Abbey Road Programs

Did the full four weeks at Saint Laurent, and it was a decent program with solid French immersion, although there is a lot of room for improvement. CLASSES: The daily French classes were average, at best. While our teacher was a native French speaker, which was a big plus, he was not very good at designing engaging exercises, and many lessons became repetitive. Towards the end of the program, he essentially ran out of ideas on what to do for class and would ask us what we would want to do. HOMESTAY: The homestay experience was great, stayed with a very kind family in a beautiful home, great French practice, generously provided amazing food. However, I went into the program expecting to be the only student with the family, or have one roommate, and it turned out there were four of us total staying with one family. This was a great way for the four of us to get bonded, but took away some one-on-one time with the French family, which would have been nice. FRENCH CONVERSATIONELECTIVE: You have the choice between two electives, French Conversation and Photography. I did the French Conversation elective and was pretty disappointed. We learned very little French as the activities hardly involved us conversing with native French speakers, and the lessons were not quite organized. One of my friends from the Photography elective appeared to have more conversation with natives than us. Additionally, the teachers for this elective were not great. So, do not have high expectations for this. EXCURSIONS: The excursions were amazing! We went to Monaco, Cannes, San Remo, Antibes, and other very nice towns in southeast France. It was amazing to get to see all these places, which helped enrich our understanding of French culture and history. Also a great way to bond with our campmates. 10/10! WHATSAPP COMMUNCATION: WhatsApp communication is very poor for the Saint Laurent group specifically. The majority of students in Abbey Road's French program do the Nice program, and while both groups do the same daily activities, we have separate WhatsApp group chats. Information about electives, excursions, and other group events are always communicated to the Nice groupchat, but the counselors often overlook sending it to the Saint Laurent group chat. As a result, we missed a lot of important info, such as meet up times, weekly plans, and historical background on places we visited. This should not be an issue the students have to deal with. Overall, while I had a fun time on this program, I would highly recommend you do SYA France instead. They are much better organized and you will have more French progression.

Thank you Abbey Road team for such a wonderful experience. My daughter had an incredible time. She made great friends and says she gives it five stars! She is sad it is already over, some tears here too. She made great friends and hope that they stay in touch and see each other again.

Just wanted to say thank you for everything and this wonderful opportunity. My daughter has loved this experience and we are very grateful for the many hands involved in making this a positive experience for these youth! To all the parents: - she made the best of friends that will be cherished forever!❤️Thank you! To the leaders: - you have an inspired program that truly changes lives. ?