why I study abroad it's such a like cool unique experience like it's just so unique like never again I don't think ever again will I ever be in a situation with like so many or like an environment with so many different people from all over the world so I documented my experience in France by making some videos and I also like made I also like had a journal that I wrote in once a month regarding the journal I'm really really really grateful that I journaled my experience there because there's just so many things that you forget about like after time like there's just so much that happens that if you don't write it down like you're gonna forget about it's just cool to look at where I was at like September 2018 and like what was going on in my life and like what my concerns were. I should just see like how I progressed in France and like how I got like more comfortable speaking French and like more comfortable in the city and I feel like journaling is just such a perfect way to document it. Um, and personally like I don't enjoy journaling like I don't like the feeling of feeling forced that I have to do something but I'm so grateful that I did it and like I would recommend anyone who is studying abroad to journal like in the moment you might not enjoy doing it but you will be so grateful like when you can look back at like where you were at like a few months ago or like years ago and like compare it to like where you're at now and just to like see the progression because it's like it's just so easy to forget about how far you've come especially like if you're trying to learn a different language or like if you're just in a country with a very different culture from your home country the progression is just like so cool to Also, friends-wise, friendship-wise, I feel as though it wasn't difficult to make friends studying abroad for me, just because A, because of the program I was in, we were all from all over the world and we were all just eager to meet people, so that was really helpful. But also B, it's because if you go to a country where you don't speak that native language, so many people will want to practice their English with you. And for example, my school, we had, I forgot what it was called, but I think it was just like language exchange or something where um it where like it was like this online system that would like match you with people who wanted to learn english and like you could like select the language you wanted to learn so for me i selected france or french um and i met like so many french students through that way and it's also like a way to make friends with people um so when i got there i had to do like a bunch of things like opening up a bank account or like setting up up my insurance, my house, my room insurance, and like stuff regarding my residence. Like when I, that first week when I was there, I remember I struggled so much to speak French and I was just so overwhelmed because I was like I just have so much work to do and like low-key questioning like why did I sign up to be here for one year just because like my French was so behind and I was like I have so much work to do to get to like a conversational level. So like the first week I remember struggling a lot like when I was opening up my bank account I don't even know what he was saying and his English wasn't that great um so yeah I honestly don't even know what he was saying when I opened my bank account um but then I remember the last week like when I had to close everything so when I had to close my bank account and like leave my residence and I'm like cancel my phone plan I just remember I was able to do that completely on my own and like speak like fluent French to them and I just remember feeling so proud of myself Because I had made it I just felt like I had made it so far from literally like not being able to like put together a Sentence in French to like completely being able to have conversations with people in French and like not have them switch to English because that's something like they do like if they notice that your French isn't that great They'll just switch to English but like when I was like closing my bank account like we just spoke fluent French with each other and Like when I was leaving my residence like we just spoke fluent French together And yeah, I was just very proud of myself So next is the advice I would give to future study abroad students who are going to France or like who are going to a country where the native language or the official language is not English. The number one thing that I would tell anyone who's going to France and whose French is not like that great is to listen to French in like whatever you do a lot in. So like if you, if you like watch a lot of Netflix and listen to the show like in French and like have like English subtitles or do it like the other way around or like if you listen to podcasts, find some French podcasts. One podcast that really really helped me improve my French, it's called Inner French. I think he makes YouTube videos, he has his podcast on Spotify and then he also has like a website that has like the written down like words, like whatever it's called, like the transcript of his podcast and like that's so so helpful. He just like talks at us at a speed that you can understand but at the same time It's like not too easy because I feel like with a lot of like French videos that are geared towards like people trying to learn French. They just speak so like Unrealistically slowly to the point where it's like in real life people don't speak this slowly So it's not that beneficial But then like in our French he speaks like realistically like how you would converse in that language like a bit like maybe like a bit slower but it's like realistic and he talks about topics that like you would talk about in real life. I feel like it's so beneficial for like improving your French listening comprehension and it's very realistic like that's what I like about it is like the way he talks is like when I was in France like this is how French people talk versus like in class like when they do like those listening comprehension activities like they just aren't that beneficial cuz like French people don't talk like this um but yeah like whatever you do a lot in English, like listening to music, Netflix, like YouTube, like just find the French alternative. Also stuff like Duolingo, like I don't think it's that beneficial because like it improves your vocabulary a lot, but it doesn't really teach you how to converse in French and like that's like what you want to be good at like when you're moving to like a French country, like you want to learn how to converse in that language and actually like improving your vocabulary like you're not really learning like how to like put sentences together and like how to just like listen to French people and like respond back in like a timely manner it just like helps you with like