The first week of class went by in a breeze. I barely feel like I’m studying abroad, more like I am traveling with a program and go to a center to do program-y things for a couple hours four days a week. It doesn’t feel at all at school, but I can still feel myself improving in language skills.
This UCLA Travel Study program is divided into three levels. The first level is for French 3 and French 14, a culture class, and has six students taught by a TA with class every day but Tuesday and about 9 hours of class a week. The intermediate level, which I am in, is for French 4 and 5, with class every day but Tuesday and 8 hours of class a week. Our class is taught by our lovely TA, Katie, and there are 16 people in the class. The advanced level is for French 100 and 107 and only meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday but has three hours of class a day and therefore 9 hours a week. There are about 22 people in the advanced level and they are split into two smaller classes taught by separate professors.
As one my imagine, the classes are pretty uniquely organized and structured in order for each student to complete two courses within the five week program. While the other two levels work on the two courses at the same time (taught by the same professor/TA, but with time set aside for each course per day/week), given the progressive nature of French 4 and 5, the intermediate class is structured differently. Instead, we spend the first two weeks learning fast-forwarded material for French 4 before moving on to French 5. I have my French 4 final on Tuesday. I’ve had eight days of class.
It is pretty intense considering we are squeezing two quarters’ worth of language learning into a month. In fact, it seemed like we would only spend time reviewing grammar and talking about cultural themes rather than “learning new material” so to speak. But after interviewing my TA and talking to students who took French 4 and 5 at UCLA, I realized that for the most part, students learn the bulk of grammar in French 1 through 3. The other classes following are for improving skills reading, writing, listening and speaking and being able to use the language and building vocabulary. While French 5 at UCLA requires a novel read throughout the whole quarter, we obviously don’t have time to do so. It is up to our TA to condense the material and highlight the most important parts. The extra hours during the school year that are spent discussing, practicing conversations in French and reading material in French is substituted by living in France and interacting with our surroundings. Even though we aren’t reading as much formal material, we are even more inclined to get the practice through daily life, whether it is interacting with our host families or even reading a menu.
Homework is also relatively light. While we have a course reader and worksheets that go along with the chapters (which we breeze through, each in a couple days), we also have short (and longer) compositions that are usually about aspects of our travels, whether it is about Paris, or French culture, we get to discuss our observations and experiences as a part of the course, which I believe is a very interesting and engaging way of learning.
To further educate us in French culture and history and enrich our experience abroad, the program has arranged through CIEE and just among the professors and TAs, several outings. This includes a trip out to Fontainebleau, a guided tour of the Louvre and an end of the program boat ride down the Seine.
Our second weekend of the trip, the professors and TAs planned a scavenger hunt in Montmartre, une chasse au trésor à Montmartre on Saturday afternoon.
We met up at Metro Blanche, which is right in front of the famous Moulin Rouge.
We were divided up into groups and given a sheet of directions that lead us around Montmartre, helping us become familiar with the area and getting a rather detailed overview of the main attractions in the area.
It didn’t take long before I decided that I loved this area. Compared to the parts of Paris I am familiar with (mainly the first and second arrondissements), Montmartre, which is in the 18e arrondissement, has the atmosphere of a quaint town overlooking the global city.
Montmartre doesn’t have the lavish glamour of the center of Paris, where every other block features a extravagant sculpture or spectacularly embellished architecture, but it had a lot of character. It seemed more intimate, and despite its popularity among visitors, it didn’t feel overwhelmingly “tourist-y” like the Tour Eiffel does, for example.
There was a point in our directions where we were given a choice: to take a picture of us in the “funiculaire,” or to take a video of us climbing up the escaliers. After looking up the funiculaire, we were just as clueless as we started off…because apparently, funicular is a word in English. After deciphering the French definition, we figured we were looking for some sort of cable car. When we finally stumbled upon it and realized that our Navigo passes worked on it, life was beautiful. Especially when we saw the escaliers alternative…think Janss Steps time about five.
And at the top of the funiculaire was…Paris. Which despite the cloudy foggy weather, was pretty impressive.
Facing this beautiful view and gracing the highest point of the city is the magnificent Sacre Coeur.
It is free/donation based to visit the inside of the Church. There is no photography allowed, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget how beautiful it is on the inside with the stained glass and serene lighting. If you walk up the steps towards the church and turn to the left, you will reach the village area with shops and restaurants.
If you continue around, there is a quaint and picturesque neighborhood behind the church. Seriously, just so cute and perfect that it is hard to believe that this is still a part of Paris.
Seriously, how is this place real?
This is a tourist train thing that takes you around the village. Can this place get any cuter? I don’t think so!
Wait, it actually can get more perfect. Standing in front of this garden that afternoon, we suddenly hear a mysterious voice singing beautiful opera. It was quite possibly the most magical moment of my trip thus far. And it further supports my theory that Paris is actually Disneyland.
This church is just so darn photogenic! Looks impressive from all angles.
On our way down to the café we were meeting at, we found this cat.
We really liked the cat. We spent probably ten minutes admiring it and cooing at it. Unfortunately, the cat wasn’t so fond of us, so we left.
PS: My group never finished the scavenger hunt. However, we did find a newfound love for this neighborhood! I have been up to Montmartre 4 times in the past week!
MONTMARTRE VISIT TIPS:
I am a far cry from a Montmartre expert, but here are a few things that I think would be useful to know on a first trip that I have learned from experience.
Métro is line 12 to Abbesses. Take. The. Giant. Elevator. Avoid the stairs, they go on forever as this is the deepest métro station. Even if there are a ton of people waiting for the elevator, just wait with them. The elevator is pretty much quite possibly probably bigger than my dorm, so people will fit!
Once you exit, you’ll see the church. Turn left and keep on walking until you see the funiculaire. There will be a bunch of people trying to sell you things and it will smell a bit like marijuana (as opposed to cigarettes like the rest of the city). Don’t let people try to put a bracelet on you, that is a pickpocketing trick.
Once you get to the top, if it is during the evening, there will be people trying to sell you beer and water in addition to the usual souvenirs. Near the village there will be people trying to get you to have your portrait drawn. I don’t know from experience how “sketchy” these offers may be, but there are plenty of tourists there so use your best judgement on what is and isn’t safe.
Also, souvenirs tend to be cheaper here than say at the stores by the Notre Dame. So check out all the cute shops!
For dinner that night, we went back towards Grands Boulavards and ended up walking around Rue Saint-Denis (which I would later find out is historically known as the area where prostitutes hang out…today, there are a lot of random Chinese restaurants scattered in with sex shops and sketchy looking clubs amongst normal stores and restaurants). However, further into what I believe was nearing the 4th arrondissement, there is cheaper food. We ended up settling down at PastaPaPa (which is actually a chain, and there ironically is one at Grands Boulevard, even though we walked like half a mile to this one).
There, we found a Romanian waitress and American portions. I was expecting a medium sized bowl half filled with pasta. Instead, we were given large plates…and a huge platter with tongs to serve ourselves. These were the largest portions I have ever seen in Paris…almost Buca di Beppo status! And this was for individuals…it also came in a “menu” option with wine and dessert. The prices were around 10-15 euro generally, which is pretty darn good for Paris dinners. 
We had no luck finishing the food. I went to bed full…and woke up full. Now we know where to go when we’re hungry!
At first, I felt guilty not eating French food…but if eating other cuisines means spending less money for more filling portions, a study abroad student has got to do what a study abroad student has got to do!