Where the Rhône and Saône rivers meet in the Rhône-Alpes region - not far from Geneva - lies the city of Lyon. The architecture and the Trois Gaules amphitheater bear witness to the city's millennia-old history. Lyon is a popular destination for language students from all over the world. In this guide, we would like to share ideas, tips and information to make your French language study trip a success!
Choosing the right French school is often a difficult decision. Numerous renowned international and local language schools in Lyon offer a solid and varied range of language courses. The decision is therefore certainly not an easy one. To find the right language school in Lyon, you should clarify a few points in advance.
Only the right French course will maximize your language skills and the desired learning success will only be achieved if you choose the right course level. Our free onlineLanguage placement testswill help you to identify your level of French and find the right course level for you. The courses offered by the individual language schools in Lyon are very different and unique. Some schools are specifically geared towards beginners, others mainly offer courses for advanced learners or primarily run preparatory courses for diploma examinations such as DELF (Diplôme d'Etudes de langue française) or DALF (Diplôme approfondi de langue française). Some language schools in Lyon offer private courses or individual private lessons as a supplement to group lessons. There are also French course providers in Lyon whose courses are aimed specifically at business people, as the focus of the course content is industry-specific. Some language schools also offer a leisure program. Think carefully in advance about which of the above types of course would suit you best.
The next point you should consider is the location of the language school in Lyon. For a language study trip of just a few days or weeks, a central location is an advantage. This makes trips to the center of Lyon for sightseeing, shopping and going out much easier. If you attend a language school with a central location, you can do a lot more in the city in just a few days and get around on foot. This not only saves time, but also transportation costs. For a language study trip lasting a few weeks or even months, it may be worth looking for a language school away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. Neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city also have their charm - it's much quieter here and it's easier to greet and make contact with locals. It is precisely encounters and conversations with native speakers that make language stays so valuable and make learning a foreign language so much easier.
To find the right language school for your language study trip to Lyon, you should compare the timetables of the schools. How many lessons are offered per day and how long do they last? How big are the classes and what is the nationality mix? What infrastructure does the language school offer and how much does it cost? You should definitely also consider these important decision criteria.
We at Ausbildung-Weiterbildung.ch also introduce you toTestimonialsfrom language travelers at first hand. Their experiences during their language study trip in France will provide you with insightful information that will certainly make your decision regarding the right language school in Lyon easier. Online reviews of language schools in Lyon are also very helpful. You can find these on Google itself if you search for language schools in Lyon using Google Maps. The Facebook reviews also provide insightful information about the individual language schools.
You can also find more helpful information, tips and ideas for a language study trip to Lyon in ourLanguage travel guide.
The language schools in Lyon usually arrange various types of accommodation on request.
Many language students would like to live with a local host family during their language study trip to Lyon. This allows them to immerse themselves even more deeply in the French culture and language. The value and learning progress of a stay abroad are greatly enhanced by living with a local family. Language students living with a family also benefit from valuable insider tips and information for their stay or for activities in and around Lyon. On request, single or double rooms can be booked with host families and breakfast, half board or full board are included for a small extra charge.
Another accommodation option during a language study trip in Lyon is a single or shared room in a student residence or shared flat. The bathroom and kitchen are usually shared. Reports on the internet show that private halls of residence are particularly recommended, while public halls of residence are often in very poor condition. A room in a shared flat or in a hall of residence costs upwards of CHF 100 per week. If you value more privacy, you can also rent a small furnished apartment or studio during your language study trip. However, the rental prices near the city center are considerable. A furnished 1-room apartment in the center of Lyon costs at least around 350 francs per week and there is no upper limit. Such apartments are often only rented out for a minimum booking of several weeks or months. An apartment is therefore more suitable for longer language stays. If you rent an apartment in Lyon for several months, you can benefit from the state housing allowance CAF. Up to 30 percent of the rent is reimbursed. You can apply for housing benefit online viawww.caf.frdownload. A document from the landlord, confirmation from the school and an international birth certificate (available free of charge from the Swiss registry office) are also required. The documents can then be handed over to the CAF office near La Part Dieu station. However, this effort is only worthwhile for a language stay of several months.
