IPSL France: Language & Culture and Euro-Meditteranean Study

Program Description

IPSL has designed & delivered international programs focusing on experiential learning, ethical service & engaged research for 37 years. Now the independent IPSL Institute for Global Learning is authorized to offer academic credit, issue official transcripts and confer diplomas through the Master's level.

IPSL is a B-Corp (Social Benefit Organization) with over 83% of profits directly returned to the people, communities & NGOs they partner with abroad.

Immerse yourself in French culture in Montpellier, a 1000 year-old city located in temperate and friendly southern France that has long been a crossroads for European, Mediterranean and North African culture and civilizations. Spend a semester studying French language, culture, civilization and social issues at the Institut Méditerranéen de Langues/Services (IMLS). Courses in French language are taught at five different levels, from beginning to advanced. Beginning Arabic Language and Culture with a Euro-Mediterranean focus is also offered along with fun elective workshops on French wine and cuisine as well as IPSL’s service learning courses.

In addition to your studies, you live with a French family, serve 15 hours per week in a local agency, and explore the region through excursions. Your volunteer service immerses you in the culture and deepens your understanding of French society in a way that goes beyond that experienced in traditional study abroad programs. It also facilitates your mastery of French.

Highlights

Students live with a Montpellier family. Partial board is included. An integral part of the program, the homestay offers you the opportunity to make life-long friends, gain higher proficiency in the language, and experience the culture from "the inside." All IPSL host families are carefully selected and experienced with hosting students.

Opportunities for substantive service are generally available in the following areas: Assist or tutor disabled persons, children at rehab center, high school students and the underprivileged. Work with specialists in psychiatry and social care. Work with an occupational therapist at a retirement home.

What`s Included

Tuition and academic fees; academic transcript; on-site and on-line orientation and pre-departure materials; homestay housing and two meals per day (breakfast and dinner); service placement and supervision; pick-up at airport or train station upon arrival; partial local transportation stipend; health insurance; some academic excursions.

Excursions include a tour of Montpellier and surrounding historical sites. The full list of excursions (one included in your fee) are available on the IPSL website.