A Disappointing Bait-and-Switch: Not the Parisian Experience We Paid For…read moreMy experience with EF began with a very enthusiastic, bubbly, and responsive salesperson who painted a wonderful picture of the program. It's clear they have a large, polished sales operation--it feels very "pitchy," and we learned they have an entire floor of people dedicated to selling these programs in the Paris school. However, once the contract was signed, the reality was starkly different from what was promised, leading to a deeply disappointing two-month experience for my 21-year-old son from February to April 2025.
1. Misleading Location & Unresponsive Staff (The "Bait-and-Switch")
The primary reason we chose EF was for an immersive experience in the heart of Paris, a fact I made explicitly clear as our family is originally from France. We were assured this would be the case. Instead, just a week before his departure, we discovered my son was placed with a host family a 45-minute train commute outside the city. This completely defeated the purpose of the program. When I raised this critical issue, the once-bubbly salesperson was suddenly unavailable. I was passed on to staff in Paris who were dismissive and offered no solutions. Their justification was that the fine print allows for a commute of 'up to one hour,' and I was essentially told I should be happy it was only 40 minutes. They made it clear that a move into the city was impossible and no refund would be considered. The communication and accountability vanished the moment there was a problem.
2. Subpar Host Family Experience
The issues continued with the host family in Enghein les Bains. Upon arrival, my son was informed of an unexpected 50 euro fee for laundry. More concerningly, the meals provided were so inadequate and unhealthy that my son lost a significant amount of weight during his stay. There were also unsettling instances where the host would eat certain foods while telling my son he was not allowed to have any. This is not the safe and nurturing environment you expect when you entrust your child to a program like this.
3. Ineffective Language Immersion and Academics
From an educational standpoint, the program also fell short. The curriculum focused heavily on grammar, verb conjugation, and writing--skills that are not the most useful for developing day-to-day conversational fluency. Furthermore, the social environment did not foster language practice, as my son found that the majority of his new friends from other European countries spoke English together. The advertised daily activities were also a letdown, with very low attendance, suggesting they were not engaging for the students.
4. Questionable Review Integrity
Perhaps most concerning is the integrity of EF's review system. When my son initially gave the program an honest 3 or 4-star rating at the end of his stay, he was brought into an office and spoken to by staff, after which he felt pressured to change his rating to a 5. This practice makes me seriously question the authenticity of the glowing reviews they feature and suggests a focus on maintaining a perfect online image over providing a genuinely quality experience.
Conclusion:
Overall, our two-month experience with EF was a lesson in over-promising and under-delivering. It felt like a classic bait-and-switch scheme, from the location to the quality of the homestay to the effectiveness of the program itself. I cannot recommend this program to parents seeking a genuine, supportive, and immersive experience for their children. I would urge others to exercise extreme caution, get every single detail (especially accommodation location) in writing before paying, and be very wary of the overly positive ratings.
