INSTED Chamonix - French

In entering the course you will be required to take a language test to determin your level of knowledge, you will then be divided into a group with students who are at the same level as yourself.

BEGINNER:
This level is for students with little or no French background, who are embarking on their first discovery of the French language. The class concentrates on developing good basic conversational, reading, and writing skills. Special attention is paid to fundamentals such as grammar, pronunciation, and sentence structure with the grammar element focusing on the following topics: adjectives, articles, numbers and figures, the interrogative form, location, negation, present tense, and pronouns. This level gives the student a clear idea about the functioning and the basic structure of French.

ELEMENTARY:
The primary aspects of this level include in-depth work on skills the student will have already acquired in the past such as adjectives, articles, the interrogative form, negation, present tense, and pronouns. Grammar elements studied include demonstrative adjectives, expression of time, immediate future, the imperfect and passé composé tenses, and personal pronouns. The classes will also cover vocabulary, sentence structure and pronunciation, as well as work on written and oral expression.

INTERMEDIATE:
This level assumes a good working knowledge of French grammar and vocabulary. Grammar topics focused upon include adjectives, comparison, the conditional, future, and imperfect tenses, past participles passive form, verb propositions, and personal pronouns. Class work will concentrate upon phonetics as well as more complex written and oral expression.

ADVANCED:
This level assumes a fairly proficient level of fluency in the French language. The students will be introduced to complex sentence structures in addition to new vocabulary, all aimed at inducing a higher level of fluency in both written and oral expression. Grammar subjects covered include the past tense in its more complex versions, the expression of hypothesis, the plus-que-parfait, relative pronouns, and the subjunctive.

All apartments are conveniently situated within walking distance of the center of town and the lifts. They are fully furnished and have a kitchen/kitchenette with utensils and a private bathroom. INSTED Chamonix offers three different accomodation options:

SHARED APARTMENT
Shared Room: Single bed or sofa bed in a shared bedroom or living room.
Private Room: One person stays in each room - one in the living room and one in the bedroom.

PRIVATE APARTMENT
Private studio apartment for one person or a couple. Friends who wish to stay together must choose to stay in a shared apartment.

For prices and more specific information please click on to the INSTED web site!

INSTED Chamonix is situated in the heart of the French Alps and borders to France, Switzerland and Italy, it also serves doorstep to the highest mountain in Europe - Mont-Blanc.

Chamonix has attracted people from all over the world since 1786, when the alpinists Jean-Jaques Paccard and Joseph Balmat conquered the summit of Mont-Blanc. Today Chamonix is the capital of skiing and the centre for a whole world of high altitude adventures. The lively streets offers a colourful mix of sport shops, guide offices, restaurants, bars and cafés. There is also a Saturday outdoor market, a multiplex cinema, a library, and a large sports centre with a pool, gym and indoor climbing.

The town of Chamonix has a polulation of about 10000, which increases during the summer and winter seasons when the rest of the world decide to visit or pass through Chamonix. The town is then made irresistible by the vibrant mix of people.

Bands and DJs please the crowds of the Chamonix nightlife with music from reggae to jazz. Feel free to practice your French with the local mountain guides while drinking a Pastis at the old Bistro de Sport!

Though this town has something to offer everyone who visits it is also a great starting point in discovering tghe rest of Europe. From Chamonix you will reach the citys of Annecy, Lyon, Geneva, Milan and turin, all within 2 hours.

Certain courses can be authenticated into credits - for example American and ECTS - wich can be useful in continuing studies. INSTED will gladly provide your home university with an Official Transcript and required course information in order to grant academic credit for your course. The recommended number of ECTS credits for INSTED's 15-week semester course is 30.

Students who wish to receive American credits are asked to get in contact with the school after continuing a course for more information.

Course fees (EUR):
15 weeks: 2550
13 weeks: 2340

Note that course literature is not included in the course fee. Literature will amount to approximately 30 EUR.

INSTED was established in Sweden in 1997 with the aim to provide high quality language courses at exclusive locations offering active and exciting leisure activities.

Beautiful Chamonix is the location where the first INSTED language school was opened in the winter of 1999. The combination of winter sports and language proved to be successful.

INSTED gives students the unique possibility to combine the pleisure of skiing or surfing with the satisfaction of learning the language of the natives.

Students at INSTED recieve a high quality education with the best of services from schools that have recieved a number of international seals of quality and belong to a number of professional language-sector associations such as EAQUALS, Instituto Cervantes, CEELE etc. All INSTED teachers are native to their language, they are motivated and well qualified with acedemic degrees and past experienses.

For specific place and residential information please click on to any of the schools that you are interested in below.