Survey: What do you love about France and the French?

Experience Language Survey

What do you most enjoy in France?

* Les Français (French people)
* La bonne bouffe (French food)
* Le vin (wine)
* Le paysage (countryside)
* Les chateaux (castles)
* L'art de vie (lifestyle)
* Other:

What is your favorite destination in France?

If you have any anecdotes about a past visit to France, we would love to hear about them

Please take a couple of minutes to fill out our survey here:
What do you love about France and the French?

Language Courses in Nice - 15% Off Tuition Fee

The school in Nice is offering a 15% discount on tuition fees for all courses starting before the end of May 2010 (except the trimester course)

The Standard Course (20 lessons per week) reduced to 229.50 Euros for one week instead of 270 Euros.

The Intensive Course (26 lessons per week) reduced to 289 Euros for one week instead of 340 Euros.

The Combined Course (20 group lessons & 10 private lessons per week) reduced to 654.50 Euros for one week instead of 770 Euros.

Young Minds Love to Learn

Lucky Children!

Learning a new language as an adult can be quite a challenge. For young children, however, learning a new language is a bit like learning to walk. While adults have to go through grammar drills and memorize vocabulary, children just need to be exposed to the new language.

Experts talk of a 'window of opportunity' from birth to the age of 10. During this critical period, children's brain is said to be more receptive to learning multiple languages. Once the window begins to close, the effort to master a new language becomes greater. Hence the opportunity for children to learn a foreign language at primary school is important.

Benefits of learning a new language at a young age:

* Children learn more easily and more naturally.
* Children mimic what they hear so they have a better pronunciation/accent.
* Children learn to appreciate different cultures from a young age.

How can we expose young children to a new language?:

DVDs: Children love watching the same DVDs over and over again. Many of the Disney movies can be watched in a different language.

Nursery Rhymes: Music is a great way to help children learn words and phrases in the new language. You can purchase a CD with nursery rhymes in the foreign language or even with bilingual songs.

Language lessons: Some nurseries offer French or Spanish lessons.

Family programmes: Why not try our French family programme in Cannes for children from the age of 3.

French Froggies?

Many people assume that the English kindly nicknamed the French 'frogs' or 'froggies' because of the French's love for frog legs. Yet it seems that other theories exist as to why the French are called 'frogs'. (By the way, not every French person enjoys frog legs!)

Theory 1: Around the 18th Century, Paris was surrounded by swamps. The French nobility in Versailles apparently started to call Parisians frogs because of their swampy surroundings.

Theory 2: During the Second World War, the French became known as frogs because of their ability to hide so well when camouflaged.

Theory 3 (our favorite): French people often say 'quoi' instead of 'pardon' (ie. 'what' instead of 'pardon me'?). 'Quoi' sounds very much like 'Coa' the croaking of the frog. :)

Pour finir, a little French joke:

Pourquoi les anglais n'aiment-ils pas les grenouilles?
Car elles font le thé tard. (un tétard = a tadpole)