When you arrive to Montpellier for your French language courses you might be wondering about the city, the people and the school. Especially if you have no experience with a language school abroad, or with learning French, or French in France you will definitely have some questions. Once you get the basics of the city and living as a French immersion language student and attending a French immersion school here in Montpellier you will have no problem.
What to do and not to do while you are living as a student in Montpellier
One of the most important things for me while living in Montpellier is being able to jump on the tramway on the fly whenever I need to and not have to worry whether or not If had a ticket on me. So that takes me to the first thing you should do while in Montpellier. Find the nearest tramway station to you, and buy yourself tram passes depending on the time you are staying in Montpellier, how far you live and how often you will need to take the tram. If you know you will be here for a long time and will travel often with the tram like me, then buy the monthly pass, it will definitely be worth it for you. If you are not sure about how often you will use it but anticipate that you will definitely use it at some point I would suggest the ten-ride pass, that lasts as long as you need for ten validations. Speaking of validations, there is a second thing you must do, which is validate your tram ticket every time you get on the tram. Often the tram controllers come onto the tram to check if you have paid to be there, do not make the mistake I did in the beginning of my stay and forget to validate you ticket because once you have to pay forty euros for a one euro sixty tram ticket you will definitely kick yourself!
While in Montpellier do make sure to see as much as you can with the school. ILA offers so many events and really amazing experiences do to, that they organize and make easier for you, that you otherwise would probably not get to do. One of the things I regret about my time here in Montpellier with the school is that I did not go on as many event/trips as I should have. It is a really good opportunity to see Montpellier, the outskirts and the culture. As well as exploring it is also a great way to connect with other people from the school who have similar interests to you, so this is definitely something to do while you are here on your language stay in Montpellier.
I would say that there is not that many things that you should not do while you are in Montpellier, but that’s a good thing! But one thing you should not do while in Montpellier is stay inside, and not get all you can out of your time here. There are so many things to do while you are here in Montpellier, especially to experience the night life and have fun with the people you meet while you are here. You can so many more memories when you include yourself with everyone else, it makes the whole experience so much more enjoyable.
So, as you can see, there is not many things you should not do while you are in Montpellier for your French immersion stay but there are many things you should do! Just remember to respect the rules in this city during your French immersion language stay if it is foreign to you. Inform yourself as much as possible about your French courses, the French learning school and to just get the most out of your language stay here in Montpellier so that you have no regrets and only leave with good memories of your French immersion learning experience in France!