Life in Lille for French A Level students
10 French A Level students had the (work) experience of a lifetime as they took part in the week-long trip to Lille in Wider Skills Week in July 2024.
Catherine Wilks, Head of Modern Foreign Languages, reports.
Setting off by Eurostar, our students were collected by their host families on arrival, plunging them into six days of new experiences and immersing them in the French language morning, noon and night.
Spoiler alert: they all survived! In fact, they all gained invaluable insights into life in a vibrant and diverse French city, from quiet family homes to bustling city centre businesses. Their work placements ranged from café-restaurants, clothes shops, to a university-run children’s sport scheme, via an animation studio and a dog grooming parlour.
In the background, the incredible events around the French elections as well as the preparations for the Paris Olympics (Basketball was hosted by Lille) added to the students’ understanding of French culture and politics. There was a genuine buzz, and we were lucky to experience this!
I was incredibly impressed by the students as they took on this challenging opportunity. They emerged confident, more fluent, and in some cases with offers of work and maybe even some life-long friendships.
A la prochaine, Lille! Vive la France!
