Testimonials Quebec 08

Sarah says:

I loved a lot of things about this trip, one of my favorites being the free time we were given to “wander” around the old part of the city. It was very charming, and I felt like I had left North America completely.

While I learned some new things in our French class, the best part of it for me was mainly the review! It’s crazy how many things you forget… But, other than that, I think the other great learning experience for me was learning how to interact better with others in French and everything. I also think it was good for me to hear others speaking French rapidly, rather than the slow, annunciated conversations that I’m used to!

I liked my homestay family a lot, although it was a bit difficult to interact with them at first. However, after the first day or so it became easier and easier to spend time with them, speaking primarily French! They spoke very little English, but the little that they did speak was incredibly helpful! In addition, the young children in the family (ages 1, 4, and 7, I believe) were immensely helpful towards remembering vocabulary. We’d be playing games together, and all I had to do was stop, point to an object, and ask “qu’est-ce que ce?” and they’d start jabbering about not only the item I was pointing to, but other items in the room, too. You can do this with adults, too, of course – but I think the fact that they were young (and sadly, probably had a stronger grasp on the language than I did) made it easier to ask them questions like this.

Over all, I would most definitely suggest this trip to other students who are interested in practicing and honing their French skills. The ways that immersions into another culture are useful are truly innumerable!

Autumn says:

Oh my gosh, this trip was amazing! I loved pretty much everything. We went to this huge church, and got to learn about Saint Anne. We went to a waterfall that is 30 meters higher than the Niagara Falls, but skinnier. We had kind of traditional Canadian breakfast for dinner, danced some really cool dances, then ate some more! We got to bicycle, and there was even a double bike, which was really fun to ride. (The boys couldn’t do it; it was hilarious to watch them. I won’t mention any names though….Mike and John….) Anyway,I learned tons of French from a really great teacher named François. This trip changed me by knowing more about Canada, and French. I would totally recommend this kind of trip to other teens because they can get to meet lots of nice people, including other kids who go, and have fun. You would also get to see some beautiful places too. The first day of French class was kind of scary because we didn’t know who our teacher was, and what he was going to do. So the first day was interesting. The next day it got better because we got to know François, and he knew where our limits were in our French. So we got along nicely. My home stay family was great. Estelle, (the mother) was very nice, and helped me and the other two girls, Chloe and Bailey, who stayed with me learn French more easily. She was also our tour guide. One of the really cool places we went to was the Chateau Frontenac. It was a humongous castle that is a hotel. We had a lady come who was pretending to be from that time take us around it and tell us some of the history about it. We went to an old part of Quebec and got to walk around. We would stop at cafes for a snack, and it was delicious. So I hope everyone will go again next year, including me!

Bailey says:

This trip was completely awesome, I had so much fun and I am totally doing it again next year! I think my French has definitely gotten better, some of the lessons were kind of hard but I managed to get through them. My homestay family was the best! I hope that if I go next year I will be with them again. I would definitely recommend this trip to other teens. Just because, it was fun and educational! We went to so many different sites and learned all about the history of Quebec! I know that everyone wanted to get home and so did I, but now that I am home I want to go back. And I want to take my friends with me as well. I cannot wait for next year!

Michael says:

loved how different everything and everyone was in Canada. The difference surprisingly made me feel comfortable in it all. I learned so much on the trip and to put everything down in words would take volumes so I’ll give you a little taste of what I learned. I learned the ins and outs of basic French, how syrup was made, little facts about the architect around the old city, and that Quebec has much to offer anyone who is looking for adventure. This trip changed me by making me able to feel at home wherever I am and not let fear stand in my way of having a good time. I would 100% recommend this trip to anyone who is having second thoughts about it. This trip is a once in a life time opportunity and most people never get a chance like this and you would definitely not want to miss out. Everything that you get to experience is fun and if you let fear hold you back from the fun that can be had on this trip you will be regretting it for a long, long time. Although the French lessons had their difficult parts I have learned more than I have ever expected to learn about the French language and the Quebec culture. My home stay made this trip all the more merrier, they were very nice and tried to help me with the language around every corner whilst making me feel at home at the same time.

Elise says:

Quebec was an amazing experience for me! It was so cool to get to go somewhere and be completely surrounded by French. It was a little scary, especially towards the beginning of the week, but once I got over that nervousness I was fine and having a lot of fun. It is so different to sitting at home and doing French lessons. At first I thought a joined class for all of us was going to be too easy, but our teacher, Francois, was very fun and it turned out I really needed the review. I definitely learned a lot,and not only in the 15 hours of lessons we took. Over the course of the week it got a lot easier to understand people as they talked to me. I noticed it a lot with my home stay family. They barely spoke any English at all so it was kind of hard and stressful, but by the end of the week I had gotten used to hearing them and I could better understand what they were saying. The whole trip was so great, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves French and wants to learn.

Chloe says:

I really enjoyed everything on this trip. I definitely learned a lot of new things and became more confident with speaking French. Quebec is a very pretty place and it was nice getting to see and learn about it. The French classes were really fun and taught me a lot. Our teacher, Francois was very nice, and had lots of fun activities. I stayed with a family with two other girls, Autumn and Bailey who are in the same level of French as me. The family was very nice and if helpful when we didn’t understand them. They also taught us a lot of words for things around the house. Overall it was a very good experience and I would love to go again.