This article sets out to examine the validity of French language school reviews and towards the end examines some other unique ways that prospective students can determine school quality.
Once you have decided to go ahead and study in France in a language school you then need to find a reliable school that will offer you value for money and live up to all the promises that it makes on it's website.
One great way to know that you have chosen a great school is to get some independent reviews and opinions from other students who have already studied at the school you have in mind. But how can you go about doing this?
Most French language schools have testimonials on their websites from satisfied students but I am always doubtful as to how useful they are. Under the best case scenario students may not want to 'rock the boat' and when asked to give a testimonial before they leave the school they politely write down something nice which is not necessarily their true feeling but avoids any confrontation. The school then picks out the best testimonials for their site, discarding any negative ones.
Under the worst case scenario schools may simply fabricate testimonials themselves although I believe that this would be very rare. When every school website is packed full of glowing testimonials they really are of little help in distinguishing a good school from a bad one anyway.
Any opinions that you read on forums, blogs or social networking websites are also doubtful as schools can pose as students to promote themselves or degrade their competitors.
The best reference that you can get is from a trusted friend or relative who has already studied at a school in France and was satisfied with their course provider.
Because there are no easy ways of obtaining honest French language school reviews and opinions then let me put forward two other methods that you can use to make sure that you have chosen a great school.
Firstly, you should make sure that the school you are considering is certified with the 'Qualite Award', a form of accreditation recognised by the French Government. Look for the letters 'f', 'l' and an upside down 'e' in black and enclosed within red and blue brackets on the website of the school that you are considering. 'Qualite' schools have certain standards that they have to achieve before being accredited with the award.
Secondly, you should consider one of the five schools nominated for a 2008 'Star French School Award' by Language Travel Magazine. Every year language travel agents nominate five schools for the award based on professionalism, student satisfaction and service level. The 2008 'Star French School' award went to French in Normandy. The other schools nominated included Accord Ecole de Langues in Paris, Institut Linguistique Adenet, France ESL and France Langues
The best way to make sure that you will have a great educational and cultural experience in France is to make sure that you have chosen one of the best schools and because French language school reviews are mostly unreliable then you really have to chose other methods to separate the great schools from the average and poor schools.
You can click here to visit the Accord, Paris website, a 'Qualite' award certified school that was among this years five nominees for the 'Star French School' award. For more details on the Language Travel Magazine Star Awards and to see a complete list of the winners and nominees in all categories click here Steve Sutherland runs a language travel agency in Taiwan that has placed Taiwanese students into language school programs around the world. |
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