Information for term French Language & Culture
Application deadline, and cost information.
Overview
Click to OpenDiscover the elegance and charm of Parisian life while immersed in the language spoken by more than 100 million people.
Learn and perfect your French with native professors. Explore the city’s rich heritage, one neighborhood or museum at a time. Discover hidden treasures during fieldtrips throughout France. Live with a local family and get into the rhythm of everyday life, sharing authentic French meals along with stories and traditions.
Living in Paris and visiting as a tourist are two entirely different things. The Eiffel Tower becomes a mere backdrop to an authentic experience like no other. Spend your mornings in French class, and your afternoons practicing your conversational skills in cafés, bookstores, markets and museums. Catch the strains of jazz or traditional French folk played by street musicians along the way. Meander through the city’s village-like neighborhoods, window-shopping outside Bohemian boutiques, or head to one of its elegant parks for a picnic.
Have a sweet tooth? You’re in luck! With classic patisseries on practically every corner, you’re never far from a tempting pain au chocolat, macaron or profiterole. Cake shops, tea rooms, bakeries and chocolatiers display their delicacies in delightful displays. Drink your coffee or luxurious hot chocolate at a neighborhood stop, rather than a chain, for the real experience.
Follow our Travels:
The Take-Aways
-
LANGUAGE & CULTURAL PROFICIENCY
Call Paris home for 4 weeks and come back with increased language proficiency and a greater understanding of the French way of life. Bring home life stories to remember your cultural experiences. Demonstrate your language growth through a test before and after your program. On average across our programs, students learn in four weeks what U.S. high school students learn in one year.
-
COLLEGE CREDITS
Earn 4 college credits to either apply toward your future college degree, or to use to demonstrate your ability to do college-level work, or test out of a language level in college!
-
LIFELONG SKILLS AND FRIENDSHIPS
After just 4 weeks away, you'll build self-confidence, gain a broader world view, improve your interpersonal communication skills and make lifelong friends from all across the U.S.
Location & Culture
Click to Open
The Destination
Art, architecture, and history abound in one of Europe’s most culturally important cities.
Home to the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame cathedral, the first couture fashion house, some of the best culinary chefs in food today, and an abundance of cafés (one for every 200 inhabitants), the “City of Lights” is an amazing place to spend a summer.
Famous museums hold rare treasures and draw visitors with a range of interests. The multi-level Louvre, the world’s largest and most visited museum, displays more than 35,000 pieces of art. Best known for iconic masterpieces like the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa, it also features major galleries dedicated to Middle Eastern and Islamic art. The Musée d’Orsay, originally a train station designed for the 1900 World Fair, houses the largest collection of impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world. The Cluny Museum, set inside the ancient Roman baths, is filled with incredible artifacts and artwork from Medieval Europe. Interested in science and technology? Head to the National Museum of Natural History and the Paris Observatory. For those with more eclectic taste, there’s the Museum of Magic and the Catacombs of Paris.
Cool off under a shady tree and rest your feet after sightseeing. From the Jardin du Luxembourg to the Parc de La Villette, there are several tree-lined parks where you can beat the heat.
CIEE wants all our students to feel welcomed, supported, and empowered to succeed while studying abroad. Local CIEE staff have provided details about conditions and cultural attitudes that students with specific identities might encounter in Paris.
Daily Life
Click to OpenDaily Life
Every day brings new discoveries and fun, but you can always count on a perfect balance between interactive instruction, excursions and free time! Here's what to expect on a typical day:
- 7:00 am: Get up and have breakfast at your homestay
- 8:00 am: Commute to CIEE for your language class, using public transportation
- 9:00 am - 12:00 pm: Interactive language class in small groups, with a local teacher
- 12:00 pm - 12:45 pm: Practice in the streets what you just learned in class, through short activities and challenges led by your program leader in small groups
- 12:45 pm - 1:30pm: Find a fun spot to grab lunch with your friends (your program tuition includes a stipend for lunches).
- 1:30 pm - 2:00 pm: Gather back at CIEE to go on today's cultural activity or excursion.
- 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Each activity or excursion is designed to echo what you learned in class that morning.
- 5:00 pm - 7:00pm: Free time! Hang out with your friends and shop. Commute home.
- 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Recount your day at dinner and try to use your new vocabulary!
- 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Wrap up your day with jotting down some notes in your reflection journal and get your homework done before the next day. Usually just readings and personal research for your weekly project.
- 10:00 pm: Lights out!
Learn more about daily life on a high school study abroad program by reading our blog posts below.
-
Carefully Screened Homestay
-
24/7 Support from your CIEE program leader and in-country CIEE staff members
Program Blogs
Click to OpenProgram Blogs
Activities
Click to Open
Sample Activities
- Discover Paris street art with a graffiti workshop led by street artists in the Bercy skate park.
- Walk along the Promenade Planté, the elevated park on a 19th century Vincennes railway viaduct.
- Learn how perfume is made at the Fragonard Museum.
- Discover the city with neighborhood walking tours (ex. Latin Quarter, Marais, Saint Germain des Près).
- Take a boat tour on the Seine river.
- Test out your French skills at an open air farmer’s market
- Play a game of Pétanque (similar to Bocce ball) at the Palais Royal Gardens.
- See impressionist works by Monet, Renoir and Degas at the Musée d’Orsay, a converted train station on the left bank.
- Try your hand at baking tarte au citron revisitée or moelleux au chocolat in a pastry making workshop.
Excursions
- Castle and Gardens of Sceaux: Enter the majestic gates and discover this 15th century château, built for one of King Louis XIV’s ministers. The grounds, designed by royal architect André Le Nôtre, include a long canal, grass-covered terraces and tree-lined paths. The Petit Château houses a museum containing one of the largest collections of painters of the School of Paris.
- Normandy: Visit the historic beaches, Museum of the Second World War, and American Cemetery
Please note this list of activities is based on past programs and subject to change at CIEE's discretion to both adapt to local circumstances, covid-related measures and restrictions and participant feedback. Our goal when revising itineraries is always to enhance your experience. Every activity is designed to provide you with a deep immersion in your topic, local culture and sights. Get ready for maximum fun!
Dates & Fees
Click to OpenDates & Fees
ELIGIBILITY
- At least one year of High School French. For intensive language immersion, see our Rennes program.
- Program open to all current high school students: Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors.
- For scholarship eligibility requirements, please check our Scholarship page.
-
This summer (2021), this program is operating only for students who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
APPLICATION FEE
$25
Program scholarships and tuition include iNext Travel Insurance, but do not cover the cost of flights. More details about tuition inclusions can be found here.
OPTIONAL COLLEGE CREDIT FEE
$150 Learn more
Program |
Application Due |
Start Date |
End Date |
Costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Session I 2023 4 weeks | Apr 1, 2023 | Jun 11, 2023 | Jul 8, 2023 |
$7,250 |
| Summer Session II 2023 4 weeks | Apr 1, 2023 | Jul 9, 2023 | Aug 5, 2023 |
$7,250 |
Looking for funding?
Our Staff
Click to OpenOur Staff
-
Franck Le Gac
Academic Director
Franck oversees the coordination, quality, and planning of all courses and educational programming in Paris.
Ready to change your life?
You might also like
-
Engineering in the Home of Airbus
Toulouse, France
-
Fashion Design & French Culture
Paris, France
Program Full Shape your creativity and imagination in the fashion capital of the world.
-
French Language & Culture
Toulouse, France
-
Honors French Language & Culture
Rennes, France
Improve your French while discovering the unique traditions and breathtaking landscapes of Brittany.
