Katrina Evans
ERASMUS REPORT: Université de Strasbourg, FRANCE 2013-2014
Having always known about Erasmus and having a general
interest in travelling, I thought it may be something that would
interest me. I went to the initial ERASMUS meeting and spoke to
the previous volunteers, where I could not find a bad word about
ERASMUS, and so I thought: why not?!
Initially, I considered going to Geneva, but after a bit more
research on other locations and the pros and cons, I was
fortunate enough to get my first choice of Strasbourg.
So: why Strasbourg?
Strasbourg is a very beautiful city, located on the French-German border in the Alsace
region (famous for its wines). The river runs through the town which is centred around an
island with the famous and stunning Cathedral. There are lots of small shops, tea rooms,
restaurants, cinemas and at Christmas there are the famous markets. There are two good
shopping centres, Place des Halles and Rivetoile; the opera, the national theatre and many
museums. On the outskirts of the town you will find the European Parliament, Council of
Europe and the European court of Human rights.
I had never heard of Strasbourg before I researched it; however I looked at the pictures and
spoke to a previous ERASMUS student and decided it seemed to be a nice place where I
would hopefully enjoy living.
Accomodation:
I was fortunate enough to meet a Maths ERASMUS student at Warwick
who was from Strasbourg when I was arranging my ERASMUS. When it
came to accommodation, I researched the halls of residence which I
didn’t think looked to great and so I contacted her to see what other
alternatives there were. She gave me the opportunity to live with
herself and a friend in a private rented apartment in central Strasbourg,
a 2-minute walk from the train station.
ADVANTAGES
- Fantastic location
- Living with two French students so
always coming home to a Frenchspeaking environment
- They provided the common materials: so
there was a fully equipped kitchen and
no need to buy pots, pans, cutlery etc.
- Lots of space to invite people around
- The other two students were a great
help at the beginning; meeting me at the
train station on my arrival, sorting
DISADVANTAGES
- At the beginning, it was difficult to make
friends, as unlike in a residence there
wasn’t the people readily there to meet.
- My two ‘colocataires’ were Masters
students who already had their friends
at Strasbourg and their routine.
- 30min walk/15min bike ride from Uni
- Friends made were generally in
residences which were in other
directions – this often meant at first I
was coming home alone after nights out.
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arrangements such as a bank account,
and showing me around the city.
-
Unfurnished - had to buy a bed and desk.
The majority of my friends lived in residences: most of the students in halls are exchange or
international students – great for making friends but not great if you want to improve your French!
Cost implications - I paid €255 per month plus electricity and
internet costs, but then I got about €90 CAF every month (CAF is a
government payment to help with accommodation costs which all
students in France get). Be persistent with CAF, I nearly gave up with
them, their paperwork is endless and I had so many problems, but as
you can see at the end it was well worth it. They also backdated the
payments once I had confirmation I would receive CAF and hence I
got the money for the whole period of being a student there.
Arrival:
Welcome: The international office had organised a welcome day for us which I found really helpful.
As I didn’t live in a residence, this was my first opportunity to meet
other exchange students and the day involved a welcome talk, a
tour of campus, an opportunity to eat lunch at the university
restaurant, an afternoon of outdoor games and a boat tour of
Strasbourg.
Bank account: my colocataire helped me with this when I arrived.
We went to a few banks and she spoke to them, particularly
looking at costs of opening an account and international transfer fees. I ended up opening an
account with BNP Paribas as it was a free account for two years with no transfer costs to
international accounts. I had many problems with the arrival of a card and details and information,
but this was finally sorted after 6 weeks. Following this I had very few problems.
Phone: I was looking for a cheap French SIM card and I found Prixtel where I paid a base amount of
€2 per month for unlimited texts and some calls; I often had extra costs for texting international
numbers and extra calls. I ordered it online and it arrived quickly.
Public transport and regional transport:
I hired a Vélhop bike for the year, which despite their touristy look, was by
far the best decision I made! I paid €40 for the year with €150 deposit. I
had no problems and the freedom to go where I wanted, whenever I
wanted without the hassle of having to sell a bike at the end of the year.
Alternatively, the trams are fantastic in Strasbourg; to complement the
use of the bike I bought sets of ten single passes which cost me €14.40.
There are direct trains that go elsewhere in France as well as Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg
and Belgium. For the Alsace region at the weekends you can get day passes for groups of up to 5 for
about €35. We used these frequently and I would highly recommend them. There are also eurolines
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buses which go to various locations throughout Europe, and Meinferne buses for
Germany. We often also went to the train station at Kehl where you can get BadenWuttemburg region day passes for groups of up to 5, again very worth it.
Strasbourg airport, Baden-Baden airport (Germany) and Bale/Basel airport (Switzerland)
are all close by with cheap airlines..
Food and drink:
Tarte Flambée is the local meal which you most definitely won’t miss
at Strasbourg; Flam’s is fantastic for a huge choice of tarte
flambée’s, all you can eat options, and plenty of room for big groups
– be warned it is pretty much the only place to eat in Strasbourg
with a big group!
There are lots of lovely cafés, restaurants and tearooms in
Strasbourg; the majority are quite small but very homely and cosy.
Barco Latino, a permanently moored boat, is a great night out and Le Korrigan is good too. There are
lots of bars: I particularly liked Le Gayot, Cafe Atlantico and L’alchimiste. The majority have a great
ambiance but are small.
