The structure of the lessons at the ILA French language school are EXTREMELY effective and well thought out. You move quickly through different elements of the grammar but it is not rushed. There is a nice balance between written and spoken work and the vocabulary is intertwined within other subjects, so you barely even realise how many new French words you are naturally taking in. If you stick to the work they set and stay on top of it you are going to be one happy student. If you have big ambitions however and want to go above and beyond the ILA French immersion school in Montpellier has loads of great resources available for you to tap into to enhance your learning, get ahead of the curve and achieve more in less time.
Internet Rooms at the ILA French School
The facilities within the French language school are very impressive. You’ve got both laptops and PCs waiting to be used, new and shiny and all with rapid internet so you can get online and utilise all the web has to offer to help with your French studies. I’ve mentioned a few of the most useful sites elsewhere on this blog but you will easily be able to find a whole plethora of useful tools. The internet is teeming with knowledge of the beautiful French language just waiting to be learnt. In your welcome booklet given by the ILA French school in Montpellier there is a table full of various sites that are broken down into the grades to which they correspond. It’s a fantastic little source of info that you can use wherever you are in your development. Some of the resources on there are also more real world orientated rather than theoretical so great for practicing and also learning about French culture. You can also use all the great resources on hand at the school with the computers.
Resource Centre at ILA French language school
This is a great little treasure chest of goodies. First and foremost there are the technical books that most often are accompanied by CDs. These provide the opportunity to take a more systematic approach to your French self-learning. I found these unbelievably useful when I first arrived here as my rag tag bit of French I had done previously had left gaping holes in my knowledge that I really needed to fill before progressing. So not wanting to start right at the start I opted to go for the higher level and get up to speed as fast as I could using these books. The first 2 weeks were challenging and not awfully sociable for me but eventually I was where I needed to be and it felt great. I found these so easy to use I continued with them after catching up and really saw the benefits.
There are heaps of comfy headphones available at the ILA French school as well so you can utilise the CDs for as long as you like without getting sore ears. As you will hear again and again you want to try and listen to as much French as you possibly can!
If you are looking for a more entertaining way to bolster your French studies there are novels, comic books and board games which is such an easy way to carry on your learning whilst splashing a bit more fun into it. I have heard it said that once your learning starts to seep into your entertainment you have all the momentum you need to carry you to the promised land of fluency. So why not start now!?
You can take all these things (except headphones) back to your accommodation and hold on to them for as long as you please. Assuming of course that you return them before leaving! So get some fellow students together for a board game in French, read The Three Musketeers in it’s original language or see why The Adventures of Asterix is so popular in France. Like this, you will learn French in France fast and have a lot of fun at the same time.