Sciences Po Paris (IEP)

Comparing my experience to friends who went to other universities in the Erasmus context, Sciences Po seems more difficult. They have an expectation of a high level of proficiency in the french language before you come over. It is not seen as somewhere that teaches the french language as such. You go there to learn the Sciences Po method of doing things, to open new fields of academic interest etc. Being relatively fluent in the language is almost taken for granted by the university and those that dont struggle a small bit, although this is only in the first months of "acclimitisation".

It was really difficult in the beginning to follow lectures and take notes but it was a very gratifying experience when I was finally able to follow - and write it down! Further it was a little bit akward to speak French (especially with German as mother tongue), but it was nice to be "forced" into it and practice my language skills on a daily basis = it really helps a lot to feel comfortable with a language!

This is the best way to learn the language. I took 3 years of college level French before I went and found that I really knew nothing. Immersion is the only way to learn a language, even if the first 2 months are extremely difficult. Also, try not to just socialize with international students, speaking french in everyday situations will be the largest factor in improvement.

The Sciences Po orientation...and you may be sensing a theme here...was quite useless as far as language-instruction goes. So are the French courses at Sciences Po. However, sitting in class for 15 hours a week greatly improved my ability to comprehend French and, while I'm definitely not fluent, I feel fairly confident about my academic capacity in the language.

My French went from advanced to fluent during the course of my time in Paris. The French university classes I took (one at Sciences Po, the other at Paris VII) were excellent with regard to quality/interesting material. I began thinking in French early on in my stay there.

I found out that there's a difference in understanding everything but at the same time not being able to express myselves in a way I would do in my native language. Details and expressions are the last step before I'm saying my french is fluent.