Abbey Road High School Summer Immersion Program in Nice, France

I will hold onto the memories I made from this program so dearly. I made so many new friends and the staff was very supportive. I got to explore different areas within the South of France and went on so many adventures! My French language skills definitely improved and exploring the city of Nice was avery growing experience. There was lots of flexibility in terms of being able to have free time and experiencing Nice with the friends you made. In terms of cons, there was no air conditioning in the residence and the Wi-Fi was a bit slow however, all of the amazing memories made up for any small inconveniences. In addition, when interacting with local French people and when we were in class, we spoke mainly French however, outside of this the staff and students spoke English to each other therefore making it not 100% immersive. either way, I still improved tremendously and would highly recommend this experience to any highschoolers who would like to travel and improve their French speaking and comprehension!

My son, Aidan, attended the Abbey Road French language program after 9th grade (summer 2019) and then again after 11th grade (summer 2021), and I can’t say enough positive things about the program. He was required to take French in high school starting in 9th grade and it turned out to be his weakest class. With the intent of improving his worst subject over the summer, he enrolled in the Abbey Road language program. The experience was transformative. Aidan will attend college in the fall with French, Russian, and International Relations as his intended course of study.

Abbey Road did a great job of providing an educational French language experience and well as a fun-filled summer. The classes were undoubtedly effective, and the immersion in the French culture inspired his love of history and foreign affairs. His progress in the language after his first summer was impressive. After his second summer, he skipped a grade level of French. Abbey Road was definitely an educational experience.

The accommodations in the Nice apartments provided a good level of impendence overlayed with adult oversight. The kids need to do their own laundry, are responsible for cleaning the community space, and must manage their time to stay on schedule. Curfew is not negotiable. However, they have several hours of free time a day to explore in small groups. The independent interaction with locals furthered Aidan’s language proficiency.

From a parental perspective, I never felt like Abbey Road “cheaped out.” The kids ate at restaurants, traveled to nearby cities, and enjoyed the beach activities that have made Nice famous. When they went snorkeling, Abbey Road hired a boat. When they returned home from a weekend outing, they traveled in a private van. Furthermore, the blog postings from the staff were detailed and consistent so I always knew what my son was doing. This was important because he was having too much fun to update me directly.

Aidan would say the best aspect of the program was the other kids, and he undoubtedly forged long-term friendships. He keeps in touch with his “French friends” to this day. After his first Nice summer, the kids organized a reunion so they could gather again in New York. After the second summer, the kids did the same thing (although it was cancelled due to Covid). Abbey Road is clearly effective in creating an environment where the kids feel included and are able to bond. When Aidan attends college next fall 3000 miles from home, he will have “French friends” nearby.

Our kids have attended several summer camp programs. By far, Abbey Road is the best.

I went to Nice, France with Abbey Road for a month-long program and had the time of my life. I was fully immersed into the French language with fun language classes in the mornings and cultural immersion in the afternoons, visiting museums and cafes. I met the most amazing people on this trip and saw the most amazing places all along the Cote d'Azur. Weekdays consisted of classes and daily trips to the beach and local cafes. On weekends we explored cities in the French Riviera such as Saint Tropez, Eze, Cannes, and Antibes. This was the best experience of my life so far and I cannot recommend it enough.

I have to say this was a fantastic experience for my son. He loved every minute. In fact, he was only supposed to stay three weeks, but instead he wanted to stay another week (a bargain) because he met fabulous friends, was able to see historic locations, and learn from terrific professors and teachers. He learned more French in four weeks than he had learned in the past several years of classroom instruction. Truly, we were impressed. Well done! I have nothing negative to say about the program at all.

I just had so much fun and feel like I improved my conversational French. The city is so beautiful and the amount of freedom that we had to explore it was so nice (having classes + electives in the morning and then free time until dinner). I really felt like this program prepared me for independent living, and got me excited to travel and learn. I 100% recommend!! Just bring a fan and really good walking shoes. Also not the best WiFi in the youth hostel… but I wasn’t really on my phone in my free time there anyways so it didn’t matter.

