Antibes and everything else!

If you are looking for a real taste of life on the Cote d’Azur, you HAVE to go to Antibes! Palm trees along the sandy beach front, quaint French markets alongside a glamorous yacht filled marina, fabulous clear blue skies and sunshine, yummy seafood restaurants… I loved Antibes!

There was nothing more relaxing than sitting out on the sun terrace of the French school where I was taking a course, and basking in the sunshine after classes, enjoying a tasty lunch from the school cafeteria, and taking in the amazing view of the Mediterranean. After that, I would have the difficult task of deciding what to do in the afternoon… whether to head down to the beautiful sandy beach, or take a refreshing dip in the swimming pool at my residence. Or whether to be energetic and take part in a school activity such as the volleyball tournament, or head into the beautiful countryside to take part in rafting or mountain biking, or go sailing down at the marina. Or maybe I should indulge my cultural side and visit the famous Picasso museum, or one of the lovely hillside villages famous for their artisan works. You see, in Antibes, you have the best of everything!

I had an awesome month in Antibes. I loved the fact that I had such an incredibly relaxing time there, yet my days were filled with so many different things to do and my French improved at an incredible rate! I think throwing myself 100% into everything that my school had to offer really helped push my progress in the language from being rapid progress to being uber-fast exponential progress! After learning French for many years and reaching a high level (I studied French at university) I’d hit a plateau, and had real trouble making the leap towards being a truly advanced French speaker.

The school in Antibes totally sorted me out! My French was tested on the first day to ensure that I was placed in the right level group, my group size was never more than 12 students (in fact, most of the time it was around 7 or 8 students!), and my teachers really knew exactly how to tutor me in order to get me up to that higher level. It was so reassuring to know that the school could cater so well for students of all levels from complete beginner, right up to the long-persevering advanced students like me. My bubbly, friendly, skillful teachers totally renewed my enthusiasm for the language and I couldn’t get enough of all the great activities on offer! Taking my French into completely out-of-the-ordinary situations, such as rafting and scuba diving was just another wonderful (not to mention fun!) way for me to challenge my language skills and help me improve all the more. I am so grateful to everyone in Antibes for all their encouragement!

Not only was Antibes a gorgeous study-location, with excellent weather, beaches and the beautiful Mediterranean sea to wake up to every morning, it was an awesome school which gave me everything I needed to make a massive leap in my language skills. I whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone. My only regret is that if my French keeps getting better I won’t ever have an excuse to return!

Zoey (UK)