QuebecFranceCanadaMartiniqueFrenchFebruary 21, 2016 | 5 min read
French culture student destinations extend far beyond metropolitan France. Québec, Martinique, Morocco, and other French-speaking places give students different ways to experience language, history, food, identity, and daily life. It is not the only destination that delivers a genuinely immersive French language and culture experience.
Several other places in the world are deeply shaped by French history, language. Daily life, and some of them are considerably easier to reach than Paris. Here are six worth knowing about.
Québec is the most accessible French-language immersion destination for students in Canada and the northeastern United States. The province is officially French-speaking, its two major cities, Montréal and Québec City. Offer a full range of cultural, historical, and linguistic experiences in French. The travel logistics are straightforward enough that even a short trip is viable.
Québec City’s Old Town is the only fortified city in North America north of Mexico and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Montréal is a genuinely bilingual, cosmopolitan city with a cultural calendar that rivals any European capital. For students on a tighter budget or for teachers making a first trip with a group.
Québec is the natural starting point. Our Ottawa, Montréal and Québec Tour covers the most historically and linguistically rich parts of the province in a single itinerary.
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean that is, legally and administratively, a part of France. Its inhabitants are French citizens, French is the official language, and the island’s cultural life, legal system. Educational institutions follow French models. The cuisine blends French technique with Caribbean ingredients in a way that is distinct from both.
For French immersion students, Martinique offers something that metropolitan France cannot: French immersion in a tropical setting. Significantly changes the experience for students who associate the language with grey European winters. It is also a productive destination for social studies teachers interested in the history of French colonialism and its contemporary legacies.
Morocco was a French protectorate from 1912 to 1956. French remains widely used in Moroccan business, government, education, and urban daily life alongside Darija (Moroccan Arabic) and Amazigh. In Casablanca, Rabat, and Marrakech, French-speaking students can navigate comfortably and have genuine conversations in the language.
The cultural experience is unlike anywhere else on a French immersion itinerary. The medinas, the souks, the architecture blending Moorish and French colonial influences, the food. The landscape are all distinct from what students encounter in Europe or Canada. For teachers looking to take their French programme somewhere that surprises students, Morocco consistently delivers. Our Morocco: Cultural Tour is built for school groups and includes French-language cultural experiences throughout.
Belgium is officially trilingual, with French, Dutch. German all holding equal legal status. The French-speaking region of Wallonia and the capital Brussels are fully francophone in daily life. Brussels in particular is one of Europe’s most interesting cities for student groups. It is the seat of the European Union and NATO.
Gives social studies and political science teachers a direct curriculum connection. It has exceptional museums covering art, history, and science. Its food culture is equally distinctive, from Belgian chocolate and waffles to moules-frites, a dish that has become a national institution.
Is a reliable source of student engagement. Brussels is also a natural day trip from Paris for groups already travelling in France.
Switzerland has four official languages, and the western part of the country, including Geneva, Lausanne. The canton of Vaud, is French-speaking. Geneva is home to the United Nations European headquarters, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum. CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research).
Some of the most significant international institutions in the world, making it a particularly productive destination for social studies. Science, and global citizenship programmes. The landscape of the Swiss Romande, the French-speaking region, is also among the most scenic in Europe. The Alps, Lake Geneva, and the vineyards of the Lavaux UNESCO site all within easy reach.
France remains the most complete French immersion experience available to student groups, and for good reason. The language is everywhere, in the street, in the shops, on public transport, in every museum and gallery and restaurant. The cultural depth is unmatched: Paris alone contains more significant institutions. From the Louvre to the Musée d’Orsay to the Eiffel Tower to the Catacombs.
Than most countries manage in their entirety. But the France that works best for student groups is not only Paris. Normandy for D-Day history, the Loire Valley for Renaissance architecture, Provence for art history, Lyon for gastronomy. Alsace for a francophone region with a distinctly different cultural identity.
Prométour offers several France itineraries for school groups, including the France: Cultural Tour and the France: D-Day and USA Tour. Each fully private and customisable around your programme.
Prométour builds fully private, custom school group tours to French-speaking destinations across four continents. Whether you are heading toFrance,Québec, orMorocco. Every itinerary is built around your French programme and your students. The curriculum connections and logistical support available make this one of the most rewarding programmes to build.
