Our Plan For FREN 297 French Language/Culture Abroad-Paris January 2018



This course consists of a 12-day trip to France from January 2-13, 2018. It has three parts: 


  1. pre-trip orientation 
  2. developing a language portfolio which includes navigating the group to Parisian sites and presenting in French once there 
  3. finalizing the portfolio which integrates everything the student did while in France. 
The schedule in France includes both iconic sites like the Eiffel Tower and lesser known ones like the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute) for a broad understanding of French culture and a range of opportunities to practice the language. It includes travel to Normandy to the D-Day Beaches and other WWII sites. It includes a visit to Versailles and other châteaux around Paris. 



We'll be staying at a spacious loft apartment through Airbnb. It's a renovated carpentry studio in the 20th arrondissement (an administrative district of certain large French cities, in particular Paris).  


Stay tuned for student-created posts on monuments like the Arc de Triomphe, religious sites like la cathédrale de Notre Dame and la Grande Mosquée de Paris, museums like le Louvre, cultural centers like L'Institut du monde arabe, and neighborhoods like le Rive Gauche. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Omaha Beach by Caren Freund

Image
This photo was taken on Omaha Beach in Normandy. Omaha Beach is one of the beaches that the American troops used to storm the Nazis on June 6, 1944: D-Day. There were a total of five beaches that the Allies attacked: Omaha, Utah, Gold, Sword and Juno. The United States attacked Omaha and Utah, England attacked Gold and Sword, and Canada attacked Juno. Omaha was the first attack, it was a surprise for the Nazis. Gold Beach was the bloodiest of the attacks because the attack occurred hours after the initial attack and the Nazis had time to prepare.             In the photo, the craters are from American cannons. The remains of the bunkers can be seen in the top left of the photo. It is astounding that the level of destruction still exists today. The land is uninhabitable, there are too many craters, ruins and shrapnel along the beach. People reside inland where the land is untouched by the cannons.             Omaha Beach really affected me. To see where so many men lost their
Read more

Morning in Paris, the City Awakes to the Bells of Notre-Dame-by Alexis Scherer

Image
“Morning in Paris, the city awakes to the Bells of Notre-Dame.”  All I could think about was Quasimodo in the bell tower pulling on the ropes to make the bells chime. When I realized I was actually going to France, the one thing I was set on doing was going to Mass at La Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. We were told that we were allowed to navigate through Paris by ourselves at least once on the trip and I knew this would be the time to do it! Before arriving in Paris, I thought our apartment would be close by Notre-Dame and it’d be a piece of cake to walk there; well, that wasn’t the case. To get the Île-de-la-Cité, where Notre-Dame is located, I had to get on the Métro at Porte de Bagnolet on Train 3 towards the station we called “Kevin Bacon.” Once on the train, you had the chance to observe Parisians either going to Mass as well or going into the center of Paris for a meal or shopping. This is the perfect opportunity to “eavesdrop” on their conversations to see h
Read more

Normandy by Katie Gresbach

Image
Going to Normandy was one of the places that I was going to because of my military background. I felt like this place was key place for me to see. The tour was going to the museum, having lunch, then going to the beaches, and the American cemetery. These two pictures are of the cemetery. I was emotional as soon as we got there. I was not expecting all that was there with the wall of unknown and the statue. The bottom picture is when I lost the strength that I had. This hit home for me because this person gave the ultimate sacrifice for the world and no one can even know their name. This was when I made the decision to give my brothers and sisters of mine a profound respect. I walked all the way down to the end so that all the stones were facing me, and I turned around and with tears running down my face, I saluted them all. I can only imagine what those soldiers had to go through and I am thankful for what they did. The world would not be the way that it is today without the things
Read more