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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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frogs · 03/07/2008 12:06

This is one set-up I've come across, but it is pretty extreme as you're expected to send your child for 6 months!

It is more difficult than you'd think, Bink -- I spent ages trying to find a German exchange for dd1. Despite having loads of friends and family there we drew a blank, I think because I had dd1 relatively early and so most of my friends had younger children. But finding an exchange for my ds should be easier...

Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 12:04

castille - thanks for the link

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

I'm not keen at all on match-making (far too much responsibility for no return), so would rather orientate enquiries towards organisations .

My partner's friends don't have English contacts at all - they have US ones (being Jewish) but are generally reluctant to send their offspring quite so far away for a first stay.

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castille · 03/07/2008 12:01

Anna, me too - I get people wanting me to find them English au pairs endlessly too.

I tend to point families wanting exchanges in the direction of organisations such as this one

Bink · 03/07/2008 11:58

But everybody has some sort of international network don't they? And presumably if you let people you know in England that you are constantly getting queries from nice French families, word would get around, and in due course nice English families would start popping up? (But it's whether you want to get involved in match-making, I suppose!)

Re match-making - the things my school did re assigning girls to families was pretty shocking. Eg - a friend who was an only child with a widowed mother, and who desperately wanted (and expressly asked for) a family with siblings got - an only child with a widowed mother.

cat64 · 03/07/2008 11:53

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Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 11:51

Lilymaid - indeed, the English grammar school I briefly attended in the 1970s had a long-standing three weeks either way exchange programme, starting in the second year (so aged 12/13).

One week isn't really worth the bother.

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Lilymaid · 03/07/2008 11:49

Both my DS went on French exchanges - their schools had a long established exchange programmes. But the exchanges were only for one week and involved a large group going to France (and vice versa). I didn't think it helped their French much as they spent much of the time with their English group. Back in the olden days, my exchange trip was for four weeks and we travelled alone so we were forced to learn French to survive!

Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 11:45

So how do people without international networks do it?

I get asked incessantly by friends of my partner whether I don't know "a nice family in England" for their offspring to stay with...

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Bink · 03/07/2008 11:43

We found the family I went to via friends-of-friends - neighbours who were a Brit with a French wife who had relatives who knew a family with a girl same age as me ... the usual sort of sequence.

We've got a good lot of overseas friends (dh same business sch as you) and will use those contacts when the time comes.

Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 11:39

Bink - thanks.

And how do you go about finding the family, when you are in England? Personal contacts?

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Bink · 03/07/2008 11:36

Can't answer for current schools policy - perhaps some parents of secondary-attenders can help there.

However - I did one of those school French exchanges myself, and learnt precisely 0 - apart from how to gawp at teenagers being allowed to smoke between lessons, and that really no-one would notice you unless you were wearing a navy-blue v-neck with UCLA embroidered on it. [?]

On the other hand, I spent three summers in a row with a French family, and learned to speak fluently and to cook and to recognise the architectural styles of the various centuries (courtesy of such a boring big brother, but you never know when that might come in handy). So my children will be doing exchanges with families, whether or not they also do completely useless school trips too.

Original poster
Anna8888 · 03/07/2008 11:30

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