Study Abroad Guide

Every year, some 17,000 American students travel to Paris, France to spend a semester or an academic year abroad, hundreds more participate in the Teaching Assistant Program in France, and still others go to France to work or to study independently of an American university program. In a world where language skills and understanding of foreign cultures is becoming increasingly important, that number is growing every year.   Even though French is hardly considered one of the State Department’s “critical languages” and is studied less and less in American public schools, it remains, in many places, the language of diplomacy. In 2005, officials estimated that over 500 million people spoke French as their first language or second language. Other than the sixty or so million speakers from France, the vast majority of those speakers come from fast-growing developing countries in Africa and Southeast Asia. French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, the European Union, is an official language in 30 countries and an administrative language in 7 others, and is the only language other than English to be spoken on all six continents.

If you’re reading this site, though, you probably don’t need to be convinced that learning French is important. In fact, you probably don’t need to be convinced that going to France is important. What you may not know, though, is no matter how much you prepare yourself for going to a foreign country, actually going is hard.   It’s hard because there’s no guidebook.

Unlike traditional guidebooks on France, this site isn’t going to tell you where to go to dinner in Montmartre, or the hidden gems of the Loire Valley. Unlike books on French culture, this book won’t tell you that French women don’t get fat because even though they eat more fat and cholesterol than their American counterparts, they eat small quantities and drink red wine and smoke with every meal. It won’t tell you, as one generalizing “cultural studies” textbook told me, that the French like to keep the doors in their houses closed and that it represents the compartmentalization of every aspect of their lives. You’ll certainly read these types of books, and you should. They’ll help you to make the most of France’s rich history and culture, and to understand some of the more annoying and frustrating aspects of living in France. But that isn’t the point of this site.

If you’re an American student planning on going to France, either with a program or on your own, this site will complement the information provided by your American program. And French universities provide no help or information to their international students, so this site may be your only  (and definitely your best) resource if you’re directly enrolled.

If you’re an administrator or director of a study abroad program, this site will work with you to minimize the time and expense spent on developing and updating resources for students that are often out of date as soon as they’re printed. We know you have many responsibilities, so why reinvent the wheel? We’ll even make a forum page for your students so you can communicate important program-specific information to them directly.

This site not only has a step-by-step guide to moving to France, getting established, and taking advantage of the many opportunities Paris has to offer, it is also a guide to the guides. In other words, this site will tell you where to get advice about job hunting, or cheap tickets to the ballet, or a list of museums that are free for students.   Because everything from immigration laws to the price of movie tickets is constantly changing, I decided to publish this guide as an e-book in order to be able to provide periodic free updates. I also wanted to create an English language forum where students can share their experiences and guide each other to the best of Paris. In this format, you can access this site from any computer, and I can guide you to events and deals for students announced throughout the year.

If you have any questions or suggestions, or just want to touch base, please feel free to contact me by email at parisunraveled@gmail.com.

I hope you enjoy your time in France unraveling the mysteries of Paris.

Allison Lounes

Paris, January, 2011