Hi I am Ayva and I went to France for 3 months with CEA. If I was to sum up my time here in 1 sentence I would say that it was the hardest but most rewarding time of my life so far.
I came here with only having learnt French for 2 years and that made it a little bit difficult at the start but now after three months I have improved so much and that’s really exciting.
For me one of the coolest experiences relating to the language is when I’m spoken to in French and automatically reply without having to translate in my head, close behind to that is the first time I dreamt in French that was also a very cool experience.
I had a wonderful host family with host mum and 2 sisters 14 and 11 and I felt so part of the family and always welcome. During my time here besides learning the language I’ve also learnt a lot about myself, the French culture as well as seeing lots of hidden gems all over France. I was lucky enough to visit Pays-Basque my favourite place by far, Bordeaux, Lyon and Geneva in Switzerland which is only 30 minutes away from my host families house.
Although I got to visit these big cities it’s the little things I’ve enjoyed the most like playing board games with my host sisters, riding the bike to the local bakery to buy baguettes, trail riding on my host mum’s horse up to the castle on the hill and experiencing life in a real French family.
Overall I can definitely recommend my culture exchange to France with CEA, although not easy I can confidently say it was worth it to make those lifelong friends and family, communicate in a different language and understand a different culture.
(my host family’s Chalet in the mountains)
