4 French Summer Camps for Adventurous Young Language Learners
It’s important to give kids structure and focused lessons, especially when it comes to a foreign language.
But it’s also important to let them discover the language in their own way, through friendships and activities they choose.
French immersion camps are designed to strike exactly this balance.
Typically, campers get French language classes for a portion of the day, then cultural activities, social events and excursions where they can use their French in the real world.
I’ll show you four incredible, international French summer camps for young kids and teens to make the most of their summer.
Contents
- 1. Edu-Inter’s Summer French Camp for Teens
- 2. Centre International d’Antibes
- 3. Les Elfes Summer Camp
- 4. Camp Ouareau
- Why a French Immersion Camp?
- And one more thing...
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
1. Edu-Inter’s Summer French Camp for Teens
Location: Quebec City, Canada
Price: About 1,875 CAD for a one-week, all-inclusive stay in residence
Edu-Inter’s French camp for teens is an overnight camp that has welcomed youth from over 25 countries, and is for campers ages 10 to 17
Surrounded by a vibrant and historical French-speaking community, this camp is the perfect combination of formal and informal learning experiences.
For campers, the day starts with morning French lessons split across seven levels depending on previous French knowledge. That means that whether your teen has a beginner, intermediate or advanced level of French, their experience will be tailored to their learning needs.
In the afternoons, students can select activities they want to do. The options include an arts program or a sports program. These activities include drama and music for the arts trajectory, and time in the gym or the field for sports-oriented learners.
Further, in the evenings and on weekends, cultural and recreational activities are organized for the students. These include excursions to Montreal and surrounding historical and cultural sites. Students can even go whale-watching at Tadoussac!
2. Centre International d’Antibes
Location: The heart of Paris
Price: Tuition for the program starts at 850 euros
The Centre International d’Antibes (International Centre of Antibes) runs a camp for kids six to 17 years old. Standard packages have students complete 20 French lessons over the course of their week-and-a-half stay.
Since this camp is in such a prime location, there are many excursions where students can see the sights of Paris. Can you imagine learning about vocabulary associated with ordering at a French bistro or buying a ticket to climb the Eiffel Tower, and then actually being able to use that vocabulary that afternoon?
With this camp, that experience will happen on the daily!
In addition to excursions, other activities include evenings out with supervision, a dance organized by the camp and games at the accommodations.
3. Les Elfes Summer Camp
Location: The Alps in Verbier, Switzerland
Price: Starts at 4,420 CHF.
This camp is located in a different hub of French-speaking Europe. Les Elfes Summer Camp is both a linguistic and breathtakingly outdoor experience.
The camp is for kids seven to 17 and is divided into three age groups. Regardless of their age group, campers do about eight hours per week of language lessons. While many languages of Switzerland are possible for lessons such as Italian and German, French is also a leading option.
In addition to the language-learning experience, there are over 40 offered outdoor activities for students to do, including hiking, swimming and biking through the gorgeous landscape where this camp takes place!
Further, students can go on excursions to neighboring Swiss cities such as Bern, Lausanne and Geneva.
4. Camp Ouareau
Location: Saint-Donat, Quebec
Price: Prices starting at $1,084.00 (varies depending on age)
Our next camp returns us to Canada! Camp Ouareau is an all-girls French immersion camp.
The camp is divided into four groups. The “Junior” Camp is for 6- to 7-year-olds, the “Discover” camp is a shorter version of the regular camp for young campers attending for the first time. The “Explore” camp is for 8- to 16-year-olds, and the “Adventure” camp is for 8- to 16-year-olds.
This is a particularly unique camp because the girls are a mix of native French and English speakers. It’s like one big, friendly, adventurous language exchange. The aim isn’t just to learn language but also to create a positive community among young girls.
The relationships and the skills learned at Camp Ouareau are ones that young girls can carry with them for their entire lives!
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Why a French Immersion Camp?
Immersion is one of the most effective ways to learn a language, and a French immersion camp is an incredible opportunity for an immersion experience.
Young French learners will get the opportunity to speak the language day in, day out—not only with teachers and peers, but also in real-life settings outside the classroom.
And it’s not just about extra practice. Immersion in a French-speaking region means that the vocabulary and grammar they learn in the classroom will be directly reflected in the real-world experiences they have in their region of choice: in the stores, in the restaurants and even during the excursions to historical and cultural sites. It’ll make French more relevant and more memorable.
Further, and more importantly, kids will build relationships with other campers and native French speakers. This means the connection they make with the language is long-lasting, and they can continue their French friendships long after they’ve left camp.
Start getting your teen’s bags packed! It looks like they’ll be having an amazing time at a French summer camp!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And one more thing...
If you like learning French on your own time and from the comfort of your smart device, then I'd be remiss to not tell you about FluentU.
FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:
FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.
For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:
Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."
All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