University modules and FLE:
I had already looked at modules before arriving to allow me to complete my learning agreement
beforehand, as requested. However, upon arrival I discovered that not all of the modules were
running, different modules were running that I hadn’t been aware of and there were clashes. This
meant I had to have a re-think. I wanted a mix of modules: some that were like previous Warwick
modules to allow me to gain a better understanding as well as some new things.
Term 1: Equations différentielles (Yr 2, sem. 2), Probabilités et Statistiques (Yr 2, sem. 1), Algèbre (Yr
3, sem. 1), Calcul différentiel et integral (Yr 3, sem. 1), Culture Mathématique (Yr 2, sem. 2), FLE
Term 2: Equations différentielles (Yr 3, sem. 2), Algèbre (Yr 3, sem. 2), Topologie (Yr 3, sem. 2), FLE
In France the university teaching system is very different: for each main module (6 ECTS, equivalent
to 12 CATS) there is a 2-hour lecture every week and a 3-hour ‘TD’ (support class). My first
impressions of this were fantastic: the lecturer taught both and the support class had a big teacherclass interaction. However as time went on I realised this was a particularly good lecturer and the
others didn’t follow suit: sometimes it was an assistant doing the class, the classes were boring and
tiring, there was little support with the questions and a lot of work to take away. I found it very
difficult to mix with the other students in my classes: classes were small, everyone had their own
friends and as a result of this they weren’t interested in trying to talk to someone who couldn’t
speak the language well. They were very closed and I didn’t find them particularly friendly or helpful.
The only problems I had following the lectures were reading handwriting and understanding
abbreviations. Once I was used to this I didn’t find it a big difficulty, a lot of terms in Maths are
universal and following calculations and notation you are able to quickly relate it to the English
equivalent.
Katrina Evans
Key abbreviations:
Abbreviation
t.q.
c.à.d
ker(...)
French
tel que
c’est-à-dire
noyau
English
Such that
It means that
kernel
FLE was a French language course for foreign students. I would highly recommend it: it’s an
independent module which facilitates learning through using the centre’s resources and regular
group discussions. It was good for meeting other international and ERASMUS students, for sharing
problems, getting help with lecture work and language issues. There was a library to borrow all kinds
of books of all levels and you could sign up to extra classes each week, specialising in the specific
areas you want to improve. It greatly helped my improvement of French and I really enjoyed working
there.
Language:
I was extremely stubborn when I moved out to France: I told myself
my main aim for the year was to learn French and I was not to get
myself stuck in a rut of speaking English all the time due to ease. No
lies to be told: this was difficult at the beginning! I only had GCSE
French and a Warwick language centre module of level 3 and I had
previously spent two summers Au Pairing for a French family. My low
level of French meant I was shy to speak to people and begin
conversations, yet I refused to make friendships with other English
exchange students! However, in the end I made some fantastic friends,
in particular a lot of people from North Africa who are bilingual in
French: they helped me massively in improving my French and are
persistent in keeping in contact now so that I can continue speaking
the language; I have a lot to thank them for! Naturally you meet
English people and become friends with them and at the end of the
year I could see some of them who had spoken English in their
residences and made English friends, resulting in little language improvement. If you want to
improve your French, you must be stubborn! For nearly all foreign students it is easier for them to
speak in English and it is easy for us to let go; be persistent!
Get involved: ESN and SUAPS (Sport):
University life in France is very different in
comparison to university in England. It seems to be
an extension of school where students still live with
their families or go to the closest university to home.
This means that there are not many societies or
events in which you are able to meet the local
students. However, ESN Strasbourg is a fantastic
association for the international University
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community – very much like the World@Warwick society. Throughout my year there, the group of
French students who ran the society organised many events which I took part in. Social evenings
such as Language cafes, international dinners and quiz nights; day trips to local cities: Nancy, Metz,
Freiburg, the Christmas markets and the Route des Vins; weekends away to: Lyon, Brussels, Bruges,
Lille and hiking in the local mountains.
As well as this there was the opportunity to participate in SocialErasmus, allowing international
students to get closer to the local community. I went into two secondary schools to do presentations
on Erasmus and different cultures with the students and I also spent a few days working on a local
wine farm; my efforts with SocialErasmus resulted in an award from the ESN section.
SUAPS is the sports centre at the University. I paid €25 for the year
which allowed me do up to 5 sports classes a week ranging from fitness
and dance classes to basketball and climbing. There are also lots of
opportunities to go on outings for a small additional cost. I managed to
go on several horse riding day trips and an overnight trip as well along
with several skiing trips. Night-time skiing in the local mountains (The
Vosges) and full days skiing locally and in Switzerland.
In summary:
Do not miss this opportunity. I know it’s a cliché, but my ERASMUS year has
really been the best year of my life. Words cannot begin to explain the many
things I have learnt, but I can say that I have met many fantastic people,
learnt about and explored many different cultures and religions and most of
all I am now able to fluently have a conversation in French on Skype with my
friends. After a very difficult first two years at Warwick, ERASMUS was the
break I needed before my final year and it has allowed me to realise that
there is so much of the world I must explore once I have graduated.
Things not to miss when at Strasbourg:
-
Chateau de Pourtalès and Foret de la Robertsau
Piscine du Wacken
Climb to the top of the Cathedral on a sunny day
Visit the opera and all of the European buildings
If any potential future ERASMUS students wish to contact me about my experience, they are
welcome to at: katrina_louise27@hotmail.co.uk
Soirée Marocaine
Aquathlon de Strasbourg
Soirée Algérienne