During the spring of my junior year of college, I spent the semester studying in Rennes, France. The program was the only complete immersion program for French language that HWS offered at the time, and I knew that in order to achieve my linguistic goals, complete immersion was a (fairly terrifying) must. During my five months there I stayed with a host family and attended Rennes 2 university (the liberal arts university in Rennes). The classes I took at Rennes 2 were through their program for non-native speakers of French. This meant that I was taking classes that were conducted entirely in French, but my peers were other foreign students. This provided an ideal dynamic of linguistic immersion without the pressure of competing against native French speakers. It was also an amazing way to get to know students from countries other than France.
Throughout the semester I took basic core classes in grammar, written expression, and oral expression and comprehension, as well as two literature classes (one on Theatre and one on Women and Society), a current events course, and a translation course. All of these classes were rewarding, but Femmes et Société and Traduction are the ones I look back on with the most satisfaction. The experience of doing an independent research project in French in France was very challenging and, in the end, extremely rewarding. Traduction introduced me to the vastly complex art of translating texts both from English to French and from French to English. We worked with texts ranging from 20th century literature to current newspaper and blog articles. Not only did this provide me with a practical skill, but it deepened my knowledge of the language significantly.
Studying in Rennes was the capstone of my French education. Not only was it where I achieved the linguistic level I had been striving toward since I began studying French in high school, but it was also where I discovered what I'm capable of. The prospect of living in a foreign city was more than daunting for me since even something as simple as going to buy train tickets was a challenge, but it gave me confidence in my ability to navigate difficult situations.
Throughout the semester I took basic core classes in grammar, written expression, and oral expression and comprehension, as well as two literature classes (one on Theatre and one on Women and Society), a current events course, and a translation course. All of these classes were rewarding, but Femmes et Société and Traduction are the ones I look back on with the most satisfaction. The experience of doing an independent research project in French in France was very challenging and, in the end, extremely rewarding. Traduction introduced me to the vastly complex art of translating texts both from English to French and from French to English. We worked with texts ranging from 20th century literature to current newspaper and blog articles. Not only did this provide me with a practical skill, but it deepened my knowledge of the language significantly.
Studying in Rennes was the capstone of my French education. Not only was it where I achieved the linguistic level I had been striving toward since I began studying French in high school, but it was also where I discovered what I'm capable of. The prospect of living in a foreign city was more than daunting for me since even something as simple as going to buy train tickets was a challenge, but it gave me confidence in my ability to navigate difficult situations.