Study Abroad in Grenoble, France: French Language & Culture Program: Semester or Academic Year

I knew I wanted to study abroad after meeting foreign exchange students from high school. It was not until Fall 2018 that I got the opportunity to study abroad in Grenoble, France with AIFS. I recommend AIFS to anyone who is looking for a study abroad provider for many reasons. AIFS helps students through the whole study abroad process from obtaining a visa to booking the flight. The resident director in Grenoble, Miranda, is wonderful. She helps students with pretty much everything and always there when the students needed. She really does care about all the students and want each and every one of them to get the best out of their experience abroad. Going to a new country that has a different culture and language from the ones I know was nerve-wracking, however, thanks to AIFS I was able to overcome my fear and had such an amazing experience abroad.

One of the most sought after experiences of studying abroad is to befriend local students and immerse yourself into the culture. Due to the amazing resident director of AIFS in Grenoble, France, I was able to do just that. Miranda created mixers for our program with students from the nearby university giving us an opportunity to meet French students. My friends and I met amazing French students from the engineering school who invited us out to eat dinner together, to cook together, and to see the nightlife together. This program helped me accomplish my goal of becoming fluent in French by putting me in a school of international students learning French as well as my goal of exploring France by going on weekend trips to Paris, Provence, and local towns. If you are looking for a unique experience to study in France, Grenoble is your best bet!

If you want an authentic French experience, come to Grenoble. Grenoble is absolutely breathtaking. The mountains are great for hiking or skiing. It's amazing to go running along the river. If you are an active person, you will fall in love with Grenoble's outdoor activities and more. Even if you aren't very active, you will be charmed by Grenoble's architecture, friendly atmosphere, and the weekend markets. I learned far more than I ever expected in coming here. I went from not being able to speak French hardly at all to having conversations about politics, home improvement, and cultural differences. You will get out what you put in to it. That is the most important thing to remember when you come here or if you go anywhere in general to study abroad. If I could choose where to go for another semester, I would probably still pick Grenoble. I've met so many great international students here. We will be friends for a lifetime. Come to Grenoble, and you won't regret it.

My study abroad semester in Grenoble, France was a once in a lifetime experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. Like many of the students who choose this program, I wanted a truly authentic French experience that I felt I wouldn't find studying in Paris. And an authentic experience is what I got. The city has a population of around 150,000 which I felt was a perfect size for me: not to small, but not to big. My favorite part of living in Grenoble is the fact that the city is surrounded by three different mountain ranges. Every direction that you turn your head in, you can see mountains (if there aren't any 300 year old buildings in the way!) With my study abroad program we were able to take part in several activities and excursions to different places around the city and within the region. These were some of my most favorite memories and things that I got to do while in France. These included snowshoeing in the Alps followed by a relaxing visit to a thermal spa, visiting several vineyards to do some wine tasting, and doing a high ropes course complete with zip line atop one of the mountains surrounding Grenoble. My favorite place that we visited was a monastery tucked away in the Chartreuse mountains (one of the ranges that borders Grenoble.) It was the most beautiful and peaceful place that I have ever been in my life. These experiences along with the day to day authentic experiences of riding trams, visiting cafés, and speaking French made my semester so full and complete. I truly left part of my heart in Grenoble and can't wait until the day that I can go find it again.

I had the most amazing experience in Grenoble. I loved walking through town with my friends, having picnics in place Verdun, and hiking through the nearby mountains with my host family. I really liked my teachers and the courses. I wish we had more forced interaction with the French students at the university though.

Of all of the programs provided for study abroad in Grenoble, AIFS was by far the best possible choice. The faculty was astoundingly helpful and cheerful. We had more opportunities for internships and teaching. We were taken to hockey games and picnics, we had more involvement with the French community as a whole. I could have not have been happier anywhere else. It was exactly the experience I was looking for!

I had such a great experience in Grenoble, France! To start off, Grenoble is a beautiful city. It is big enough not to go stir-crazy, but small enough to be able to get around easily by either walking or public transportation. You can climb "La Bastille" and look out over the entire city or go for walks or runs along the river. There are museums, parks, coffee shops, a mall, and multiple sports arenas for rugby, soccer, and hockey. There is so much to do in Grenoble!

The program director was very helpful with anything and everything that students in this program needed. From figuring out good places to eat lunch to rearranging our flights at the end of the trip, she is outstanding! She organized some trips for us (that are included in the program) but was also helpful when we wanted to plan our own individual trips and needed some guidance. She was there if we needed to talk about anything from school to our host families to homesickness - anything.

My host family was also amazing. They had a nice apartment in the middle of the city. My host brother and sister were older - done with college and moved back home to find work/go to graduate school, so I had a little different experience living with "siblings" that were closer to my own age. My host parents were great cooks, so I had a different meal almost every night, and got to try lots of different vegetables and meals that I had never eaten before. They were very welcoming and relaxed which made it easier for me to blend in with them by watching TV with them after dinner or going for walks to the market.

At school, I learned a lot in my language class and feel that I have really increased my knowledge of the French language and culture. School was very different compared to what I'm used to here in the fact that there weren't very many tests or a lot of homework, but most of your grade counted on class participation and speaking during class. It really forced me to embrace the language and give it my all.

Overall, I had a great time in Grenoble and I cannot wait to go back to visit, hopefully soon!

I loved my semester in Grenoble! The program staff is so supportive and know all sorts of fun things to do around Grenoble. There are so many different things to do that even though I spent almost all of my weekends in Grenoble, I never ran out of fun activities to do: museums, movie theatres, shops, cafés, and of course hiking up the Bastille!

While I did spend most of my time in Grenoble, I took advantage of the trips that the program put together plus a few of my own. The trips that the program staff put together are full of fun sites and activities where you're sure to learn a thing or two about France in the process. The program staff also helped point out fun places to go for my own travel plans and the best ways to get there.

But the best part had to be my host family. I was placed with them by the program director and they were a great fit for my personality. Building a relationship with them took time, but I came to feel like part of their family, playing games, watching movies, or going on a Saturday hike in the countryside all the while improving my French with their help.

Of course, the semester wasn't without its challenges. The occasional strike would happen in the city, making it hard to get to classes on time. Days of mental exhaustion made speaking or understanding French even more of a challenge than normal. And perhaps the oddest challenge was learning to shower without a shower curtain (which is not that uncommon in France). Despite all these challenges, I had a blast during the semester. I made new friends, saw new places, and learned a lot both in and out of the classroom. I wouldn't trade my semester in Grenoble for anything and given the chance, I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.