My five weeks in Paris attending École Suisse were the highlight of my year. Remember French class in high school? Well, École Suisse is nothing like that! I learned more in five weeks than I did in all the years in high school, and I did not have to memorize meaningless dialogues or verb conjugations without context. For the first time I had real conversations about things relevant to me.
The curriculum is expertly created to maximize learning. The students are all engaged and eager to learn. But what takes the classes to the next level – what makes the classes so fantastic, are the teachers. They are dedicated, engaged, dynamic, funny, and really really good at their jobs. They work hard to understand even the most broken and misstated student statements, correcting just enough to promote learning but not so much as to cause discouragement. I would leave each day feeling that I’d actually conversed in French. I felt empowered and ready to try and engage with the Parisian public.
The teachers listen carefully to each student’s goals. I wanted to work on conversational French, while others wanted to pass important written exams or write graduate level dissertations. In the afternoons we could book one-on-one sessions specially tailored to our goals to make sure we each achieved the level of success we were striving for. Then there are the once-a-week field trips – they were so much fun. Each week one of the teachers would lead a group of us on an exploration of hidden gems in Paris and other nearby towns we might not think to visit. Typically, these excursions would end at a café where we would all sit and chat – in French! I left École Suisse feeling like I’d made friends and I’d learned a lot of French. Now all I have to do is figure out how soon I can go back. (December 2023)
