Testimonials

Hi, my name is Sophie. I recently just completely four weeks of a French homestay. I will be telling you now about my French experience. Before I arrived in France, I was nervous about going as I thought it would be a big culture shock, difficulties with the language and it would be difficult to settle into the French routine. Once I arrived at the airport in Bordeaux, I met Angés, the French mum, and she was really welcoming, and she prepared me for school the following day and what I’ll be doing the next couple of weeks.

The first week, went pretty slow as it was a big culture shock and I was a little homesick. But anytime I was feeling upset, Jane would always check up on me to make sure the exchange was made easiest as possible. School was a big change from Ireland, the classes started at eight and finished at twenty past five. I cycled to school with Mathilde and Mauriel every morning. I really enjoyed this as it woke me up for the big day ahead of me. On Thursday morning we were allowed to take the first two classes off and go to the French market, it was really fun and enjoyable to shop with Angés at the market. Everything was fresh, handmade, and locally sourced if possible.

The second week absolutely flew by as I had settled into a routine balanced between school and sport. I had my first session of handball and it was so much fun, it was three hours long, but I would highly recommend trying it out!

The third week flew by as well and I found myself understanding more words and starting to form sentences, slowly but surely. This week I found myself not being in my room as much and bonding with the family, I feel like this is necessary to improving your French. The family would always encourage me to speak and make sure I understood the conversations.

The fourth came along and it was extremely slow because I couldn’t wait to see my family and friends in Dublin. The French family gave me current French magazines to bring back to Ireland to read so when I get back to Ireland, I wouldn’t lose the French I had learnt over there. This experience for me was really life-changing and an eye opener. I feel like I have learned so much French naturally without even realising as you are listening to it everyday. I wouldn’t be able to speak lots of French just yet, but I would understand if someone was talking to me. I also learned a lot about the French culture that I didn’t realize going over there.

The experience also thought me to be more grateful with my family. If I had to give you advice it would be to bring a copybook and write down all the new phrases and words into it as it really helped me to learn the language. TY Europe is a really good and trusted company so I would recommend it to any of my friends.

Here are some photos of my experience in French:

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