It was really great to hear from Noah Booth, Sammi Kelly, Elsie Bales and Asha Dodd about their experiences on exchange to France. They shared insightful stories of the ups and downs from their visits and gave advice to those of us thinking about doing an exchange.

Asha and Elsie both went in Year 10, Asha for six months and Elsie for three. While they both said they had difficulties caused by their limited French knowledge, they agreed that the cultural experience greatly improved their speaking and listening skills after a few weeks in the country.

Sammi and Noah are both in Year 12 this year, Noah after skipping the Australian school year in 2025 to go on exchange for seven months. Sammi visited France for one month, after having already been on exchange for three months after Year 10. She said she had learnt much more French in Year 11, and the opportunity to practise that in France again really improved her skills. (Maggie Lamb, Year 11)

It was interesting to hear about so many different experiences in the exchange programs in France, especially from multiple companies. It was also interesting to hear about their stories with their host families and how they had to speak with French people with poor French. They seemed to agree that by spending so much time around French people their French skills had improved heaps and they felt they had begun to think as well as speak in French. (Lacey Dunlop and Jolli Qadous, Year 10)

It was very informative to hear about Noah, Sammi, Elsie and Asha’s experiences on their exchange trip to France. Hearing about how it not only helped improve their speaking but was a lifechanging and exciting journey where they learned more about French culture, opened my eyes to the idea of going on exchange myself. (Audrey Hogan, Year 10)