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Original poster

French exchanges - do children in England still do these and how are they organised?

88 replies

Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 11:12

We were talking about this last night. Both of us remember from our youth that schools in England and France had long-standing agreements and sent children back and forth at the end of the summer term on a regular basis, with children attending school either end.

Does this still happen? If not, how do parents ensure their children learn French (and other languages) beyond what they acquire in the classroom?

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Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:44

Completely agree than MN is great hunting-ground, since we actually know so much about one another's values from all this talking before sending our children into the fray.

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Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:43

Both families have a seven year old girl, Bink - my children's second cousins are four girls and it's the youngest one who is seven, and my Afghan friend's second to last one is seven. Highly recommend that family - not a minute of boredom.

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Bink · 03/07/2008 12:41

My dd's only 7, so it'll be years yet! - though she would love joining a big family of girls!

I also have a ds who's 9, so he may be a contender too in due course.

It is completely obvious that, down the line, MN is going to be part of the answer here, isn't it?

Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:39

I wonder whether the fact that so many mothers work these days hasn't made exchanges harder to execute? And language schools more popular?

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WendyWeber · 03/07/2008 12:37

Oh snorkle, thanks for that link! DS2 is just finishing Y10 and is doing both French & German; he'll be going to Perpignan for his school exchange in Sept but I'd love it if he could go for a longer trip on his own too.

(Trouble is, if it has to be summer, I have to work 3 days a week so the return part would be tricky)

Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:37

How old is your DS, snorkle?

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snorkle · 03/07/2008 12:34

Anna - I'm only looking out of curiosity for myself too! My ds enjoys languages a lot & might be interested in another exchange I'm sure he's not alone, so there must be other English boys in a similar position.

Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:32

Or, if you want something more exotic, I know a family of six girls - mother is Afghan, father German but the language of the family/education is French and family is very broad-minded and cultivée in the nicest sense of the word...

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Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:29

How old is your DD Bink? My partner's first cousin has four daughters in a lovely all girls Catholic school in Neuilly that would be nice environment for a London girl to learn French in

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snorkle · 03/07/2008 12:28

See loads of others have beaten me to it, but there's this outfit too which I don't think's been mentioned yet.

Bink · 03/07/2008 12:26

(OK I get the message about having been complacent - I was just thinking of my mum, marooned in 70s Edinburgh, bustlingly cultivating Dad's colleagues' wives, school assistantes & people's au pairs.)

Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:26

snorkle - that's kind - but I can do my own googling (you are not my employee - kind of you to offer though).

I'm really interested in hearing about people's personal experiences and what's worked.

I also have a feeling that it is really hard to find English boy exchanges. Boys just don't seem to study languages much at all in England any more...

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Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:24

I think I agree with frogs - I have an extensive international network but match-making is a difficult and fraught task that I don't feel up to...

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snorkle · 03/07/2008 12:23

Anna, Ds's school organise exchanges via schools in France/Germany/Spain they have links with. But, like Lilymaid's they are done in a group (makes travelling easier) with some sightseeing activities organised as an English group. They are also quite short (12 days), so not really as long or intense as the 3 week exchange I did as a child. I think they appeal to a wider range of children, but I don't think they learn as much of the language.

For 'real' exchanges there are organisations that facilitate them - some for very young children. I'll have a google & see if I can find any.

Marina · 03/07/2008 12:22

Bink, many people don't have relevant international connections though. All my current ones are tenderly nurtured relics of my year abroad as a mod lang student. They are also the product of what else I got up to that year rather than formally linked to my studies there...
Although school exchanges can start out as fairly uninformative and homesickness-ridden experiences, they can develop into much longer-term relationships. I got my penfriend through a town-twinning scheme, very much in vogue in the 70s.
We drifted apart in the end because our life choices were too different, sadly, but I had a cordial relationship with my French penfriend for over 20 years and we met up every so often as adults, and went on holiday with each other as teenagers etc.
If only she had wanted children

Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:19

People don't like the price of the schools programmes, however - hence the asking for families...

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Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:18

My partner was sent to England every summer from age 10... his English is pretty good for someone who has never lived outside France or studied/worked in English. Not super-colloquial though.

And schools in England that do English language programmes for foreigners start at 7-ish (Millfield...).

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WendyWeber · 03/07/2008 12:17

Bink, I think it has to be done at primary school age because it's so much easier to get an extra child into a class then. Also the English child would need to be here for May in Y6 because of those sodding SATs. I would imagine Y5 is the one to go for.

I agree, 6 months is an awfully long time at that age.

Bink · 03/07/2008 12:16

Oh - also, doing an exchange at 14/15/16 as I did makes efficient use of the Kevin-&-Perry phenomenon - so, of course, I was a delight chez my French family instead of being a Pill at home.

Bink · 03/07/2008 12:14

Frogs - perhaps this is an amusing variant of the farcical naivety of expectant parents ("Yes, she'll sleep through the night, I've got a book about it.")

More on the point, I'm a bit taken aback by the ages mentioned in that link - I didn't do my first exchange till I was 14, and that was fully early enough for me. (So isn't there time yet for dd1?)

WendyWeber · 03/07/2008 12:13

I don't think many families would do it here either, Anna - it does need a very mature and self-confident child, like the broken-legged one! (When his French boy came back here for the return leg they were living in a caravan some of the time while their house was being built!!!)

Their DD, 2 years younger, refused to go.

Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:10

WW - lovely, but I can't see the French-Jewish mamas I know sending their primary school offspring away for six months - culturally quite impossible to contemplate.

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WendyWeber · 03/07/2008 12:09

Oh sorry frogs, yours wasn't there when I went off looking for the link

WendyWeber · 03/07/2008 12:08

ALLEF

Only for ages 8-11 though - they do 6 months each way. I know one family who did it with their son when he was about 9 - he managed to break his leg in France so that was a bit hairy but he survived & came back fluent (of course).

Our grammar school just does a one-week exchange in Y10/11 - they come here in May, ours go there in Sept/Oct. (And it costs about £300 )

Lilymaid · 03/07/2008 12:07

I remember that agencies used to organise individual exchange trips - and they still do

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