Can a student learn french while at an English school in Paris

[LJRVParis]

Hello!

I am a new member and this is my first post but I have been reading all posts re schools in Paris avidly and am very, very appreciative of the info. We are being relocated from Montreal to Paris this summer and are considering Marymount in Neuilly for our (3) kids. The school looks great (if anyone knows otherwise, please speak up!) but my concern is that they will not learn any french at all at an english school, even with the bit of french instruction they do offer. My kids are already bilingual (coming from Montreal) so I'd like to give them a break and send them to english school, but am hopeful that they will keep up their french just by living in Paris. Any thoughts about whether this would be achieved at Marymount?

No idea about Marmount, just to say my DD went to International school in Belgium and learned French.
She also went to a similar school in Switzerland and learned German and same in Bangkok and was fluent in Thai.
I think if it's going on around them - shops, TV etc. they won't have a problem.

Absolutely, but it depends on a) the child and b) the school. We are in Paris - nearly chose Marymount, but the reason we didn't was that DD1 would have had to have left for her last year here, which we thought would be unsettling. Have a look at the school's programme - mine are at ASP, which has a "francophone" programme, where, I think, they follow the French curriculum for French when the others are doing beginners/intermediate/advanced French (and they get about an hour a day). DD1 has made huge progress in two years and is being moved up to the advanced group, DD2 hates French and her teacher, and is being threatened with moving back to beginners' French.

I had a friend with children in the British school here and they didn't learn much French at all - but not sure how much this was down to the school or the children.

How old are your kids?

If your children are already bilingual - and I mean truly bilingual in that they speak / understand in 2 languages to the extent that they speak 2 languages as mother tongue - then there would be no reason to educate in English as main school language. Do Marymount do mother tongue level French as well as French for learners as a second language? Then it should be a bonus. You could simply enrol your children in local ateliers / stages etc outside of school in French. The only reservation I'd have doing this is that if Marymount is like other international schools, much social life will be centred around the school, if you then do many activities outside the school base, your children might find themselves at a bit of a social disadvantage at their school. Our son is at international English school and he certainly doesn't mix as much as other children socially after school, as much of his non school life is spent doing activities in French, means I don't mix either with the mums at his school.

Have you looked at EAB and EABJM? Or the lycée international St Germain-en-Laye (think that's what it is called)?

sorry I mean no reason NOT to educate in English.

I think this is a really tricky one.

A school like Marymount has a large percentage of expats and they tend not to integrate for understandable reasons (only staying for 3-5 years, parents might not speak the local language etc.) and so being at a school like that can be a bit of a bubble. Kids make friends at school, speak English to each other, parents become friends, English is the main language, school does not provide true native level lessons in French.....you get the picture. I personally don't think that going to the boulangerie and cinema would be enough to sustain a true bilingual level.

You don't say why you are considering Marymount.

I agree with PPSs who have suggested EAB, International Lycee (St. Germain en Laye) or Section Internationales Sèvres where they have a fantastic integrated programme.

I would say keeo looking at other schools, there are possibly better options than Marymount which is really an American school in France, rather than a true bilingual school.

I'd certainly agree that international schools are not bilingual. You might ask what they do with those children who are French mother tongue (ASP has 20% of children who are French mother tongue) before making a decision on where to send your children. It also depends on the age of your children - if children are under 10 and don't use their second language regularly, then they tend to lose it quite quickly.

If you want a bilingual education, then yes, choose a bilingual school.

I used to work at the British School in Paris which has a similar set up to Marymount. All the children would do 30 mins of French everyday and the bilingual children would be in the advanced class BUT those children who spoke English at home would generally only be able to keep up with the advanced class for a year, maybe 2 at the most before having to move down to intermediate. There is no French spoken throughout the rest of the school day and even French children get into the habit of speaking to each other in English whilst at school. In my experience children really don't pick up much French in shops, restaurants etc and there is such an 'expat bubble' surrounding the BSP, ASP, Marymount etc that very little French gets in!

I used to teach in Marymount. French classes were streamed, and the native French class had a pretty impressive level. There were a fair few francophone familes there who transferred to the Lycee in St Germain-en-Laye at 15.

Thank you to all for this wealth of information. In answer to one of the posters: the reason why we are considering Marymount is simply to help the children feel more comfortable with this move because their current schools in montreal are very similar (catholic, small, private) although French. And yes, they are already fully bilingual. Plus, DD1 could enroll at Marymount and stay for four years until grade 8 when our secondment will be up. DS 2 and DS 3 (sorry I hope I got the acronym right!) could also stay in the same school for the duration. The idea of not having to integrate into 2 new schools during that short 4 year period is important I think. Plus, they could all be at the same school for the duration. Again, all of these are factors more to do with easing the kids culture shock etc...

EabJM would be wonderful and we will def apply. I have just heard that it is very difficult to get a spot so am making plans B and C and D etc...

This forum is really excellent. So helpful!

As I reread the posts, I see that the same schools have come up a few times as good alternatives for a bilingual education. Noone has mentioned Eurecole though and I havent found much about it online either. Does anyone have any experience with this school? Also, correct if I am wrong but EabJM primary school is spread out over three campuses correct? What is the difference among them and how are children assigned? Are siblings kept together? Thank you again and in advance for being so helpful!

Eurecole has a pretty poor reputation from what I understand. It is not on my employer's "approved" list for schools - all of those mentioned mentioned on this thread are, and are considered to offer a good education - ditto ISP, which no-one has mentioned yet. Lennen Bilingual is also on our list, I think (but think it is for littlies?).

Lennen has the reputation for being "progressive" in the American sense of the word, ie ultra-liberal.

The huge advantage of Marymount is that it has really lovely facilities and is very close to Paris- - the accommodation and facilities of Paris schools is universally pretty dreadful!

Yes, the facilities at Marymount are excellent. We thought it seemed a very happy school.

EABJM has 3 campuses but 2 are for MS to CE1 (CE2 at Suffren for those really struggling in English) and they go to Théâtre for CE2. They keep siblings at the same campus as far as possible but obviously there's the CE2 cutoff. Logistically it would be difficult, I think, although Dupleix and Théâtre are close enough for it to be possible.

Eurecole has a pretty poor rep.

I have one already at EABJM (Suffren campus), with another application in for this year for my youngest. MS is moving out of Dupleix campus this year so you have to go to Suffren for that and CE2 is moving the other way so will be Dupleix only. They try to get siblings together where possible and if they have to separate them they try to make it only for one year and the 3 sites are reasonably close so it is logistically possible to have them at different sites. Suffren is the smallest, cosiest site and is also more "french" than Dupleix and I like that.

The sites have the following classes:
Suffren - MS to CE1
Dupleix - GS to CE2
Theatre - CE2 onwards
Which classes are you applying for?

As has been previously mentioned, it IS hard to get in (5-6 applicants per place), but possible with the right application. The deadline for applications from overseas is usually 31 march but I would move as quickly as possible to stand the best chance as the admissions committee meets in April. Feel free to PM about specifics about the process if that interests you. It is an excellent school but is very particular about its intake!

I really appreciate the feedback about Eurecole. It looked interesting online but there is nothing like local feedback. As for Marymount, the facilities do seem quite amazing. So many factors to weigh. I will simply send in my application forms and then decide when we visit.