Description

L'Académie de France is an academic French immersion program for students in grades 9-12. It is held in the Lycée Notre Dame de la Merci, a boarding school in the historic heart of Montpellier, France.

There are around twenty courses available, including Culture et Cuisine, French Language, L'Art et la ville, Sciences Médicales, and Histoires et culture françaises.

The international faculty includes scholars and academics, as well as creative professionals - artists, photographers, and writers - from the local area and elsewhere.

Highlights

Situated in the beautiful, historical, and culturally rich city of Montpellier, this distinctive program allows students to live in an authentically French city - one where they can feel fully integrated in French life and where they can interact with native French speakers in order to accelerate their language learning. Montpellier's world renowned university, spectacularly diverse architecture, and vibrant street life - not to mention the Mediterranean culture and pace of life all make it an ideal place for high school students to spend the summer and invest themselves intellectually.

Every day, guided tours and activities are organized so that students become familiar with their surroundings. Teachers and guides lead them through the city's maze of winding streets and the picturesque squares and boulevards on which they converge. Montpellier's cultural resources are extensive: the Musée Fabre is considered to house one of France's most important public collections of art and features internationally significant exhibitions such as the one on American Impressionism in 2007; the Musée Languedocien contains treasures of the Languedoc region from prehistory to the present; the Opéra Berlioz is renowned for its acoustics and its national orchestra. Despite the fact that much of the city was destroyed by the Wars of Religion, the striking Saint-Pierre Cathedral dates back to the 14th century, and a 12th-century crypt has been restored to house the Museum of the City of Montpellier.

L'Académie de France is a complete immersion program, catering to students whose aim is to improve their spoken and written French by communicating exclusively in French throughout their time on the program. Students must have already completed at least one year of French in school, and may sign up for a variety of courses focusing on a wide range of themes (from cinema and cuisine to international relations and medicine), all of which are geared toward improving language skills. All communication, throughout the day in the residence, in the classroom, during activities, during social hours, during excursions, with guest speakers - takes place in French, and students are expected to speak French every moment of the month. (Staff are bilingual and can communicate with parents in English.) Living this way in Montpellier for four weeks, students come away having had a true immersion experience.

Type of Programs

• High School Study Abroad

Languages

• French

Cost in US$:

7,595 USD

This Program is open to

American, Australian, Canadian, European, Kiwi, South African and Worldwide Participants.

Participants Travel

Independently

Application Process Involves

• Essay
• Transcript
• Written Application

Typically The Application Process Time is

2-4 Weeks

Year Founded

1984