My name is Allison Carey. I’m a senior at the College of Charleston studying French language education. The plan for after graduation is to be a French teacher (I know, you’d have never guessed with a major like that, right?). Anyway, I chose to study abroad in La Rochelle, France. I spent a few years on and off learning the language in the classroom setting. Always studying out of textbooks and practicing speaking by myself. But by my junior year I was getting frustrated (and if I’m being honest, really worried) that my speaking ability was not improving at a fast enough pace. You see, there are certain exams that I need to take to become a certified French teacher after graduation. 

I did a little looking around, trying to find something that would help me, but nothing seemed to truly work. Working and studying full-time, I was only able to make one or two appointments with a tutor every week to practice speaking with someone. The French club’s conversation hour was great and a lot of fun…but it was not uncommon for the group to revert back to English. I felt my ability in speaking French was falling farther and farther behind.

After I voiced my concern, my adviser then suggested an immersion program. I did a little more looking. This time, though, I focused on the study abroad programs offered by the College and settled on the La Rochelle program. I liked that it was a full semester program. I felt like four months abroad, speaking almost nothing but French, should go a long way to help me with my problems. The credits offered by the program worked a little better with my major than others like the Paris business program. And the more I looked into the city of La Rochelle itself and its long, rebellious history, the more interested I became. 

Now that I’m enrolled in the program and everything has been set into motion, my only goal is to come back more confident in my ability to speak the language. I’m keeping it simple because I think the worst thing you can do to yourself is to set unrealistic goals. If you go into something with goals set too high, all you’re doing is inviting too much stress and disappointment into your life. So, my goal is to go, learn, have fun, and come back better than when I left.