I have been studying French on-and-off since 2015. Originally, the idea was to have me learn the language when I entered middle school, alongside biweekly elective classes in German, but my mother – knowing that the key to success lay in languages – had a different idea, so I started studying just a couple of weeks into summer vacation. Although daunted by the pronunciation and the grammar, immediately after my first lesson, I knew that I wanted more.
Over the next few years, a lively summer of studying transformed into accelerated classes and even some practice with a French phonetics expert to give me the “accent standard.” At times, the fast pace got quite frustrating, with week after week of corrected papers seeping in red ink. Still, I felt that every topic successfully covered and every grammar concept mastered made learning the language more than worth it.
However, as my proficiency increased, I felt that the utility of learning was more and more limited. Being a family of Ukrainian-Russian immigrants in the Southwestern US, visiting France – let alone any other part of the Francophonie – was impossible from a financial and personal standpoint. At worst, learning French while so far from its country of origin was like assembling an intricate puzzle just for your own satisfaction; at best, it was a ‘party trick’, to be revealed when meeting the occasional native French speaker.
However, becoming a US citizen in Summer 2024 changed all of that, giving me the privilege of traveling abroad for extended periods. By then, I had completed most of my degree, giving me significant flexibility, and I picked Sciences Po Grenoble as my study abroad destination with little hesitation. There was just one hiccup: I had not practiced French since Spring 2023, so I was rusty. Still, I remained excited to spend half a year in the ‘Capital of the Alps’ and take courses without worrying too much about course requirements.
Challenges came almost immediately after I left the US (note to future GW Study Abroad-ers: Travel flexibly, and be prepared for things to go wrong!). Between weather delays and an emergency detour, my itinerary of 3 flights and a train ride to Grenoble changed to being stranded in Germany for a day before landing at midnight in Marseille, almost 300 kilometers away from my host city and with half my luggage misplaced by my airline.
Although these circumstances were unideal, in retrospect, they proved to be a great crash course to get my French back in shape, as I was forced to constantly use the language in different settings: to check into accommodation, to find my way around unfamiliar cities, to get something to eat, to figure out my next travel plans, to talk to other travelers, and even to negotiate with airline representatives to get my missing luggage back. My speech was certainly not perfect, with lots of stumbling over words, but I eventually made it after spending hours marveling at views of the French countryside from my bus window.
My first month and a half of settling into Grenoble was also linguistically challenging, as I became familiar with the city, reviewed grammar I had half-forgotten, figured out a new daily routine, and became accustomed to only half my classes being in English. Worried about managing the intensive nature of the French “grandes écoles”, I realized that the real issue for me was maintaining self-care while losing energy on days when I had to constantly think, speak, read, and write in my fourth language. Exhaustion, after all, only made me a worse speaker and student, leading to occasional confused looks or people simply switching to English. However, I slowly found ways of better managing my time and incorporating more rest into my French-language days, leading my skills and confidence to rebound. My confidence rose especially after a casual conversation with a local student, who told me that he had no idea I was not French until I told him I was here on exchange from the US, giving us both a good laugh.
Overall, Grenoble, with its expansive university campus, nature-loving locals, welcoming professors, and diverse exchange cohort, has been a wonderful place to grow personally, academically, and of course linguistically. To be able to live and study in this beautiful ‘nook in the mountains’ is a gift that I have cherished every single day, and I will be quite sad to leave when the time comes.
Sophia Pavlenko
Spring 2025
GW Exchange - Sciences Po Grenoble
Elliott School of International Affairs
International Affairs