Edu-inter International French School in Quebec City

Edu-Inter French School had everything it needed to be a successful school and to deliver what it promises. Unfortunately, the only thing it truly excels at is its sales department. Before you enroll, they are extremely attentive and responsive. Once you become a student, however, the experience changes completely. After the first-day tour, the on-site sales representative becomes a very different person, someone clearly uninterested in listening to complaints, let alone helping students receive what they paid for. I suppose that if the student is a teenager enrolled in their Summer Program, the focus on immersion through field trips and fun may work. However, as a language teacher myself, I was deeply disappointed to see how unprepared the teachers are to handle a multicultural group of adult learners. One of my roommates, from Bosnia, explicitly stated that she did not want to discuss war-related topics, yet the subject continued to come up in class. There is a complete lack of cultural sensitivity. Teachers fail to distinguish between purposeful classroom discussion and sharing their personal opinions, often spending a significant portion of the class talking while students sit quietly, confused, and struggling to follow along. When I raised these concerns, I was told this was simply part of “exposing students to the language” — LOL. As if listening to a teacher rant for over 40 minutes about how angry she was with the Canadian government for allegedly stealing billions from the motor vehicle department were an effective method of “listening with a purpose.” That is both disrespectful and laughable. The school invests heavily in marketing and promotions, yet not at all in equipment or teacher training. Lessons lack structure and progression. Teachers introduce delicate, politically sensitive topics, freely share personal opinions, and speak nonstop for entire class periods. There is no pedagogical plan whatsoever. In fact, one teacher even asked students to teach grammar to one another. Perhaps this mediocre curriculum works with young students who don’t know any better, but the school needs to seriously revamp its pedagogical planning and raise its standards if it wants to remain competitive. I did not pay for six weeks of French classes to listen to other students teach. Student presentations can be valuable for language production and practice, but the level of confusion in class was unbearable. Toward the end, I became so frustrated that I stopped attending altogether. Ironically, I learned more by studying on my own. Teachers urgently need proper training, and the school desperately needs better customer service. AVOID this school if you value your money.

Our son from New York spent 5 weeks this summer at the Edu Inter intensive French program. He thought the instructors were very good, the school was nice and in a great area next to the Plains of Abraham, and the facilities (gym in particular) were great. His host family was a 12 minute walk from the school. He tested at Level 2 going in, after 5 weeks at Edu Inter he tested at Level 5 for college placement. And he loved Quebec City and says he might want to move there to work after he graduates from Business School at UMass Amherst. He was very happy with the experience.

The academic aspect was very good- the teaching staff gets 4 out of 5 stars. But, from the school failing to advise the volunteer driver that I needed to be picked up and taken to the airport, to them failing to find or let me know about my accommodations until the afternoon before I left to fly there, I found the organization and management very poor. I am a senior citizen with mobility issues, and most of there local activities were geared toward young people and adolescents. When I wrote a letter about being owed $500 by them, they never even acknowledged receiving my letter, and when I phoned to complain, nobody called back. Overall I am forced to give the school 4 out of 10.

If you are looking for a French school in Canada, I do not recommend Edu-Inter at least not at this moment in time. We brought our daughter to her Edu-Inter homestay in Quebec and learned on arrival that the host had not been given any information about her, including about her nut allergy. The host had only been informed that we were coming when we texted her on the way. There's serious disorganization. There's also false advertising: Edu-Inter did not assess our daughter in advance as promised. The next day, there were no lessons at the school. The music program was not held at the Conservatoire de Quebec as promised but in a small music store in a strip mall outside of the city to which she was driven. Her bus ride back took 1.5 hours. We called the coordinator and two directors, left messages and no one called back. We decided to remove her from the school after the first day. A week later and still no return call and no response to our request for a refund. We were required to pay with a certified check, which means we couldn't simply stop payment. DO NOT TRUST THIS SCHOOL!

1. Councelors were quitting left and right stating working conditions were terrible. They were very open and verbal about this to the students. Groups were rearranged at least 3 times due to counselors quitting in 1-2 days. One counsellor made the students intentionally late to class one morning to make a statement. 2. No upper level class for my daughter so she went to a lower level class where she did not learn anything. 3. Often when my daughter would speak to counselors in French they would respond to her in English impairing the immersion process. 4. Crowded into overheated residence and buses. Covid was contracted by many students and nothing was implemented to prevent further students from contracting virus. Masks were available but nothing was inforced including hand washing before meals. 5. I changed my daughter's afternoon activity from cooking (additional $700 for this program) to multi-activity and was charged an additional $200 for a late notice fee. I sent the email thursday night for a change the following monday. LET POINT OUT that this is $900 extra to switch to a LOWER value program. 6. Packing list for school came on Friday night when she was to arrive in Quebec City on Sunday. 7. Very disorganized even though the company states they have been in business for 15 years. After this many years with the program, one would think things should be streamlined by now. 8, Food quality was not up to my daughter's standard. Fresh fruit (old bananas) once during the week for one meal. All other fruit was canned. There was an occasional salad bar. I sound incredibly negative writing this post but people need to be warned. This program was NOT WHAT WE WERE LED TO BELIEVE.

