How to prove to my parents living in france would be a great experience?

Question

so i am 16 and my parents are talking about moving to paris for 6 months in 1 and a half years. they talked about it for a while (we would mostly be doing it so my whole family could go and learn french full on for 6 months)... and yea...then we didnt talk about it for a while...i REALLY want to go as i think it would be a great experience (i do french at school and really need some practice if i want to do it for my yr 12 exams) i was thinking of doing some kind of presentation to them to show that i am really dedicated to it. hve you guys got any ideas that i coudl do? i was thinking like a page and i could paste some things on...make it look frenchy etc? any ideas would be great! ( also if anyone has had similar experiences of going to foreign language country and learning the language how easy it was to fit in etc.) thanks alot!!

Answer 1

Tell to your parents that you want to study in La Sorbonne (you can do a French language course) .

They will be very impressed!!.

Answer 2

hey! i said the same question before because i want to go to france and trying to persuade my parents. I made this book with blue,white,and red (french flag) and wrote all the things to see, where to go, lots of french words etc..or make a poster,a power point project. i even wrote an essay . talk about all the history,art,andfashion there. talk about marie antoinette, gustave eiffel, famous people. Hope you get to go~ i stll dont know if i persuaded my parents. teehee. Au revoir ,bonne chance

Answer 3

There are many reasons why Paris is an excellent choice as a learning experience for a young person from the United States.

Perhaps a presentation to your parents making some of the following  points would help.

(Do you know how to do a PowerPoint presentation? It would be great for this if you have the software. Or just do a narrative, using what I've written as a script and getting some pictures of the places mentioned from the net)

History is the big reason for visiting Paris of course. For many centuries Paris has been an important center of world events, the breeding ground of political, artistic and philosophical movements.

You can visit a Roman amphitheater or see the Roman baths from the days when Paris was part of the Roman province of Gaul.

There is Notre Dame, built in 1163 and an excellant example of Gothic architecture. You can see the 13th century Conciergerie, once the home of the Grand Concierge, a high court official that would become a prison during the Revolution and hold Marie Antoinette. There is Saint Chapelle consturcted in 1246 by Louis IX (Saint Louis) to hold the Crown of Thorns and other relics. In the little winding streets of the Left Bank and the Marias you can get an idea of what a medieval city was like.

At Versailles you will see the Ancien Regime at the height of its power under Louis XIV. You will also be able to understand the excesses that led the people to revolt against his great grandson Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. In the Place de la Concorde you can see where they both met their end on the guillotine.

Paris also played an essential part in the American Revolution. From here Benjamin Franklin mustered support for the revolitionary cause from the French Monarchy. Franklin's favorite cafe, the Procope, is still operating in the same place it was founded in 1689. You can have lunch at the same table Ben Franklin did. This same place was a favorite of such other famous people as Voltaire, Moliere, Danton, Robespierre, and Marat.

Fast forwarding to more recent history, you can walk the streets of Montmartre where Picasso and Utrillo stolled and eat at the La Lapin Agile where they ate. You can stroll down the hill and see the Moulin Rouge that Toulouse Lautrec, another Montmartre denizen, made famous with his art.

Have a cup of coffee at the Cafe de Deux Magots where Jean Paul Sartre held forth and go to the Cimetière du Montparnasse to see where he is buried.

And while visiting cemeteries make sure to check out the Père Lachaise Cemetery where you will find the graves of everyone from Eugene Delacroix, Yves Montand, and Edith Piaf to Jim Morrison of The Doors.

The Museums are another big reason for visiting Paris. The Cluny (Museum of the Middle Ages) which contains the famous "Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries) to the Louvre with it's classic art (Winged Victory and the Mona Lisa amongst hundreds of masterpieces) to the Musee D'Orsay (impressionists) and the Centre Pompidu with its collection of Modern Art.

And in Paris you'll get a taste of a foreign culture that is close enough to American that it will be understandable yet different enough to show you that there are other ways of doing things.

Even something as simple as when you eat dinner is different in France where people typically have their evening meal no earlier than 8 PM. The French habit of whiling away a few hours in a cafe, drinking espresso and watching the world go by is a contrast to the American rush rush rush lifestyle.

And, of course, learning or polishing your French language skills will be the final bonus.

Hope that helps.

Answer 4

don't forget to talk about the health care system which is much better over there than in the US!

Answer 5

It sounds like your parents are already in favor of spending some time living in France.  Someone once said that you never know how a place is going to be til you get there.  So true.  Though France is a western country (western as in western civilization), it's still a foreign country with its idiosyncrasies.  Living there for several months is really different from being a tourist for 2 weeks.  If your family goes there, just be prepared for surprises (not all of them pleasant).  Learn as much French as you can in school.  Though you might speak French better than many Americans, Canadians and English ppl, you might still feel inadequate when speaking to native spkrs of French.  Most French ppl will be civil when speaking with you, but you are bound to run into a few ppl (hopefully just a few) who might make fun of your accent or constantly correct your grammar.  Compared with prices in the US, the cost of living in France is very high. So if you can bring your own clothes, household items, etc., you might be able to save some money.  In France, you have to also shop around.  The prices in mom and pop stores can be 300% more than a larger store (and I'm not kidding).  All in all, you can have a nice time there and it's nice that you can be with your mom and dad (instead of being in a dorm room by yourself).  Bon voyage!  Yeah, the French ppl really say that.

Answer 6

Doing a presentation or creating a book about why it would be great to live in Paris is a great idea and will go a long way to convincing your parents of your enthusiasm for this change.  But to really seal the deal and convince them that it is something that will help you for the rest of your life instead of a really long vacation, you need to think several steps ahead.

Thomas Friedman wrote a very good book called "The World is Flat" talking about how technology is leveling the business and economic world.  One of the things he spoke about was how the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta was trying to give a large percentage of it's students an international experience.  

More and more companies require employees who can work interchangeably between cultures and countries, since people are easier to move around than factories and offices.  If you can bring proof to the job interview that you can do that, you have already greatly increased your potential.

So, yes, talk about the wonderful things in Paris, but also talk about how you one day want to do a study abroad program in university that will get you a diploma or certificate from French  university, and how being fluent in French will help you land a great job at Total or Danone or L'Oreal, and how you need to learn how to live in a foreign country so you could one day live in Turkmenistan or Malaysia.

That's how you get to Paris!