Incoming students

We pride ourselves on the amount of support that we offer to our Erasmus students at the IUT, and you will meet many students here – and non-students – who are happy to have the opportunity to practise their English. Among Erasmus students from all over Europe, we often find that their level of English is better than their level of French when they first arrive in Nancy. The temptation is obvious…

…But classes throughout IUT, with very, very few exceptions, are in French, and the majority of your class-mates will be French students, therefore lectures are delivered at the same speed at which your lecturers would speak in your language at your home university. Most professors will bear in mind when correcting your exams that you are a foreign student, and will not expect the same level of grammar as they would expect from a native speaker. They will, however, expect you to be able to demonstrate that you have followed their lectures, however ungrammatically you express that knowledge!

…And to do that you must be able to understand French, and take notes in it!

In addition, it is obviously not a requisite here for bus-drivers, shop-keepers, landlords, etc., to speak any language other than French… Life is much easier here, much sooner, if you have at least a rudimentary level of French.

Besides, we hope you have come to France to learn about us, and you will really only do that when you speak our language. Even French people who speak English fluently, appreciate visitors who take the trouble to try to use our language as frequently and as fluently as possible. They will be more than happy to meet you half-way!

So, our expectation here is that Erasmus students come to improve their French, not to learn it, but we provide a lot of support in the early days, and we provide a strong French as a Foreign Language framework to help you to improve it.

At the IUT

While living and studying in France will undoubtedly improve your French, even without you noticing it, attendance at a French as a Foreign Language course for two hours every week is compulsory for all Erasmus students (only the French speakers are exempted). It can also gain you 2.5 ECTS each semester. Enrolment in this course takes place on your arrival at the IUT.

We suggest that you also think about creating a ‘Tandem’, either with your IUT tutor  or with another native French speaker in Nancy. A ‘Tandem’ is an informal language-exchange programme, which you and your partner organize yourselves. It can take place anywhere and in any way – at home, in a bar, on a night out, while hiking, cooking or practicing a sport etc. You spend half the time working on your French skills, and the other half working on your partner’s English skills: you can just have a chat, or you can include grammar exercises. It’s up to you!

At Centre de Langues Yves Châlon (CLYC) at Campus Lettres

Finally, Erasmus students can avail free-of-charge throughout their stay of the opportunity to improve their French at CLYC (Centre de Langues Yves Châlon), which is an excellent language laboratory and advice centre, also located on the Fac de Lettres campus.

Here you can:

• Use TV, videos, audio-cassettes, CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, the Internet, magazines and newspapers, language course books, dictionaries, and grammar reference books to work alone or with a partner, as many of the machines are enabled for dual listening.
• Group conversation sessions are often available also, facilitated by native speakers, and where possible language exchange partnerships are set up also on request: this can be done in addition to your IUT ‘Tandem’ partnership.
• A small studio is provided, with a camera and a video recorder, where you can prepare for a presentation by filming yourself in action.
• Finally, counselors are available to help you to organize your studies effectively by establishing a learning programme adapted to your personal needs.

By the way, French is not the only language available at CLYC. Facilities are also available there to work in German, English, Arabic, Danish, Spanish, French as a foreign language, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Swedish!