My wife and I just spent a week at Edu-Inter, an intensive, full immersion French school located in Québec City. My wife was almost a rank beginner, while I was placed into an advanced class. (I’m not sure, but I think many schools do not have beginner and advanced classes in the same week.) We both elected the Super-Intensive option, which is 27 1/2 hours per week and both learned a LOT! I’d guess my wife learned as much in the week as she had in a semester in her introductory college course. My self-confidence increased dramatically. The only problem we had during the week was that many of the teachers and staff members had Québec accents, ranging from very slight to fairly thick. We’re used to the Parisian accent, so we really had to concentrate to understand the Québec accent. We chose the “home stay” option and the school placed us with a wonderful family. Both the food and the conversation were great, (I heard from some other students that not everyone has such a wonderful experience with their host family, but ours was really great.) Just FYI, we’re both senior citizens, while most of the students appeared to be in their 20’s or 30’s, but this didn’t present a problem to them or to us.

I have 'studied' french in the classroom or with apps for years. I can conjugate the living daylights out of a verb...but I can"t communicate very well. Enter Edu Inter! While still a classroom setting, we spend most of our time in conversation with the Prof or the other students (we even go outside to chat with 'les Quebecois' too). Yes it was uncomfortable to speak, I made so many mistakes and it was at times embarrassing especially for a grown adult. But the placement test had me in the right class and after day 2 I began to relax my perfectionism and I started to embrace being a learner. I absolutely recommend this school for both teens and adults. You will not regret coming to Quebec City and Edu Inter to learn to speak french!!

I'm an adult student from Canada (Alberta, the other side of the country) who was at Edu-Inter for two weeks in July 2018 to improve my French. (I already have an Intermediate level DELF B2). I can't really speak to how this program is for the youth, though teens are the mainstay of their business, with students being about 80% youth to 20% adults (and not mixed). I must compliment Edu-Inter for a few things done well: the range and low cost of cultural, extra-curricular activities, including a great kayaking trip. The actual teaching is good (although yes, it is pretty worksheet-ish). I can't fault my individual instructors. The school site is a lovely, well located heritage building. However, they are so foolish to have this site as a summer school. It's not a space for learning, as it's far too hot with no air conditioning! July 2018 nobody could concentrate. The school admin. staff didn't seem to care; they just said that's the way it was and they limited the teachers to one barely-useful fan per classroom. It was so awful that I looked around for another school. Luckily I found one in Ecole Quebec Monde. Air conditioned and small class sizes. I learned more there in a week than I would have in three weeks at Edu-Inter. Also: be careful of additional surprise charges. Regarding housing, I signed up for a cheap University residence room, so I knew it would be small and simple. It was baking hot and unliveable. For my own health I had to leave and pay for several nights of a hotel room I had to organize myself, while the school figured out whether they could re-house me somewhere air conditioned. Happily they could. It was a lot of angst and wasted time in all. I was lucky I was able to do it all capably in French, with an adult's confidence, credit card and intolerance of b.s.

