For me, the best part of the trip was living with a french family. “How is living with a french family any different to living with an English family?” You may ask. Well, to answer this question, I must remember to mention each and every one of the wonderful aspects of life that two of my friends and I got to experience over the week. On the very first day, we were given the opportunity to try a french dish called ‘raclette’, a tasty mixture of fondue (melted) cheese, layered over the top of a mixture of potatoes and different types of ham. This was one of many of the wonderful meals that we tried over the course of the week, not to mention the amount of croissants I had for breakfast! As well as letting the students practice their social skills, they were forced to use different parts of the french language, more than just what is taught in the syllabus at school. For example, although we do have french speaking lessons at school, we simply do not have that many chances to practice naturally conversing  about day-to-day life as a french speaker. However, with the host family, the students get to explore a wide range of new vocabulary, significantly enhancing their french speaking skills, perfectly portraying the successful nature of the trip.

 

On the other side of life in France is, of course, the work. Yes, the work was very hard and I certainly shall not miss having to wake myself up at 6.30 every morning. However, I learnt many new things, not just about washing dishes, but also about planning and routing. Being in a foreign city, the transport was somewhat different and I had to work out which buses and paths to use to get to my place of work. For me, this was relatively easy as I worked in the city centre, at a place called Hotel Mercure, Lille, and there was a direct bus from a stop outside our house to the hotel, but even so, the arrangements I had to make for work made it feel like I learnt a great deal of useful skills, certainly including independence. At my hotel, I had to ‘faire la vaiselle’ meaning ‘to do the dishes’, as well as signing people in/out and cleaning=wiping up tables after breakfast. Having done this, I can now proudly say that I have a weeks worth work experience in a foreign country, equipping me with both good social and life skills.

 

Although I must admit that, at times, I forgot the original aim of the trip and it seemed like the work outweighed the fun, having finished, I can now see that it was a great success, definitely worth going on. I know for a fact that all of the other students made the most of the week in France as much as I did and when we return to speaking french in school, it will feel a lot less difficult and will flow a lot more easily.