Summer I - Five Fantastic Weeks

The API Paris staff is awesome. Anne Marie was a caring and involved program director. The cultural activities they had planned for us in Paris were educational, interesting, and exciting, and the weekend trips were fantastic. My favorite trip was to Collioure, a small beach town on the southern coast of France. What an amazing place!

I lived with a host family outside of the city. I didn't really like living outside of the city because of the transportation time, but the town was safe and quiet, which was a nice escape from Paris suburbs. I would definitely recommend living with a host family if you are looking for the cultural experience rather than a party experience. It seemed like the students in the dorms got to know each other really well, but I got to know people from all over the world while they only met other students from their own country. My language skills improved so much because I spent a lot of time outside of class practicing with my host family. I also got to try a lot of different kinds of foods.

I did the intensive language program, so I was in class for three to six hours a day during the week. I learned more from the program in four weeks than I did in probably a year of college class. We did speaking, listening, writing, and reading exercises, as well as discussed some elements of French and Parisian culture. The campus is small and located in a cool area of Paris. It's not far from a metro and bus stop, so it's easily accessible.

As far as the city goes, it's Paris. Every American loves Paris. It's dirty, the waiters are rude, but there's so much history on every street corner. There were times when I would have done anything to go somewhere else, but now that I'm back in the US I dream about Paris every night. Every street is picturesque and the lifestyle is slow and calm (except in the metro or at a boulangerie at lunchtime). I spent five weeks in Paris and I never had the same day twice. However, the pickpockets are REAL! They are easy to avoid, though, if you stay alert in crowded areas.

If you are considering this program, you should stop thinking about it and do it!