My name is Hannah Jones and I am a senior at the College. I am majoring in International Studies and my minor is the French language and Francophone Studies. I chose the College of Charleston Faculty-led program at La Rochelle, France and I am taking classes at La Rochelle Université. I chose this program because I am studying the french language and would like to become bilingual. I also would like to get a closer look to the french culture and lifestyle. This particular program is where I live with a host family and take courses in French. Living with a host family puts me in a position where I am required to speak French. Also, all the courses I had to choose from where about the French language and culture and taught in French. I wanted to put myself in this position in hopes that my comprehension and pronunciation would significantly improve.
My goals were to be more comfortable with the language. At the College, I noticed that I learned to write in french, but I do not apply or use it. I feel uncomfortable to speak it out loud because I am not confident about my fluency or comprehension. I want to change all of that by putting myself in a position where I must speak and get out of my comfort zone. I will especially get out of my comfort zone when I have to speak with my host family everyday. I am doing this to myself so I can leave this program in December feeling more confident and comfortable with the french language.

Since I am living in France, I have heard many things about the country and people. However, in my research I think what I have heard was focused on Paris and not the rest of the country. The city I am living in, La Rochelle, is a small city and not a typical city Americans travel to. Therefore, I did more research on this city. It is very small and looks like the community is very close. I researched that it is better to learn a language in a smaller city than one that is more international like Paris. The more touristy the city is, the more likely that English is spoken more. In a smaller city I will have more opportunities to practice my french. I also found in my research is that the less tourists in a city, the more relaxed it is. Therefore, the people who live in smaller cities tend to be more helpful with foreigners learning french. Mainly, they love when people want to learn their language and their is no rush in doing so. After my research I am more excited and reassured to learn the language and get out of my comfort zone in La Rochelle.