I went to this school about five years ago, and it was excellent. I learned a lot in two weeks. The curriculum was communicative, so even when we learned grammar, we learned it in context; we used the grammar to communicate. The desks were in a semi-circle, and we had lots of activities. Also, I lived with a family with whom I spoke in French all the time, and who took me places on the weekend. However, I just went back again, and it’s completely different. Maybe it’s under new management, but I would not recommend it at all, and I will never go back there. I went for three weeks, and I tried three different teachers, but they were all the same. The general French in the morning is three hours of fill-in-the-blank grammar lessons. They are boring and there is very little speaking. It got so boring that I eventually just stopped going to classes the last few days; it just wasn’t worth it. It was like learning French in high school. Even the desks were set up like in high school, all facing the teacher. The afternoon class was a little better, but not that much; it just wasn’t worth it. Also, it was extremely hot, and there’s no air conditioning in the school. The little fans they have don’t help that much. Speaking of the heat, let’s talk about the living situation. Since I registered late, they couldn’t find a homestay right away but were nice enough to let me rent a room in the residences next to the school. They also had no air conditioning and not even fans! Also, each room is set up with two little desk lamps, so it was dark and hot in there all day and night. They supplied us with two little cups and three little glasses. I won’t get into details about the kitchen stuff, but that gives you an idea of how little was supplied. It was also filthy. But it could have been worse; people in the apartment next door all said their apartment was infested with earwigs. The second week I was given a “host family.” This was a man from Martinique, who was in his 30’s. I’d originally signed up for breakfast and dinner with him, but since the food at the school was so bad and there’s nowhere near school to eat, I asked for lunch as well. So this is what he made: Saturday afternoon, he bought a ready-made chicken and he made some plain noodles. Then he left me with no dinner. Sunday afternoon, he made overcooked pork chops and plain rice. Again no dinner, but get this: He told me that for lunch on Monday I could take the pork chops and rice! It was like living with a roommate from college but for some reason he was cooking for me. But it could have been worse; I heard about some people who were fed two corn-on-the-cobs for dinner. Yes, it can always be worse…at Edu Inter. So I tried to move back to the residence, since it wasn’t quite as bad as the “homestay,” and the homestay was an hour away. But they told me the residences were all filled up. But my ex-roommate told me there was still a room at my old place that had never filled up. But they didn’t know that because they had someone listed as staying there who wasn’t. Basically, they were completely disorganized and on top of it seemed to be uninterested in the teaching of French. They were just trying to make as much money as possible while doing the least amount of work. Oh yeah, and the classes ended up having between 16-21 students. So really not a good school anymore. But at least it was near the plaines d’abraham, which is pretty.

Edu-Inter is a fantastic program! I have been there in both the summer and winter and each time was exciting, fun and a very memorable experience. The staff and teachers were top-notch. My teacher made the classes completely engaging with interactive activities that ranged from clear grammar instruction to speaking, reading and writing practice. He created a warm atmosphere in which we all got to know each other and loved coming to class. In addition, I took full advantage of entertaining and educational after-school programs that allowed us to practice our French even more. Some of the summer activities included biking, an historic tour of the city, sharing an afternoon coffee at the revolving restaurant and going to an breath-taking outdoor acrobatic event. It is a "must do" to partake in all the outdoor winter activities such as cross-country skiing, sledding, visiting the ice hotel and ice skating. So much fun! Also, I thoroughly enjoyed my homestay experience. My host mother spoke with me only in French and we got along extremely well from the very start. It was a sheer delight to take part in all that Edu-Inter has to offer and I would highly recommend this program to all ages!

Edu-inter is a great school. I have attended classes at Alliance Française and a French language school in France. This is the best language learning experience I have found. I judge the schools on three criteria, 1.) the quality of the teachers. 2.) the curriculum, and 3.) the materials and support. The teachers were outstanding. I spent twelve weeks in the school. I had a Swiss teacher in the first six weeks. I had a French teacher in the last six weeks. Both teachers were better than any other French teachers I have had in the past. They were creative, demanding, extremely professional and extraordinarily helpful. My French proficiency developed rapidly. The curriculum was sensible. We were evaluated through an introductory interview and placed accordingly. There was sufficient flexibility to allow for fine tuning of the placement when appropriate. The use of French exclusively (or nearly so) is a part of the practical curriculum. French is spoken at meals and during breaks. I chose to participate in the intensive program which included learning techniques like games, community interaction through practical exercises and weekly group presentations. In the final weeks of my stay, I had private and semi-private lessons which were very helpful. An important part of the total learning experience was the extracurricular weekly activity schedule. This includes local tours of historical or cultural importance, as well as, day trips to the parks and other nature sites of interests. All these options made for a truly immersive experience. The materials and support facilitated the overall experience. The textbooks were very good and illustrated the grammar based on dialogue. Internet resources were introduced using videos and other free online learning platforms. The wifi permitted the use of online reference materials (dictionaries, conjugations, etc.) via smartphones. The administrative team did an excellent job with arranging home stays or other accommodation options, banking assistance and practical information about getting around town. I always felt like I was welcome with my questions or requests for assistance. Quebec is beautiful in the summer. It was a welcome break from the heat and humidity of Houston. It is also a very lively place with its Fête de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste (Québec National Holiday), Festival d'été de Québec (two week Summer Festival), New France Festival and many other activities and attractions around town. One other very important point, the Quebecois are very friendly and open. You can easily start a conversation with nearly everyone on the street. For anyone from middle schoolers to retirees (like me) who are interested in learning French and experiencing the Quebec summers, I doubt you can beat Edu-inter.

