MFL year abroad in France

[AfterLeavingMrMacKenzie]

All being well, DD will be going to study in France this September for the 3rd year of her degree.

The university has put on a couple of information sessions for the students and given them a list of institutions with which they have exchange programmes.

They've said that with regards to funding (Turing) they don't know how much will be available but it won't be much and they don't know when they'll be allocating it.

I'd love to chat with other parents whose DC are doing a year in France or did one in the past.

DD doesn't have an EU passport.

@TizerorFizz because you have never worked in a university you maybe don’t know that the Erasmus scheme offered funding for any UK student to do a year or even just a semester/term in a mainland European university.

Erasmus included MFL students but was not exclusively for them.

Turing is the same with added proviso that it supports students from low-income families who are often the least likely to be able to take up the career-enhancing opportunity to study abroad.

And no student has ever reported back to me that their year abroad was a “jolly.” Adapting to another culture, another HE system and culture of studying, and living for 12 months often a long way from family and friends is not a jolly. We do a lot of preparation with them and are in contact with them over the year (I don’t teach MFL but we do send students abroad).

Lots of useful information here: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/centre-for-study-abroad/outbound/

I am aware of what Erasmus funding was. Jolly was slang for a not necessary element of a course. Now funding is limited lots of people think it should be ring fenced for MFL before anything else. One being compulsory the other not compulsory part of study. I don’t need to work in a uni to work out its detrimental for MFL and MFL students and secrecy is an issue,

Au pairing wouldn't have been allowed by my son's University. The jobs they took had to be approved by the uni.

I also know Erasmus funding was generous and did enable all MFL students to go. What we have now is a means tested travesty. I think we can all agree on that. Students have to work or be lucky parents have saved. Or be poor. It was so much easier and better - and I do know that from 10 years ago! It’s also blindingly obvious.

I don't think it is impossible for students from a poorer background to do a year abroad. It all depends on where they choose to go and what they do there. Being a full time student is probably the cheaper option. DS gets a larger student loan this year (about £1500 more than DD), travel costs are relatively cheap (he originally went by Flix Bus which didn't cost much more than the train to his UK uni, and flew home for Christmas), his accommodation is cheap (his uni treat UK students in the same way as Erasmus students). There are initial costs such as Visa and insurance but they weren't extortionate. DS was lucky that we could help with these but if he'd worked last summer it wouldn't have been an issue. All in all, I don't think this year will cost any more than a year in the UK. Plus his tuition fee this year is only 15% of the UK fee.

Au pairing is not a job, it's accommodation.

We all know it was better 10 years ago for MFL 3rd year abroad students. What is apparent from this thread and others however is that full clarity on the current reality is not shared openly between universities/parents/students. There's an illusion that things can't be as unfavourable as they really are.

@Ceramiq Yes that is the case.

Poorer students do get Turing though. That is who it’s aimed at. Reality is that fewer poor dc do MFLs so funding is being steered away from MFLs. The MFL year abroad is mandatory so it’s making it very difficult for many who are not poor enough to get anything. This doesn’t mean they are rich though and careful planning is needed.

Also not all students can choose cheaper areas. Many are now talking about South America for Spanish. I’ve not seen cheap flights to Chile. Certainly no buses. European flights are often cheap but accommodation can be expensive. Not all unis have links with unis in cheap cities. It’s also difficult to know what’s best. Cheap and cheerful or best uni available even in an expensive city?

I repeat, au pairing is a great way to get free accommodation/bills/food and it also requires the au pair to attend a course of study ie the family must allow for this

Trust me. It would not be fair on any child for my DD to be their au pair.

There are courses other than MFL that have a mandatory year abroad, or two. It would in any case be discriminatory for funding to be prioritised for MFL students so however difficult the new situation for 3rd year MFL students I think we need to agree (a) that it's not going to change (b) universities ought to be extremely careful when recruiting MFL undergraduates about the additional liabilities they are going to incur in order to fulfil the year abroad requirement.

I'm sure you are right - and that you are going to pay a lot of rent!

What level of study would an au pair do? The requirement is to study modules at a uni and even take exams. You don’t just do a few hours at a translation class. @AfterLeavingMrMacKenzie My DD would not have been doing this either. The uni attended is meant to be an academic experience and a cultural one. Not a lot of culture to be experienced when looking after young DC. Many uk unis require their students to submit extended essays on a cultural aspect of the country they have lived in. To do this requires more than living as an au pair. There seems to be limited understanding of the third year abroad.

@AfterLeavingMrMacKenzie I am sorry if I’ve missed it, but what unis can your DC go to? Are they all in France? Any other options?

@Ceramiq What other courses have a mandatory year abroad that don’t have a MFL in the title? Yes, the odd American studies but most are nice to have options and are not aimed at enhancing learning. They are aimed at alternative learning which is not the same.

ESPS, ISPS, Law and French Law (etc), Double Law, European Studies, Economics with a Year Abroad...

Lots of students in Paris work as au pairs while at university! Common as anything.

@Ceramiq So it’s now common for British students to do their third year abroad at a Paris uni and au pair at the same time. I really do doubt that. What numbers do this? From which universities?

Grenoble Alpes
Paris Nanterre
Lille
Orleans
D'Avignon
Lyon
D'Angers
De Pau and des Pays de L'Adour

And a couple of specialist ones in Paris.

I went to uni in Avignon (and Montpellier before that) and I loved it. Its quite a small city but it's absolutely beautiful. The main inconvenience is its bloody miles from any decent sized airports (Nîmes is the closest and does flights to London but not all year round). Its public transport is pretty good (it's on a TGV line and there are loads of busses and a tramway although the inner part is so small you can walk everywhere).

I agree that Avignon is absolutely lovely! I've no idea what the student scene is like however. Lots of tourists and lots of history.

When I was on my year abroad in Paris many years ago practically all the students from my university were au pairs! Americans, Australians as well as British students au pair while they are on their years abroad in Paris, and attend class during the day. It wouldn't be legal to be an au pair in Paris and not attend some sort of education during the day.

Lots of Irish au pairs too

Great for students especially from a cultural point of view. Rent can be quite expensive but nowhere near Parisian levels (and cheaper than Lyon or Montpellier).

@AfterLeavingMrMacKenzie What are the international standings of those unis? Which would be best on a cv? DD liked to travel a bit so are some better than others for that? If it matters for your DD of course. What about size of city and ease of travel from uk? I would immediately be drawn to Grenoble but I’m not sure which are the better unis on the list. Lille is obviously on the Eurostar rail link and Paris too of course. I’d also see if other students have good feedback - who has been to the unis and what did they think? The exchange office might have feedback.