Learning to speak French in Aix en Provence

Peter Thompson
Two weeks Combined Course in Aix-en-Provence

I’m in my 50’s and wanted a school that wouldn’t be swampled by young adults in the late Spring.  I choose Aix because I’d heard it was beautiful and CESA staff assured me that the school were very professional and would provide me with a first class experience.  They were quite right.
I thought the course was absolutely fantastic. I felt motivated by the school, the staff and the other students from the very start.  There was an incredibly positivie atmosphere in our group. We were at A1 French level (so all had a fairly basic knowledge).  For me it was very important to have some private lessons as well to help me improve my French for work purposes hence I chose the French Combined Course, and I was chuffed as I felt I learned an incredible amount given that I was only there for 2 weeks. The French teachers were exceptionally good, pedagogically creative and well structured and quite frankly just very nice people to deal with.
I believe that the key to the whole experience was the way all the elements worked so smoothly as a whole; the French school, the teachers, the city, the hostess.  All of it working together so that I had to speak French all the time. In the school it is not possible to do otherwise, but frankly in Aix-en-Provence you still have to use your French!  So my learning experience really was 24/7.  I had to use French whether I was in a taxis, on a bus, at restaurants, in shops and on the guided tours. My efforts to try and speak French were patiently dealt with by the people from Aix-en-Provence.  They really were very helpful.
I feel as though I have far greater French comprehension now and that my spoken French has also improved though I accept there is still a lot more work to do.  I’m glad to say that for me, a new world is opening up.