Sud Etudes Accueil
Granted, there are a number of excellent language schools along the Côte d’Azur, but if you prefer to stay with a French family rather than in a bleak hotel room “after school hours”, it’s difficult to know where to start looking.
So when we heard of Sud Etudes Accueil (SEA) and the formula they offered to foreign students - we knew we had to find out more.
Established in October 2003, the company is adroitly run by Marie-Ange Aymé and Séverine Parlinski; two very enterprising and charming French women. Both have travelled extensively outside of France. This has given them a much deeper insight into the difficulties of learning a foreign language in a country other than their own.
In 2000, when an opportunity to run her own business presented itself to Marie-Ange, she asked Séverine if she’d like to be part of the venture. Like all good partnerships, Marie-Ange and Séverine complement each other perfectly, bringing the right blend of experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to the company.
As mothers they can empathesize with parents when their child leaves home to study abroad as their own children are now studying away from home too. But, they can also understand the dilemma’s faced by students in need of a friendly home away from home
Over the past three years, they have quietly established themselves in providing one simple but all important goal; to place foreign students in the homes of the right French family.
For the moment, most of the families live in and around Nice. However, SEA is also developing a network of families in Brittany as demand from foreign students to study in that part of France increases. Sud Etudes Accueil presently have around 100 French families on their books - each personally vetted by them following strict guidelines:
- Warmth and quality of welcome upon arrival and throughout the student’s stay
- Ability to listen attentively
- Clean and comfortable living arrangements
- Availability to show the student around the region and to be on hand for any queries.
- Motivation to make the student’s stay a successful one.
It is therefore a prerequisite that students are treated as part of the family. They are also shown around the region and acquaintd with local customs thus ensuring his or her stay to be a happy and positive one.
Sud Etudes Accueil work with a number of well known schools such as the Université de Nice, France Langue, Univers des Langues and French Studio to name a few. Students can stay anything from one week to up to a year, depending on the type and duration of the French course they are attending. For many students, this is probably the first time they’ve been away from home.
It is therefore reassuring to know that SEA maintain contact with the student, and the host family, during the entire stay. Contacting SEA couldn’t be easier as they can be reached by phone or email. They will shortly have their own website (French & English) where you’ll be able to find out more about their company and services.
While it is true that the main objective of the company is to cater for young foreign students here to study French between the months of April and October, plans are afoot to organize stays outside these months - to a broader and older audience.
Nowadays, early retirement is fast becoming a viable option for many of us. We now face more leisure time than we ever thought possible. But this can create a golden opportunity. Spending a few winter months under the warm mediterranean sun, while totally immersed in French, is no longer a dream.
Better still, combining your stay with a favourite hobby or cultural event, and knowing you will be well cared for in a French family, must surely be the best of two worlds.
And with Sud Etudes Accueil on your side, it just got easier.
Contact details:
Sud Etudes Accueil
16 chemin de la Bouillére
06520 Magagnosc
Tel/Fax: 04 92 60 45 87
Website
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