I experienced a ‘tricolore’ cocktail of emotions
April 23, 2015
Upon arrival in France I experienced a ‘tricolore’ cocktail of emotions. First was excitement; this was it, the start of my long-anticipated year abroad, the goal which got me through all those tedious hours of revising for second year exams. Then I felt daunted and overwhelmed by the realisation that the exotic dream of spending …
A long way from Nottingham
So I’m now a month into my year abroad, where I’m working as an English language assistant in France and thought it was about time I wrote about some of my first impressions. My first reaction when I got the letter from the Académie de Nice Rectorat in July, saying that I had been placed …
Nissa la Bella
I arrived in Nissa la Bella (Niçois for Nice the Beautiful) around a month and a half ago and I have to say: settling in to this dreamy city has not been too taxing. Nice – France’s fifth most populous city – sits on the Cote d’Azur and experiences a warm, sunny climate almost year-round. …
I’m looking forward to seeing what else France has to offer me
I’m happy to say I’m now starting to feel very settled into my new home in France. Although I arrived super excited to explore I would be lying if I didn’t say I was also fairly apprehensive. Being thrown out of your comfort zone and into a completely different country, culture and daily way of …
I can’t wait to see what the rest of this year brings
Anxious, excited and armed with every document possible ready to tackle the infamous French bureaucracy, I arrived in Orleans very late at night to an unfriendly taxi driver and a closed hotel. I immediately thought that everything was going to go wrong from there. But how wrong was I. I am having a brilliant time …
I can now say that I have friends from all over the world
April 25, 2014
Post by Matthew Watts So, my time in France is nearly over! These last seven months have really flown by and I can’t believe I only have six months left before I’ll be back in Nottingham to do my final year of university. I have enjoyed the assistantship and have enjoyed teaching English, even though …
My year abroad would not have been anywhere near as enjoyable without them
April 23, 2014
I can’t believe that I have now finished my teaching placement, these last 7 months have absolutely whizzed by. I have definitely made many connections here in France my only regret being that more of them weren’t with French people! I really hope to stay in touch with the people I’ve met whilst being out …
I now see getting around via the Metro as a normal thing I could do with my eyes closed…
April 21, 2014
I’ve made many connections during my Parisian year abroad thus far, mostly due to language. Because of the multicultural aspect of my new internship with a translation firm, I finally feel myself becoming more proficient in the everyday, informal bits of French. Especially now that I chat daily, in French, with the interns from our …
Making all sort of connections in France
April 17, 2014
So I’ll start with the connections I’ve made in terms of friendships with my fellow English speakers. Before I arrived in Montpellier I had the intention of only becoming friends with French people to really emerge myself into the language. However that didn’t really go to plan. When I met the other assistants, I really …
I now feel a strong connection with France
April 15, 2014
Growing up, I moved around a lot. As I had lived in different places and had attended several different schools, I thought settling into France would be easy. I was wrong. Settling in to a new country where another language is spoken is completely different! Getting back on the plane after spending a lovely two …
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