After deciding last minute (we're talking senior year in college), I said screw it. I don't care…read moreif I leave my boyfriend behind. I'm not missing out on my chance to study abroad (also known as living the high life) in Cannes France for a semester. WIth the help of my parents, the OU study abroad office, and some research online, I decided to go through AIFS or American Institute for Foreign Study. I chose Cannes because of the beach, the festival (which I had an internship during), and the beauty and laid-backness of living in the South of France, or the Riviera. Upon arrival to the college, I knew it was going to be one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. The collège itself is a private institution of higher education, specializing in the french language and civilization. The whole goal is to bring foreign students together for high quality courses and cultural exchange. It's a beautiful, and smaller campus offering 22 classrooms, 110 dorms (singles, doubles, or triples) with MAID service, a lovely dining hall, a library, tv room, theater, fitness center (small and older equipment), volleyball and bball courts, and le foyer (which is where most of the fun went down) which is equipped with a pool table and you can purchase sandwiches and paninis (quite possibly cigarettes and wine now too). The staff is super friendly and helpful, only speaking French with you, but that's the goal, right?! They also offer many outside activities/excursions during student leisure time, some free, some $$. One thing that was super helpful to me since most of the friends I made were American, was the "langue-échange" program. The school matched you up with natives from Cannes who had an interest in learning more English. You would spend 6-8 hours a week with them, conversing half the time in English and half the time in French. This proved to be very beneficial. I also took advantage of the corporate internships which were available for students who spoke French at at least an intermediate level. I scored an internship with E! International during le festival du film, which was awesome! It was a lot of office/clerical work, but I also did get to go out on shoots and interviews. I saw so many famous people and was able to attend a few screenings during the festival. So much fun! This is definitely an amazing place to study abroad and the collège couldn't have been more helpful making it the experience of a lifetime. I also made some lifelong friends, whom I'm still in touch with to this day--6 years later. I just wish I would've studied abroad my junior year, because had that been the case, I would've been calling my parents half way through the semester stating, see you next year. I'll be going to Paris to complete my full study abroad year :)

I went to CIC February-June of 2018 with a group from my university, University of North Texas, and…read moreit was the best decision of my life. I fell in love with Cannes, the school, and the French language. Coralie was the best professor I've ever had, and the staff there were just superb. It was the best five months of my life and I miss it dearly. I would give anything to go back.

Beware of this one. We signed up thinking that the idea was wonderful: language lessons for the…read morekids and parents on the French Riviera. But I would not recommend these courses. In our two weeks at the camp, a group of other participants were all so upset with this experience that everyone wanted to post (negative) reviews to help others. For the kids: What we got were babysitters (teens) who didn't have much interest in working with kids and had no education background. All of the kids ages 3-9 were put in the same class--some kids were almost bilingual, others had no french background. The common language across kids of all backgrounds was English, so you can imagine how much French was spoken. When other parents asked that language games be played or age-appropriate instruction be used (not putting little kids in front of movies), the director (Edmond) told everyone that these were "hysterical mothers." It is true that everyone was upset because they paid a lot of money for a course, which was not delivered. For the parents: Be aware that the availability of courses by level varies in any given week depending on who has signed up. When I signed up (and pre-paid), I was promised a beginner course (as I had very little French background). When I got there, I was asked to jump in with intermediate because there was no one available to teach me. I learned a little, but I would have learned much more had there been a course appropriate for my level.

Unfortunately my daughters (aged 6 and 9) and I had a truly dreadful experience in August 2017,…read morewhen I enrolled them at French Language Holidays. While the website looked professional and was clearly written by experienced educators, it bore no relationship to reality. The 'teachers' were untrained undergrads - nice enough girls, but with no interest in teaching and no partic fondness for kids. They had no teaching materials available to them and didn't really try to engage my girls at all with the result that they refused to attend. This I could have chalked up to experience had it not been for the Head, Edmond, who clearly has his own demons and became very abusive & shouty when I tried to speak with him politely (one choice quote being 'n'enmerdez pas!' when I tried to discuss the fact that my youngest child had cried at the prospect of coming back to class). We had a miserable summer, and I'd like others to avoid having a similar experience!