Hi everyone! This is Wynter Carl and Preston Anderson (IPED ‘22). This summer we were granted the LISA scholarship and thus had the opportunity to go to Bordeaux, France to take language courses and immerse ourselves in the culture. At Alliance Française, we took an intensive course (4 hours each day M-F), which allowed us to quickly learn the basics of the language. The class sizes at Alliance Française are generally very small, which was nice because the lessons could really be tailored. Our teachers switched out throughout the two months, which gave us the opportunity to experience different teaching styles, accents, and gain different perspectives. The institution also offered tours of the city, restaurant meet-and-greets, cooking classes, and more.
Our host families lived walking distance from Alliance Française and we had the opportunity to cook our own meals with fresh food from local markets. We got to really immerse ourselves in the area which drastically helped us to improve our language acquisition. In the end, we were able to complete the A2.1 level of French learning. Both of us are really excited about our progress! During our time in Bordeaux we visited vineyards, swam at beaches, went to classical concerts, and traveled to other places in France, like Lyon. There is always something new to see or do!
We are so excited and grateful to have gotten the opportunity to learn French as we both hope to utilize the language for professional development. Both of us plan to continue our study of the language while finishing our last semester with the IPED program.
