THERE is nowhere else closer to having an opportunity to learn the French language and at the same time assimilate in French culture than studying in France for at least two months. That is what happened to Leah Richard who decided to take a break from her foreign language education studies in Ashland University in northern Ohio. For Leah to get to France, she needed a visa. Other European students who come here are luckier. According to European Union regulations, citizens of European countries do not need a visa anymore to come here. When Leah arrived here in Paris, she disembarked at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport, one of the busiest airports in Europe.

In a span of two months from July to August 2007, Leah had befriended many classmates who were equally enthusiastic to share their native language. She had likewise gone to the Eiffel Tower, a quest that her friends back in Ashland had envied. During that period, Leah likewise shared some Basic English words and grammar to her French classmates. Leah’s sojourn to Paris was heartwarming. It made her stint as the French Club president in Ashland University a more credible one. Throughout her life before college, Leah knew only one language – English. Now, Leah even owns a Bible in French.

Leah’s story is not alone. Anybody can go to France and study there as long as he or she has the proper documents. Once you have enrolled in a language school, they will immerse you into a French family. You have nothing to worry about since the host families have been pre-selected by the schools already. Members of these families are also eager to learn your language so you need to share a few terms to them. In return, they will assimilate you to Parisian culture and you will taste real French delicacies, as you will have an authentic French dinner in their homes. You will taste such viands as steamed mussels, oysters, sea snails, lamb with potato, veal, beef, fois gras de canard maison, salad de mache-betterave, poulet fermier de loue roti, smoked salmon salad, asparagus and tarte tatin. That may sound a lot but since the language program spans two months, then one will definitely have time to savor them all. You will likewise have many excursions while you are here on a summer visit. Of course, expenses that you have incurred in these excursions will be shouldered by you through your tuition in the language school. The language school is the one that will pay the host family.

However, if one is a foreigner who plans to raise his or her children in France, then it will do you better to be familiar with the educational system of the country. Take note that there are 13 million primary education students in France and there are only two million who are in college. Therefore, the government’s focus is towards rearing the precarious brain of a child. By the way, France has a centralized education system so the curriculum used in Paris is the same one used in Nice.

If after summer you find yourself with itchy feet, inspired to travel for more than just the one season, why not think of travel as a career? There are many TESOL jobs which will provide you with this magnificent opportunity! By learning the skills to teach English as a foreign language, you will find the world literally opening its doors to you. People are pleased to meet others who can provide them with something, and the fact that your TESOL certificate proves you can indeed give something - the knowledge of language learning - means that your career can take you places you’ve never even dreamed of!

AROUND 15 million people attend school in France today. They range from preschool kids to graduate students and even those adults attending continuing education. Some of them are even foreigners who are here in France to advance their studies because of technological advances here. Most of these college scholars come from such countries as Syria or Iran. Although students from these countries can easily get to France, they need a visa to do so. Only students from other European countries can get inside France without a visa. Also, under the Schengen agreement, French authorities do not erect outposts in land border crossings throughout the country.

The current education minister in France is Xavier Darcos. Darcos has a PhD in Latin studies and is a former college professor prior to helming the education ministry in the land which has a 64.6 billion euro budget. Because of that huge budget, 99 percent of the people in France are all literate. This is partly due to a European Union mandate which orders member countries to make it compulsory for their high school students to study a second language. The European Union education ministry authorities have made this suggestion because they have known that Europe is a landlocked continent consisting of neighboring countries which speak various dialects. Consider Spain alone. It is located in the same Iberian Peninsula yet it has many dialects like Castilian and Basque. Far north on the same Iberian Peninsula lays Portugal which has its own Spanish language variant. Of the 15 million enrolled in French colleges today, 6.7 million are elementary students, 4.8 million are high school students, and 2.3 million are college students. Among the 2.3 million are the Middle Eastern students who are mostly concentrated in the fields of medicine, physics and molecular technology.

Because French education is decentralized, the national government has divided it into three educational districts. Zone A is composed of Clermont-Ferrand, Caen, Montpellier, Grenoble, Lyon, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Rennes and Toulouse. Zone B is composed of Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Besancon, Dijon, Lille, Limoges, Nice, Orleans-Tours, Poitiers, Reims, Rouen and Strasbourg. Zone C is composed of Bordeaux, Creteil, Paris and Versailles. Official academic breaks are La Toussaint (the French equivalent of Halloween – it is an official holiday here because majority of the French are Catholics), Noel or Christmas, winter or hiver (two weeks in mid-February), spring in mid-April and of course, the two-month summer vacation.

Pre-school education must be given emphasis as the development of a child’s brain starts when the child is still a toddler. Thus, the first day of school of a child must be attended by both parents. The parents must be in the viewing room during the first day of school so that they can asses how their child is interacting with other children. During the first day of pre-school, the classroom is likewise filled with a pediatric psychologist to assess the behavior of the children. As the child grows older, he or she can accelerate to another year. But before doing so, the school administration must assess the performance of the child.

IN the United States, high school graduates undergo a rigid college entrance exam before being admitted. If one opts to take four academic semesters in a community college, then he or she has better chances to be admitted in a regular college even though his college essay is not impressive. It is in the mind of the college admissions staff that a community college graduate already has the basic technical skills of a particular program that the student chooses.

In France, high school students must undertake a very long comprehensive exam before they can be admitted to college. This exam is called the baccalaureate. But not all exams are to be undertaken by the students. The students choose only exam subjects that are relevant to the bachelor’s degree that he intends to accomplish after graduating from regular college. If the student is intending to pursue a degree in the sciences, then he will take the exams for such fields as mathematics, physics, chemistry, earth and life sciences, engineering sciences, biology and ecology. For those intending to take a degree in the social sciences, the graduating high school student must excel in French language, economics, social sciences, first foreign language, second foreign language, philosophy, regional language, Latin and ancient Greek.

You may be wondering why studying a foreign language is essential in France. Actually, it’s just not in France where it is compulsory. It is mandated to be taught to students all over Europe. It’s because the European Union has determined that learning a second language bodes well for the overall economic, political and social development of the continent. United as they are in currency and as an institution unlike the rest of the world, the European Union’s vulnerability lies in its divisive language barriers. The peculiar Babel-like situation in Europe has led to their higher ups declaring the learning of a second language to its younger generation.

This is mandated so as for people all over the continent to immediately close transnational transactions easily. French students can choose whether to learn German (their favorite choice actually as its grammar is closer to French than the rest of the European languages), British English, Scottish English, Irish English, the native Irish language, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek or even Turkish and Moroccan as well as the Eastern European languages and even Russian. Turkey, Morocco and Russia are not members of the European Union but their cultures are pervasive in the European mainland because of their proximity there. For those intending to achieve literature and education degrees in college, the exams they will take are focused on the French language. All of the students must likewise take the exams for electives such as arts and physical education.

When one goes to college in France, the tuition there is very minimal. But never underestimate French education because one can never enter college unless he or she has passed the baccalaureate strictly. One can already pass eight semesters of college by paying only 3,500 euros in pure tuition. Those don’t include the miscellaneous fees of course like laboratory fees and dormitory boarding, utilities and meals expenses.