SETTLING IN - CultureShock! A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette: France - page 115

The Educational Structure in France
Enseignement primaire (up to age 10): Age 3-5— École maternelle ,
école elémentaire , Age 6—CP ( cours préparatoire ), Age 7—CE1
( cours élementaire 1 ), Age 8—CE2 ( cours élementaire 2 ), Age 9—
CM1 ( cours moyen 1 ), Age 10—CM2 ( cours moyen 2 ).
Enseignement secondaire is called collége and counts
backwards: Age 11— collége 6 eme to age 14— collége 3eme . Age
15 begins Lycée Séconde , Age 16— Lycée La Primiere .
Higher Education Degrees: The French university system has
modii ed its degree programs to be in line with the emerging
European standard. This new system—now in place across
the board but always the subject of debate and potential
modii cation—is known as LMD, standing for “ Licence ”
(undergraduate degree), “ Masters ” (master's degree) and
“ Doctorat ” (doctoral degree). The different programs generally
take 3, 5, and 8 years to complete respectively.
In many areas of study, students will be given brochures
outlining the entirety of their future academic career on day one.
This will differ from the experience of many foreigners, used to a
generous l exibility in course choices in their home countries. But
the wonderful thing about the standardization of this system is the
ease with which these credits can be transferred from university to
university. The result is that students all across Europe spend one
or more semesters studying abroad in different countries. Walk
through the hallways of any French university, especially in Paris,
and you are likely to hear many different languages.
to expensive private, English-language only education in
France. These bilingues , as they are called, get high ratings
among students. One bright young international lady I
interviewed contrasted the pretense of friendship she found
at her English-language school with the more honest, if cooler
reception from classmates at the bilingue . Isolating English
speakers from the French community tends to give them a
false sense of superiority.
There are many resources for education in France,
including a book published by the Association of American
Wives of Europeans. They pose several questions you should
ask when considering a bilingue :