Study Abroad in Paris with Columbia University

Why to Go Through Your School's Program

by Isabel Eva Bohrer

The Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris is a great hangout for students to relax and read.

The 6ème, 7ème, 17ème arrondissements …as a newly enrolled student in Paris, it is all rather confusing. In an email, the Columbia University housing coordinator wrote to me that my home for the next two months would be in the 6ème arrondissement. A quick web search cleared things up: Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements (neighborhoods) and the one I was to be living in happened to be the lively Quartier Latin, full of bars, restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues. Confusion immediately turned into excitement, and I was ready to live out the  Parisian summer of my dreams.

Student checking out books at the many bookstores in Paris .

Arrival in Paris

But that was not to say that confusion did not resurface once I arrived in  Paris. Finding my studio apartment turned out to be another odyssey; after picking up the keys at the Reid Hall campus, I took a taxi and gave the driver the directions to the Rue de l’École Polytechnique, as noted on my housing confirmation. But when I arrived at house number five, the keys did not fit into the lock. I pulled and pushed at the heavy, wooden door, but to no avail.

Upon seeing my desperate efforts, a  Parisian couple stopped to look at me, possibly thinking I was trying to break into the house. Smiling nervously, I tried to explain in broken French that I had just arrived and that this was the address where I was supposed to live. They glanced at my housing confirmation paper and seemed to understand the problem. "Ah, oui, mais ca c’est l’école Polytechnique, pas rue des Écoles." It turned out that the taxi driver had taken me to a more well-known street called Rue des Écoles. My address was on La Rue de l’ École Polytechnique, a tiny street a few blocks away and up the hill.

I decided against the couple’s suggestion to take a taxi. I lugged my suitcase to the apartment — second floor, no elevator, typical of many older, beautiful  Parisian buildings. On the glass table in the modest living room, there was a welcome in the form of a series of annotated maps, color-coded explanations, and a letter. “Bienvenue!” ("Welcome!") Ashley had written explaining that she was the girl living in the apartment until a few days ago, studying at the Sorbonne for the spring.       

The Reid Hall Campus and Classes in Paris

All turned out as Ashley had conveyed. First, a pleasant 15-minute stroll through the Jardin du Luxembourg took me to the Columbia Reid Hall campus, a former villa now turned into classrooms, offices, and other administrative rooms. The courtyard bustled with incoming students sipping café au lait and enjoying warm pastries. Syllabi and further academic information were distributed: we were to read through them carefully and then make an appointment with our assigned advisor the next day to choose our classes.

I had already made my choices in New York City, "Paris Walks and Issues in 19th Century French Art." Nonetheless, I decided to verify everything with my advisor. She confirmed that most students in the 6-week summer program enroll in two classes, with three credits each. Looking back on the program, it proved good advice; one class would have left too much free time and too little opportunity to learn while in  Paris. On the other hand, three classes left another friend of mine with too little free time to enjoy being in Paris.

Reflecting on the two courses I took, I struck the perfect balance of academic work and leisure time and took advantage of the city. My art history course took place at the Musée du Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Musée Marmottan-Monet and Musée Gustave Moreau. The Paris Walks class was literally as the title suggests — a weekly excursion throughout various neighborhoods with a teacher whose knowledge of the history, art, architecture, and sociopolitical events of France enthralled us all. For homework, we complemented these cultural excursions with further visits to  Parisian points of interest. Given that both classes were small, we could interact personally with the teachers — who enthusiastically shared their knowledge.

Is One Summer Enough Time to Learn French Fluently?

Of course, your progress depends on your dedication and aptitude for language learning. My French fortunately improved significantly over the six weeks. By the end of July, when I decided to extend my time in France to travel to Nice on the French Riviera, I was no longer the nervous, confused foreigner who could barely ask for directions. Nevertheless, I would say that the summer offered me only a glimpse of what a study abroad experience in  Paris can be. I recommend an entire academic semester for those looking for a more authentic immersion experience. During the fall or spring, Columbia offers programs at Reid Hall that run with the Sorbonne and Sciences Po, meaning that you study alongside French students.

Fall or spring might also be a better time to pursue an internship, if you have such an option. In our summer program, only one girl worked full-time as an intern for a law firm. As an EU citizen, she could make money but was also constantly running from work to class (her only class being the evening literature class). She could also never travel with us on weekends; while we did not have class on Fridays, it was a typical workday for her. Having witnessed the stress she was experiencing, I recommend a part-time internship. For those interested in journalism, for example, there are countless newspapers and magazines with offices in Paris. Another friend of mine landed an internship with The New York Times during her spring abroad. But be aware that interning with a company where the primary communication is in English will partly defeat the purpose of your choice to go on the program to Paris: to learn French. 

Improving Your French

To improve your language skills via this Columbia program, take advantage of the following:

• Sign up for appointments with your Reid Hall advisor. You can discuss almost anything here, but reviewing papers or presentations you have prepared for class is helpful. The advisors will correct your spelling and grammar and help you with overall structure. Not many students took advantage of this during my program, but it pays off. Not only does your grammar improve, but your grades will likely as well .
  
  
• Attend the Reid Hall social and cultural activities. There will most likely be a sign-up session during Orientation. I joined a wine-tasting and a cooking class, both enjoyable. Opera and theater tickets are also available; you can always suggest ideas.
  
  
• Participate in the trips offered. We went to Normandy and Reims and received a significant subsidy for both trips. Just make sure to sign up early.
  
  
• Consider living with a host family. Here, you will learn more about the French way of life and speak the language daily. Just indicate certain things on the housing questionnaire beforehand, such as diet preferences, allergies, etc. Vegetarianism is uncommon in France, so I chose to live in an apartment. 
  
  
• Take advantage of your Reid Hall ID. It gives you free entrance to all the museums in Paris and some other regions in France (mine also worked for the Musée Matisse in Nice).

Isabel Eva Bohrer is the Director and Founder of ROOSTERGNN Global News Network, a non-profit news agency.