I'm an English professor whose French language skills are at the immediate level. I found Inter-edu to be an effective and fun way to help me improve. The program evaluates your written and oral skills before placing you at the right level. Classes are small and taught by dynamic, experienced teachers. You can choose the intensive option and continue classroom study deep into the afternoon. In the evening, you can choose from different cultural activities in the beautiful city of Quebec. I had a wonderful time and left feeling I had improved my listening, writing, and oral skills. I'm looking forward to returning!

Knowing I would have a more demanding teaching schedule in September, I began looking for French immersion programs in the winter. I came across Edu-Inter online and began to plan for a way to temporarily abandon my family to take classes and experience a homestay. I found both in July, 2017, in Quebec with Edu-Inter. The registration/application process was easy and I always received a prompt email response to all my initial questions. The program was well-organized and I had a wonderful experience in my "famille d'accueil", despite a longer-than-expected trip to school each day by bus (now I am an expert!). The C1 class was intense and I learned a lot (la spiritualité/la religion chez les Québecois, et le vin). The French for French Teachers course was also very useful. I have already used ideas from both classes and resources that I received, here in NJ (USA). I highly recommend this program to French teachers (new & experienced). Don't be scared of "le québecois" - you will adapt to the differences in language quickly. The optional afternoon/evening & weekend excursions were varied (changed each week) and interesting. Take advantage of the city & surrounding area! Overall, a great program. I am looking forward to going back.

My 13 year old daughter who is shy and a beginner at French went to the 3 week multi activity camp this year and had a very positive experience. The host family included her in their family activities and took a proactive interest making her feel welcome. Her interaction with them were some of the best stories and clearly most memorable times of the trip. The French classes in the morning were a little overwhelming at first for her but she gradually became more comfortable about participating in the classes. I could definitely see the improvement and ease she had with the language upon returning home. The activities in the afternoons were fun and diverse enough to appeal to all students. My daughter will be attending the camp again next year.

I am trying to improve my written and spoken French, so I spent a week at Edu-Inter while on vacation in Quebec City. The course was fully immersive and required that we speak entirely in French, which enabled me to improve faster than if I had been able to speak in English. My instructor, Fabrice, was very dynamic and did a good job of keeping the class engaged. The activities were quite varied, which made the 5-hour days go by quickly. I wish that I could have stayed longer so that I could have learned more!

First of all, it's a wonderful opportunity for anybody who would like to improve their French (any level). Taking in mind quality per money ration it's the best offer. Similar local (US) programs cost fortune in comparison. Going to France is a bit more challenging. Canada and especially Quebec City is the best choice. It's immersion indeed. All classes in French. Lot's of activities around the city and "french" Canada. Wonderful hosting family. Very informal, spending a lot of time together. The only minor thing that a bit shadows this program is globalization. Obviously, it's not the fault of the school. Where ever students go for the "extracurricular" activity - students test out local stuff for knowing the English. No surprise - they could speak and understand... From that point it was hard to switch to French from even poor English. But that's up to the student what he want. Probably for the true immersion you have to go to the rural Quebec areas. Anyway, 3 weeks fly like a moment. It was a great experience and submersion. Lots of good memories. Much more opened mind for French language. No fear how to say or how to ask. Very pleasant time. Definitely recommend to learning French.

My twin boys and I stayed in this school for two months, and I think next time they would be able to return by themselves. Mornings are with French; afternoons and Saturdays are in various activities. My boys came home exhausted and ready to tell me stories every day. If parents are planning on a vacation, this is a good place to send their children to. Plus, Quebec City is a cool place in summer. The French language, with its heavy rules of inflection, had seemed difficult to me and I spent a year to adjust to this language. As beginners, after the two months of the program, my boys started to love French and would like to continue with the learning.

Fiona spent three weeks living with a host family, attending classes, playing tennis and getting to know Quebec City. She thoroughly enjoyed her stay, spoke only French and came away with a greater understanding of our neighbor to the north. Hats off to Edu-Inter for a well-run, engaging program!

This is a terrible camp. It is a scam. It sounds good and lots of promises are made. Counselors are young and inexperienced and not well supervised. Campers are not fed well or housed well. Simply, it's not a safe place to send your kids.

Our daughter has traveled from Texas to Quebec for two consecutive summers for French immersion. She's had a wonderful experience both times. Each visit she was able to advance 2 levels with her French. Her second visit was even more extraordinary given that she was already familiar with the fun program and beautiful city. She had such warm and accommodating homestay families and has kept in touch with friends she met. We highly recommend this program !! Our daughter was 16 and 17 years of age.