The first stop was the beautiful western French city of Nantes—where, incidentally, we are networked with three different partner universities—for a course full of cultural surprises: from French youth slang to unfamiliar customs, there was something for everyone. Together with French students, customs were exchanged and explained, new contacts were made, and everyone communicated diligently. We felt like freshmen again on the unfamiliar UCO campus, but thanks to the friendly support on site, we quickly found our way around.
But now it was time to step out of our comfort zone! We headed into the city to finally do what we were all there for: talk to “real” French people! Interviewing complete strangers can be a challenge even in your native language, so in French, everyone had their hands full. And yet we managed it, shy and extroverted alike, to step out of our comfort zones and discover how friendly and sympathetic les Français were in responding to our questions.
After these excellent experiences and with the best baguettes from the boulangerie next door in our bags, we set off for Angers-Saint-Laud to continue our language trip.
Once there, we were warmly welcomed as always with a fantastic city tour that managed to inspire everyone with this little corner of the world. But here, too, pleasure was followed by work – “after all, we're not just here for fun, we're doing a 2-ECTS language course,” as our lecturer Marie-Hélène reminded us from time to time. In class or on campus, interviews, games, exciting discussions with French students, etc. - we had many opportunities to put our Français to the test and have fun with French people at the same time.
But even outside the course program there were many different opportunities to get in touch with the culture – whether it was intergenerational boules de fort games, guided tours of a wine cellar, or the “Artisan passionné” chocolaterie for the gourmets among us. Of course, there were also plenty of opportunities in the evenings to celebrate the linguistic successes of the day ;-).
Overall, everyone agreed that this course was the highlight of the semester. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the Franco-German Youth Office, the French students, and the UCO team led by Ana-Maria, Christopher, and Andrea, but above all, of course, to our lecturer Marie-Hélène, who made it all possible!