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.

UNLIKE other countries such as Canada, education in France is definitely centralized. It all began in the 1880s when the then Minister of Public Instruction, Jules Ferry, ordered all children under the age of 15 to attend compulsory education. This was the time when the precarious Third Republic of France was created. Centralized as it is, holidays in primary education in France is decentralized. This is made to prevent the congestion of tourists in a particular area. So there are separate holidays in such districts as Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille.

Part of the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Education, which is currently headed by Xavier Darcos, is to coordinate with private schools in the country which are mostly run by Catholic and Protestant groups. Of course, since France is populated with Muslims and Jews as well, there are also madrasahs and schools run by the Jewish here but they only accept students who come from their respective religions. There is an explicit separation between Church and State in France as far as education is concerned. Xavier Darcos is known to be a hard-knock educator. He’s got a PhD at Bordeaux and is a professor since 1968. He became a politician for a while, becoming deputy to the mayor of Perigueux in 1989. Then he became a school inspector and eventually rose to the ranks in the ministry.

Since the public school system in France is centralized, its elementary and high school curricula are understandably the same from Paris down to the most rural villages of the country. Thus, France has one of the highest literacy rates and the most intelligent people in Europe since everybody is provided the same basic education. A typical academic year runs from September to July of the succeeding year. In French primary schools, the following fields are taught – French, mathematics, natural sciences, history and geography. Patriotic as they are, most French parents send their children only to monolingual schools but some of them who have toured the world have discovered that English is still the universal language. Thus, there are large numbers of students nowadays who have made a switch to enroll in bilingual schools. Or you may opt for private tutorship. There is an education strategy in France called language exchange.

Many non-French speakers from all over the world, including from as far as Botswana and the Philippines, have come to France all these years to study French. These English-speaking peoples in turn share their native languages to French natives who are craving to learn English. Even a French language school is a conspirator to this unique education strategy.

The French language school has an immersion program for its foreign students. Foreigners are usually embedded to a host French family during their language course which is usually equal to an academic semester or six months. During this period, the foreigner striving to learn French and the French trying to learn English exchange languages. So what are you waiting for? French education is one of the best in the world so come and study here.

STUDYING in France is certainly a great opportunity. One may entice to study in France as an exchange student and ultimately learn French there. If you are about to study in a college in France by studying French, you will be mingled with a class of ten with persons from other nations but who are speaking the same language such as yours. If you’re an English-speaking New Yorker for example, you will be grouped with someone from England or the Philippines who knows how to speak English. If you’re from Argentina, then you will be grouped with someone from Colombia who speaks Spanish as you.

If you’re from Hong Kong, you will most likely be grouped with someone from Singapore who also speaks Mandarin. If you’re from Dubai, you will be grouped with someone from Bahrain who also speaks Arabic. The class sessions in acquiring French as a second language will then be aided with visuals. French terms are explicitly illustrated to hasten the learning of the student. Students themselves must exhibit interest in learning French as flunking the course will do no good for them. They will just be wasting their tuition. Besides, the tuition of most of these adult students were already paid by their respective employers so flunking the course definitely means one’s job be demoted or worse, ejected. Some Fortune 500 companies usually send their employees to France to study for a six-month period to let them immerse for posting here in the subsequent year or so.

They are here for two reasons – to undergo intensive training in French and to assimilate themselves into French culture. That’s why most language schools in France have immersion programs. Under these programs, language students are billeted in a French family throughout the duration of the one academic semester program. That means, the student will eat, live, sleep and laugh around his or her host family for six months. There is nothing to be apprehensive about the immersion program since the host families have already been preselected by the language schools with government supervision of course. These host families also want something in return – to know a little bit of the language and culture of their guest. For example, if you come from New England, you are obliged to teach them some Basic English terms.

If you come from New Delhi, you are obliged to teach them a little Hindi. In return, your host families will organize for you excursions in tourist attractions near the city where the language school is located. These are usually done on weekends when there are no class sessions. You do not have to worry on where to find money to finance these excursions since the language school will pay your host family. The language school gets the money from part of your tuition. You are usually toured in public places where tourists don’t go and you will be asked to listen in on French conversations among the people. Once you’ve understood each spoken word clearly, it is assumed that you are attentive during the class sessions.