Summer Language Program Information

View from my room!

I’m embarking on my last class of my undergrad ever (woo-hoo) by doing a 4-week long intensive french course in Grenoble, located in South-Eastern France. The program is officially called the Ontario-Rhone-Alpes Student Exchange, Summer Learning Program Option. For the full study-abroad option, Ontario students come to the Universite de Grenoble for a semester due to an agreement between Ontario Universities and this University, and Rhone-Alpes students go to an Ontario University of their choice for a semester. I am doing the intensive summer option (and not the full semester) because that gives me the last credit I need to graduate. 

It serves as an intensive intro to french for the students coming for the full semester, but lots of other students like me also participate. The course tuition is paid for by a bursary. Unlike Explore, the program I finished 2 weeks ago which quite literally pays for every detail of the month-long french immersion in Quebec, this bursary is $1000. Although I had to pay for the plane to get here ($700 U.S. round trip) and the housing costs (€ 390.00), doing my last credit this way is still MUCH cheaper than it would have been otherwise. ​

Quick note on the residence: Houille Blanche is a student housing complex in Grenoble where I am staying for the month of August. Almost everyone who is doing the Summer Learning Program is staying here, although there are a few in homestays. In total, ORA Summer Language Program kids total about 60 people, but this residence houses much more than that. There are some international students doing internships for their third year living here, there are some doing their master’s degrees, and there are some who are college-aged and working. The amenities are pretty good! There is a surprisingly nice outdoor pool, a neat common room with pool tables and soccer tables, a study area, and a basketball court. 

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