The Universite de Laval is located in Quebec, Canada . This is a summer study abroad . Students earn 6 elective hours in French. This is best for students earning a French minor or a non-teaching French major. French teacher education majors are strongly recommended to go to Angers, France, or some other semester or year-long study abroad.
For more information about Quebec and how much it will cost go to the ISU International Studies link.
Coming soon...
Click here for guidelines for the scholarship for study in a French-speaking country.
Dr. Jim Reid
Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Campus Box 4300
Normal, IL
61790-4300
I studied at Université Laval in Québec City, Canada
The first few days of study abroad can be pretty intimidating, but I had studied abroad before in France, so Québec was not too scary for me. The university though goes to great lengths to make sure everyone is comfortable in the first couple of days by doing things like picking you up at the airport, providing you with packets of information in your dorm room, having BBQs and other social events. Be prepared to speak French though because it is required basically as soon as you step off the plane.
I am not really sure if this applies to me as I was there for a month and took language classes, but the things that I did were fine. The classes are pretty much the same as basic French classes you can find anywhere, but being taught by a native speaker is something special and you can get any and all of your questions answered by someone who definitely knows the answer, but the best part of the whole experience and the place you learn the most French is outside the classroom talking about every day things with your friends, the people you meet and interacting with people in the community.
I took the placement exam online before I left, but something went wrong in transferring it through because I ended up having to take a part of it again when I arrived in Québec. The exam isn’t bad, but don’t expect to know everything on it, you won’t. Just take it and you’ll mostly likely end up where you belong. Being too high or too low can be really boring or really stressful so don’t try to bomb or cheat on the test. I did not take the test again before I left the program.
My classes were, as I said, pretty standard. You can take 3, but unless you are placed in avancé or superièure than your classes are chosen for you, a basic grammar, writing, oral class where you’ll spend most of your time, a phonetics class and an expression orale class. All of my teachers were pretty good. They really want you to learn, but have fun as well. I did hear stories of a couple of teachers that were terrible, but generally if things are that bad the administration will switch you to another class as there are several classes at each level.
The other students were nice. I made some great friends while I was in Québec. There is a great variety of people there, but most are Canadian. If you can try and find the ones that want to speak French so you don’t end up speaking English with your friends all the time. Although, a nice little English break can relieve a lot of stress.
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The food was good. The cafeterias on campus are typical cafeterias, but I did not eat at them too often. There is a large supermarket down the road from the dorms to do shopping and you can rent a fridge for I think 50$ Canadian and keep your food in there. The restaurants are good as well. There are not too many around campus, save for in the mall food courts (the mall is where the supermarket is and there are 3 separate parts…it’s huge) However, there are lots of restaurants downtown with great food. There are always menus placed outside so take a look and make sure you aren’t going to somewhere too pricey and also if you are planning to eat downtown, especially on a weekend go early and make reservations because if you don’t you won’t eat until very late.
I lived in the dorms and school was a 5 minute walk. It wasn’t bad at all and when it’s raining there is a system of underground tunnels under the school that you can walk in. They are kind of creepy so bring someone else with you the first time you go just to learn the ropes.
I didn’t travel too much although I did make it to Montreal while I was there with a girl I met at the program who lives there during the year. It was great to go and get an insiders perspective. I also traveled at the end of the program, but in the northeastern United States which is closer than you think to Québec.
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Yup.
I am done with classes at ISU, but I can attest to the fact that after my first study abroad experience when you get back you feel like you are light years in front of everyone else. You really learn a lot while studying abroad and it definitely showed for me when I got back.
The people you meet will probably be amazing. The food is great, but I spent lots of money so be careful. Going out at night is really fun as well. There are some great places down town if you enjoy the nightlife.
It’s expensive.