Are you buying property in France? How is your French? Consider this, you are never too old for a French immersion program! At 58 I was the oldest in my class this summer and not for one minute did I feel the age difference. The immersion program to which I refer is in Angers France at the Catholic University of the West (UCO for short).

The first day, everyone took a placement test and then we were taken on a walking tour of Angers. We ended up at the Jean Lurçat Museum where the mayor welcomed all 164 of us with wine and cookies. There were people from all walks of life taking classes while I was there in July. We had the traditional students from various universities world-wide, nuns from a teaching convent in Brittany, CEOs from industry and people like me who wanted to strengthen their command of the language. Our abilities ranged from perfectly fluent in terms of speaking but in need of written improvement all the way down to knowing nothing. We had classes and listening labs every day and then on Saturdays we took grand excursions to the chateaux, D-Day battlefields and cemeteries, Mont St Michel and others.

I opted to live with a family so that I would have daily practice “at home” with my French family and absolutely loved my “French mere”. Besides helping me with my homework she and I also got to talk about French recipes and I came home with a wonderful little collection.

I enjoyed this program so much and feel like I learned so much that I am planning to return this summer. UCO is not the only immersion program in France so I highly encourage you to check out everything that is available out there. You won’t regret taking this step to improving your French if you plan on living in France.

Stumble it!