I found out about the UNC French Summer School on the 360 International Exchange website which I thought would be a great opportunity to improve my French whilst gaining credits towards my Global Studies degree.
As New Caledonia is only a short 2.5-hour flight away from Auckland I was pleasantly surprised by how dynamic the climate and culture was compared to New Zealand. New Caledonia is part of the Pacific Island nations which means you can expect a vibrant and laid-back way of day-to-day life when interacting with the locals. Unlike New Zealand, the weather was also amazing the whole time I was there, a warm sunny 27 degrees was the usual day you could expect on the University’s campus.
We were provided with accommodation at the University’s international residence which was only a short 5-minute walk to class. The rooms were all the same – you had a desk, single bed and mini fridge in your room. It was very basic but everything was clean and you only had to share a bathroom with one other person. The only downside to mine was that the fan was broken and despite reporting this alongside a broken fire alarm these were never acknowledged or fixed which made for a very hot stay. We also had a communal kitchen which had only four cooking hobs shared between 30 other students and a tiny bench space that could only fit 3 people at a time. As you can imagine this made cooking your own meals very difficult for most of the time as everyone also had the same schedule as you.
We also didn’t have an orientation of campus until later in the week which would have been more useful for students finding their way around earlier. However, UNC did provide an excellent city tour of Noumea which helped most of us gain our bearings for the duration of our stay. The cost of groceries and eating out is also extremely expensive compared to New Zealand prices (for example, I paid $40 for a burger and fries), so it would be wise to budget well for that as food isn’t included in the cost of your stay.
UNC also included cultural activities as part of the learning experience. The highlight of these was getting to stay with the Ouate tribe on our second weekend which was a unique experience I was extremely grateful for. However, there were other events such as visiting a penal colony, a sports afternoon and a visit to a mine that were cancelled with sometimes no acknowledgement to the students which was disappointing. For many activities and cultural lectures, there would also be last-minute changes to times that were poorly communicated to only a handful of students and at times the rest of the group would be unaware. I did notice an improvement in communication in the last week but would have appreciated it sooner.
Overall, I had a great learning experience as the quality of the teachers were excellent and they made it clear they wanted to see you improve your French skills during the programme. I also loved that the content we were taught also included aspects of New Caledonian culture and history which I found very interesting. Although I loved the academic side of this exchange, I think the planned activities could do with some improvements. Before commencing the programme, I was very excited about the activities that were offered but for the price that was paid combined with the reality of the activities which were executed, I was left feeling disappointed.
What were the highlights of your experience during your time in the French Summer School?
The quality of all the teachers was amazing, they clearly cared about the students’ learning journey and helped you improve during your time there. I also appreciated the content that was taught to us wasn’t what you would typically learn inside a French classroom as we also learned an immense amount of New Caledonian culture.
Were there any activities that were unique to your host country or university that you would recommend?
I thoroughly enjoyed our weekend stay with the Ouate tribe, it was such a unique experience we would have never otherwise done as a typical tourist in New Caledonia.
What are your top 3 tips for future students attending this programme?
1. Adjust your budget, the price of New Caledonia is very expensive
2. You have to take a bus if you want to get anywhere off-campus and the last bus is at 7pm and there are no Ubers/very difficult to get a taxi if you get stuck
3. Make the most of immersing yourself in a foreign language by speaking French instead of English
How much did you budget? Was this enough? Were there any lessons learned that would help future students budget for their own short-term programme?
I budgeted about $360 per week for food, transport and a local SIM card and I only just stayed within this budget.
What were the most significant takeaways from your experience with this programme?
How much you can improve learning a different language by placing yourself in an immersive environment.