vocabulary and stuff like that which isn't really that beneficial so that's why I say like whatever you do in English like if you watch a lot of YouTube in English or like you watch a lot of Netflix in English or you listen to a lot of English music just find the French alternative because there's a lot of French youtubers and there's a lot of of French podcasts and a lot of French on Netflix so yeah it's not that hard to find the alternative. So the next thing that I really really wish someone told me was that if you have any like prescriptions like prescription creams or like medicines even if you haven't used them for a long time bring them with you just in case. So I say that because I have eczema and like where I went to university like the city I went to university it's pretty humid so my eczema like when I was over there it was like I never had any flare-ups I honestly just forgot that I had eczema then when I went to France because the climate is so much more different and it's so much like more like hot like I didn't I don't know I just like didn't realize how hot France was compared to like Canada it's just so much hotter over there and I didn't like didn't even take that into consideration but yeah my eczema was really really really awful in France it was just like really hard for me to find the correct product And I just tried out so many brands and like nothing really helped And yeah, my eczema just got so bad From like second semester until I left it was just awful like my eczema like and it like spread to my face Where's in Canada like I've never had eczema on my face but then when I was in France like it spread like all over my face, and it was just so bad and like painful and I really wish I had brought my prescription cream so yeah my advice would be like if you have any prescriptions even if you haven't used them in a long time bring them with you like bring like a new package with you because yeah you will thank yourself for it. Even if you don't use it like it's better to have it than to like not have it and struggle to find like the alternative. The next piece of advice that I would give to like study abroad students in general is like before you go or like the day you get there like write down everything you're experiencing and like write down like what you're excited for and like what you're scared about or nervous about and like everything you want to do during your study abroad experience like write that down on a piece of paper or like in your journal because like when you leave it's so cool to see like what you were going through. I would advise like everyone especially like if you're not into journaling at least write down on a piece of paper or like on your phone like in the notes app write down like what like just like your current mindset just because like it's just so cool to reflect on and to see how much you progressed and like where you were at a few months ago because you like honestly forget like so much happens that you can't just forget. Another piece of advice that's really helpful is that when you land at the airport you can get like a SIM card so that you can have a French phone number or like the phone number of the country that you're studying abroad in. So for me like when I landed in France I didn't know about that so it took me like I think like two days to finally get a French phone number but they sell the SIM cards at the airport like they're like so they're so easy to find like you can ask anyone but just like get a SIM card and like put it in your phone and now you have a French number just so like you have a way of like contacting people and people have a way of contacting you right away and like you don't have to like delay it another thing is have a way of documenting the trip like have a way of like holding yourself accountable to doing something like consistently as a way to like document the trip because you will thank yourself later for it. I took a few videos of like what it was like to study there or just like of the city and I love just like going back and looking at the videos and I'm so grateful that I took them and it was literally just for fun but now like I don't know I'm just so grateful I took them so my advice is like have a way of like documenting the experience also I feel like um over packing at least for me it's kind of inevitable I guess like some people are like under packers but I'm an over packer um and like I don't there's nothing I can do to not overpack like I just overpack so much but my advice would be like if you're an overpacker like every like item you put in your luggage bag acknowledge that you might not be coming home with it because you're probably gonna like buy stuff over there um so yeah just acknowledge the fact that this might not come home and if you're not okay with that coming home like don't take it like you don't need it there's a lot like you don't need honestly so my next piece of advice is for if you're going to a a country where the official language is not English, you should look into babysitting. So I used this, I went on this website called Speaking Agency and it basically, it's so simple and it just matches you with families who want an English speaking, usually they want an English speaking study abroad student to help teach English to their children and basically just babysit their children but you speak English. I also felt like it was a way for me to improve my French because the kids will speak in French with you and also the parents will probably speak in French with you so it's just another way for you to improve your French and also earn money. And my final piece of advice would be just to be very very very friendly and very extroverted like kinda like I feel like you just have to force yourself to just like become an extrovert during your study abroad experience because I just feel like you're automatically like Interesting like when you speak to like the native like the yeah the native people of the country you're kind of like automatically just interesting Because you're from a different country and like honestly like you never know like where the friendship could go like I remember Like I remember like on two separate occasions I had asked one of my classmates like hey Do you like do you want to get coffee and like both of those girls became like my best friends on the trip? Like just for me spontaneously just being like hey like do you want to get coffee? So yeah, my advice would be just to be super friendly and extroverted because like I don't know that's something you'll never regret like you'll never regret like just being extroverted but I kind of regret like being a bit too introverted but anyways thank you for watching my video. I don't know if people are even going abroad this year because of the pandemic but I hope that this can help someone in the future who is thinking about studying abroad and friends or like just in general. Bye.