France Language Immersion and Service Adventure

Sitting in school, I've got a sticker on my laptop. Well, I've got a lot of stickers. But the most prominent one reads like this. "Global Works: Travel With Purpose". Most of the time, it goes unnoticed by everyone but me. I go about my day without anyone taking the time to notice those stickers I've collected. Every once and a while, however, someone notices. Maybe it's just a passing comment. But more often, it's a question of "what's that one for?", or "where'd you get that?", and this big white and orange sticker, right in the dead center of the case, just below the apple logo, is a pretty easy target to ask about.
Hidden within that sticker are incredible memories. Ones that, if nobody had ever asked, might have existed nowhere but within my own mind. I remember long bus rides full of music and conversation, hiking through the alps of southern France, working with the most genuine and kind french people I've ever met, meeting my incredibly generous host family, and relaxing in Paris. I remember learning that french isn't just wrote grammar, repetitive sentences, and ask and answer projects in a classroom. It's an expressive, emotional, and entertaining language that millions of people around the world all use and share.
Getting back to school the next year, I surprised even my fluent french teacher with terms, phrases, and accent tips that I'd learned over my three weeks abroad. I met people over that summer that I still keep in touch with and that live all over the United States, in Qatar, and, obviously, in France. And I have that sticker on my laptop as a touchstone to it all, which is what I tell any curious victim that happens to stumble upon said sticker before I close my laptop and explain how much I enjoyed going on this trip with Global Works.

Travelling with Global Works to France was an immensely gratifying and enjoyable experience that introduced me to French culture and helped me to improve my conversational skills. I couldn't have asked for better group leaders; both of them were responsible, very fun to be around, and genuinely cared about our well being. In the beginning of the trip, when nobody knew each other, their activities allowed us to quickly acclimate to each other and the language. When a few of the students unfortunately stepped on sea urchins at the beach, the leaders responded professionally and made sure the injured were well taken care of.

The volunteer opportunities, which included the restoration of the ancient canals of Cabrespine during our home stay and working with children in Versailles, were very fruitful experiences. They reminded me that the purpose of the trip was not just a selfish one; that we were helping the community in a way that could not have happened if it weren't for volunteer groups such as ours.

Probably the best part of the trip was the home stay. Our family was very caring and considerate of the challenges of an immersion environment; they knew to speak more slowly and clearly so that we could understand and helped us if we were having trouble finding the right word. Our family made an effort to make the stay exiting and comfortable, with many sight-seeing trips to the town, and a memorable soccer match between France and Portugal. Through the home stay, I was able to practice French with real French people and further my comprehension and learn language skills that cannot be learned in a classroom.

Through the four weeks our group spent traveling through France, I never stopped learning. Whether it was about French culture, language, or about myself, I am confident I now know more than I did before embarking on the trip. The entire group of students and leaders were excellent at supporting each other and making even the most difficult of unexpected times on the trip amazing. Although I was upset for the trip to end, I am excited to apply what I have learned at home.

The service work done was surprisingly fun - lifting rocks and building walls with people you met two days ago is a great bonding experience! - and I really felt like I was making a difference, not just doing stuff to do stuff.
The hike up the mountain was definitely not the most enjoyable part of the trip, because I'm not terribly athletic, but the mountain guides were understanding and let us stop when necessary to catch our breath/refill water bottle/etc.
The food at all three hostels was fantastic - typically, the meals reflected the region we were in and were always delicious, without exception. They were also all very accommodating in terms of dietary issues.
The best part of the entire trip, however, was the homestay - my family had three kids (a 16-year-old, an 11-year-old, and an 8-year-old) and we all got on very well. My French definitely improved, and my mère d'acceuil taught me how to make crêpes one morning, which was really fun.

This was a really fantastic trip and a great way to experience France, a country I'd been wanting to travel to for many years. All the French people we got to interact with, including our guides in the mountains, people we worked with on community service projects, and especially my homestay family, were incredible people. They were completely welcoming and, when applicable, very grateful for our help. My homestay family was really amazing -- the kids were super friendly and the parents did everything they could to make our stay as good as it could be, so that I really didn't want to leave by the end of it.

The four trip leaders were also consistently focused on making sure that everyone was enjoying the trip and getting what they wanted out of it. They had regular one-on-one talks with everyone on the trip to make sure there were no problems and to help people who were having any kind of trouble. I didn't have any real concerns but I'm sure this was very helpful for some people.

One complaint with this trip is that with regards to learning French, although I certainly made a lot of progress and built up a lot of confidence in conversational French, it was not really an immersion experience. All the kids spoke English so while the trip leaders spoke mostly in French to us, the vast majority of the interactions I had on the trip were in English with my tripmates. In addition, since there was such a wide spread of French proficiency and I was one of the more advanced French speakers, I didn't get as much out of the language learning activities as some of the other people did. In terms of visiting France, seeing the country and meeting wonderful French people, this trip is really excellent. However, it's not perfect for someone who really wants to get a French immersion experience and learn the language as fast as possible.

The trip was overall a really, really great experience. Besides the food being unbelievable (especially at the hostel in les Alpes), the overall atmosphere was really cool. We had people of all different levels of french speaking ability, which was felt a little paralyzing at times but overall didn't infere. My home stay family could not have been a better fit for me. The first words out of their mouths were "make yourselves feel at home" (but in french of course), and were excellent cooks. I loved living with them, 10 days flew by! The little excursions we went on with the whole group when switching locations were some of the most fun for me. Briançon was probably my favorite; it was the most authentic French town I'd been in with far less tourism than the other towns we'd been in. It was quaint and adorable. Overall, I have nothing but positive memories from this trip.

This really was a fantastic trip. The way we got to interact with the locals, our peers and leaders was amazing. As well, the experiences we had with the service, as well as our day trips were fantastic. The home stay was easily the highlight. The family experience strengthen my confidence in my French. I also enjoyed the people in my family very much and it was great to hang out with French kids my age and learn about their culture. Not only did I meet people from my family but I met other families and my home stay brother's friends which made the experience all that more enriching. I truly enjoyed this trip and would recommend it to anyone that asked.