It’s all about adjusting - Part 1

I’ve been abroad for just over two months now, and after a 3-week reading break filled with travelling across Spain and France, I’m finally starting to get into the actual studying aspect of my studies abroad.

Since the education system in France is much different than at Canadian Universities, I had to make some tweaks to my study habits before I could approach my assignments. The commentary is a favorite method of assessment for the French, and each one of my classes has one for the mid-term exam as well as one for the final exam. It’s a relatively new type of assignment for me, and it contradicts many of the major principles of Canadian essay writing— with a particularly long introduction and a conclusion that introduces completely new information—both of which are absolutely forbidden in the world of North American history papers. So obviously, there’s been some adjusting when it comes to my coursework.

Besides the studying, I’ve also been adjusting to the French language. Of course I knew that I was moving to a new country, where French is the official language, but there were a couple of factors that left me feeling in over my head when I arrived. First of all, everyone I spoke to beforehand reassured me that the majority of French people would likely speak English—totally false. And secondly, I overestimated the ability of two night classes to teach me a new language. These oversights left me feeling completely overwhelmed in my first couple of weeks. Tasks that would be simple at home, like registering for classes and moving into residence, felt unbearable, since I couldn’t properly communicate. After being in France for a more extended period of time, though, I began to adjust to the language, and I started picking up a lot of French. I also enrolled in a French course on campus, in which the professors don’t speak any English.

This level of total immersion has really helped me to develop my French vocabulary and improve my French grammar. Being able to calmly respond to someone’s questions in French at a train station may not seem like much, but it is a legitimate accomplishment for someone who once would panic and immediately revert to English in that same situation just months earlier. I’m proud of my newly acquired ability to understand and communicate in French, something that seemed impossible at the beginning of this exchange semester.

To be continued...

By: Meghan Thompson, winner of the Remes Family Study Abroad Scholarship