My daughter (15) attended the Abbey Road Nice program in July 2019 and had an amazing experience. It was her first trip to Europe and this was certainly a memorable time. We were very pleased with the program's communication, organization, and program offerings from language instruction to numerous fields trips. I will note, not so much a criticism as simply for others to be aware, that the program does offer a fair amount of free "exploration" time without supervision. My 15 year old certainly gained independence and confidence, though at times I felt she may have been a little too free. The language program seems solid and appropriate, but it is no so strict as in forced total immersion with penalties for speaking english.

We were very pleased with the program. I felt it was great value for what was offered.

In addition to the facilitated instruction, we had many opportunities to interact in the local setting in Nice to talk with shopkeepers, locals, etc. This was my favorite part of the program. Having my own room with own bathroom was very nice also, and staff were all very responsive and helpful. We spent many evenings at the beach, and there were opportunities for water sports, cultural tours and photography and writing electives.

The office staff was very helpful and responsive in making all the arrangements, it felt like they knew me personally. The electives (included in the cost) allow the kids to pick what suits them best. I think most students picked watersports, but a number also did photography, drawing and I picked culture. We got to go to a perfume factory in Monaco, some museums and the theatre in Cannes. I think this allowed us to spend more time doing what we actually had interest in.

Overall, this was a wonderful program to learn about French culture, food, and language. I would not recommend it for hardcore language immersion; this experience was highly cultural and social, and language came second to that. A typical day included waking up and eating breakfast in your dorm or going out to a patisserie with friends, morning French classes, and then an afternoon activity such as a museum, the beach, or going to a nearby town. There was hours of free time afforded each day, usually spent in Old Nice or at the beach. The location of the residence was absolutely perfect; it was in the heart of Nice, just a five-minute walk from the historic Old Nice, ten minutes from a shopping mall, fifteen from the train station, and only one minute to find a pharmacy or multitudes of cafes and eateries to choose from. The residence itself is technically a youth hostel, but each student gets their own room with plenty of space for themselves and their belongings, along with a private bathroom. Some of the rooms were more dated than others, and some were found in cleaner states than others at the time of arrival, but the overall rooms were nice and functional, if not "beautiful". Naturally, since it is Europe, there is no A/C. However, the program is thoughtful enough to appoint each student with a fan, and the mini-fridge in each room has an ice tray. After a few summer days, even as someone from the Northeast United States, the heat becomes manageable. The best part of this program is the weekend excursions to nearby places such as the medieval village St. Paul-de-Vence, or Antibes. Once there, students are given the freedom to roam. As far as food goes, there is a mixture. Breakfast foods were always available in a room down the hall in the residence, but the pickings were slim: one kind of breakfast bar, some fruits, and a cereal or two. The better option was always to get up early with some friends and visit a patisserie/bakery and make it back to the residence by 9:00am, just in time for classes to begin. Lunches were either provided at the residence or students were given 10 euros apiece to go out and get whatever kind of lunch they pleased in Nice. (10 euros never completely covered the cost, but it helped). The food provided at the residence was usually good, but by no means exceptional on a regular basis; however, it is hard to feed a large group of students with varying taste buds. Vegetarian options were always present. Dinner was the same as lunch, either provided or stipends. Additionally, UberEats at the student's expense was always an option for the tired student who didn't fancy the choices provided by the program in the residence hall. Discussing food does bring us to the topic of beverages. If the student chose to do so, acquiring and drinking alcohol was incredibly easy to do on this trip. The legal drinking age is 18, so you didn't have to look terribly old to be served or to purchase alcohol in Nice, and carding was uncommon at best, especially if you knew the right places to look. Hiding drinking habits from the adult supervisors was very simple for those who chose to indulge, and it wasn't really the fault of the adults when it did happen. There wasn't much to be done to prevent it, being that each student was essentially living by themselves, and often going to restaurants in groups of friends. Curfew, however, was strictly enforced with a face-to-face check-in being nonnegotiable, and sneaking out at night was made nearly impossible by the fact that a security guard polices the residence and knows the faces of the students in the program. I never felt unsafe in the residence (or in the city of Nice in general), and many students even took the liberty to hardly ever lock their apartment doors; theft was never an issue, although there were just regular youth also living on other floors of the hostel at the same time. The trip was really what you made it. There is lots of free time to do whatever makes you happiest and explore the city to your heart's content. It is such a beautiful place with a rich history to live and learn, and you must try as much gelato as possible (Fenocchio's in Place Rossetti is my personal favorite)!