Reviews of CIEL, Brest, France

Nice atmosphere, great location, pleasant teachers

nothing

The school is well organised. They are prepared for me as a newcomer. They know my name. Everyone is very polite. Classes always start on time. Very nice teachers and staff in general. My teacher was Anne. A relaxed, amusing woman and always perfectly prepared. In general, I found everything about the lessons very well organised and conducted. The location of the school is a dream. In a park on the foothills of the Atlantic. Very exceptional. Enough parking spaces are available. ....But... see under negative aspects.

My comment has nothing to do with the actual lessons. It has to do with the afternoon activities and, unfortunately, with the school's location far away from the city. You might be able to book the excursions in advance. Unfortunately, I don't know, because I haven't looked into it, I have to admit. I thought it would be easy to find new things to see in a large foreign city. But here theory and reality were a bit apart. And to all of you who are travelling without a vehicle, it's really difficult to manage. The CIEL is really far outside Brest. It takes about 20-30 minutes by car via the motorway. Past the industrial harbour area and a little further. So it's really not central. The school is advertised as belonging to Brest, but it is already in another small town in the Brest area. About me: I was a single participant. So not involved in any programme, like the rest of the students in my class, who were all scholarship students and went on organised excursions almost every day. I actually don't know if it would have been possible for me to join them. It was never communicated about within the school. Maybe I should have asked? I don't know. I didn't and so I didn't find out. So I always spent my afternoons with myself and drove around the area a bit. I had travelled by car and that was very fortunate. As I said, with a car it was no problem. Without, more so. For the scholarship holders in my class, who lived in shared accommodation a little outside, it was a problem every day. They had to come by bus and were about 20 minutes late every day. This time, in turn, was missing from the overall lessons, which were only 4 hours a day. Here's a little tip for everyone under the theme: "Foreign countries, foreign customs". It happened to my classmates that the bus simply drove on without stopping. All 10 or so people were visibly standing at the bus stop. But the driver drove on. I think the journey to school took about 45 minutes. So it was a long time. The bus doesn't run often. There was no way to make it through the four hours of classes. This happened twice. We all wondered why the driver did that and couldn't find an answer at first. Not in the mood for chattering young people? :) No. Later I read on the internet that in France you always have to raise your hand to signal the driver to please stop. So the driver did everything right, but the students, who came from different countries, didn't know that. And no one had told them, because it is quite normal for French people to raise their arm when the bus is coming.

You are recommended to arrive with your own vehicle. Otherwise it will be difficult to reach other places quickly. Look for a hotel nearby. The accommodation offered, which can be booked through the school, was described by the students as much too cramped and too far away. I have already described the problem with the bus. Look for a hotel nearby. I stayed at the Brit Hotel about 5 minutes away by car.

The city is somehow very "special". Such a place that you don't become friends with in a fortnight. You have to discover it and conquer it for yourself. Then it is certainly possible to like Brest. Only as a tourist, who usually spends little time there, perhaps less. Brest is situated high above the huge harbour on a rock. The architecture is interesting. So is the history of the city. But I was not captivated by the place. There's not much going on during the day. At night I don't know, because I wasn't out and about. An eternally long zone, along which the tram runs, is surrounded by shops. But most of them are traditionally closed in the afternoon and don't open again until around 4-5pm. The same goes for restaurants. I didn't know that. Food is available between 12-14. (I was at school then.) After that, it's quiet until about 7 pm. Then there is dinner until 9 pm. After that, there is no more food. I would also like to pass this on as a reference to "typical of France". It was strange for me. I always had the feeling that France (not only Brest ) was in a permanent sleep. Even the nice little towns on the Atlantic that I visited had their pubs open in the afternoon but you could only drink. In the afternoon, you can have coffee or beer or all kinds of drinks. But, as I said, nothing to eat. There are only sweets in tea rooms. But that's the way it is everywhere in France.

Nice staff. Well organised. Very nice teacher. Anne.

Very well organized, very nice and competent teachers!

Very good food. The host mother is a great cook!

meeting people from all over the world

to go and see the countryside

very well organised and friendly

people from other countries and my - teacher, she was fantastic!!

great school and location of the school, teacher were very good and open with everyone, very helpful - just come to CIEL!! (you won't regret this)

Setting

nice teachers, nice location, though far from the city centre of Brest.

I stayed in the university halls - if you want to talk a lot, you better stay in host families! Brest is ugly, but the surrounding countryside is great. Go to St. Anne

The library was actually quite good, I rated equipment average because the computers with internet access were never working and nobody cared! Leisure activities organized by the school were sadly non-existent (therefore bad rating!), We had a great teacher both in the course and the individual classes. In total, I liked the school. Although there were some drawbacks, teachers, classes and other people on the course were nice - and that´s what counts!

the energy and enthusiasm of some of the teachers

most of the teachers lacked interest in their students. The lack of social activities.

Hire a car and see the countryside around. Organize your own social activities, we did and we had a great group of students hanging out together.

Has real potential to be a good school, but let itself down in a big number of ways. First of all, the lack of social activities means little interaction between classes and little chance to practice the skills we learnt in class in a social environment. Fortunately we managed to do this for ourselves, but it would have been better if the school had done more. Second of all, some of the teachers were fantastic, but sadly not the majority. The few worked with enthusiasm and seemed to actually enjoy teaching the students. Third of all, I applied to follow a course that would lead me to the DELF examination, however this course was not offered and I ended up in general courses with students not wishing to pass this examination. There was not sufficient material in the general course to allow a comfortable attempt at the DELF examination. I am unaware at this point whether or not I have passed or failed, but I would certainly feel more confident if I had received more training in certain areas central to the DELF exam, in particular the letter writing.