The location of your accommodation in Lyon plays an important role. If you have decided to live with a host family, the language school will assign you to a room and will not give you the exact address until you arrive. The schools promise different maximum commuting times between school and accommodation, usually between 20 and 45 minutes. Lyon is a student city and student residences and small apartments are spread across many different areas of the city. Ideally, your accommodation should be in the immediate vicinity of your chosen language school. Think carefully in advance about what you would like to do in your free time in Lyon. How good are the transport connections from your accommodation to the school, excursion destinations and the city center? How much time and money does commuting cost? Depending on the duration of your language study trip in Lyon, long commuting times should be avoided - after all, you don't want to spend your time during your language study trip in Lyon just commuting. A slightly more expensive rent and therefore a better location should be considered, especially for a short language study trip.
The local language schools are happy to provide their students with information.
Lyon is often referred to as a little Paris - nowhere near as crowded and touristy, but still very hip. The best time of day to admire the city's architecture and beautiful facades is at night. Numerous buildings are beautifully illuminated.
The old town, the banks along the Saône and the Croix Russe district are very busy places at night and offer a colorful range of nightlife options. The city's most popular bars are all clustered around the Hôtel de Ville. Typical of Lyon and also a very popular destination for night owls are the boats on the Rhône.
The best-known party boats are the Ayers Rock, the Péniche Loupika and the Sirius. Balmy summer evenings on the gently rocking boats, good music and drinks exude the typical charm of the south of France. The Ninkasi bars, which are scattered throughout the city, regularly host hip concerts. The Wallace in the heart of Lyon's old town is a very popular English pub with a considerable selection of different types of whisky and beer. If you are looking for the ambience of a typical Lyon café, the Café du Soleil is over 200 years old. The ambience of the city's oldest café is perfect for a cozy aperitif or a glass of quality wine. Docks 40 is located directly on the banks of the Saône - a popular and trendy bar, especially among local media professionals.
The best clubs in Lyon:
Top addresses for concerts in Lyon:
As a stronghold of French gastronomy, Lyon offers a real treat for the palate during your language study trip. The region around Lyon is known for its numerous cheeses, fine sausages, meat, quality mussels, fish and good wine. There are numerous restaurants serving local specialties, especially in the old town.
Art lovers will not miss out during their language study trip to Lyon either. If you buy a Culture Pass for around 20 francs, you have free access to four events at various cultural institutions. The largest art museum in Lyon is the Musée des Beaux Arts, which is located in an imposing 17th century building. Works of art, coins and antiques from all over the world can be admired here. The best-known museum in Lyon is the Musée Gadagne for history. It exhibits finds from the past, plans, drawings, figures and puppets. The Treasure Museum of Saint-Jean Cathedral presents impressive sacred art and the Gothic-Romantic cathedral itself, which took over three centuries to build, is also well worth a visit. The basilica of Fourvière is also a breathtaking building with an impressive view over the rooftops of Lyon.
The Lyon traboules are also very well known in Lyon. These passageways, which were built between the buildings, serve as a substitute for cross streets due to a lack of space and enable faster progress from one street to the next. They are mainly located in the old town of Vieux-Lyon and were later also installed in the Croix Russe district.
Breathtaking viewing platforms and corners can be found everywhere during your language study trip to Lyon. The Croix-Russe district with its many small art galleries and cafés is an ideal starting point for a relaxed stroll through the city. A refreshing contrast to this is the fashionable Confluence district, which invites you to relax with its many green spots. This is where the Saône and Rhône rivers meet and the promenade has been extended along the banks, which is ideal for jogging, inline skating and walking.
The well-developed network of public bike rental stations makes it easy to get around the compact city center by bike. Especially at night, it is much quicker to get around by bike than by night bus.
For longer distances, Lyon offers a comprehensive transport network operated by TCL. It includes 130 bus lines, 5 tram lines, 4 subway lines and two cable car lines over the Fourvière hill.
The metro operates every day between 5 am and 00.00 am. The cable car service operates from 6 am to 10 pm and the buses run between 5.30 am and midnight, on Sundays only from 7 am. On weekends and public holidays, four night bus routes are in operation, all of which run from the city center to outlying districts.
Tickets can be purchased in customer centers, at SNCF stations and from ticket machines at all stops. If you buy the ticket on the bus from the bus driver, the prices are about 10% higher! A one-way ticket for around 2 francs can be used for all means of transport and is valid for one hour - including transfers. Tickets must be validated again and kept when changing buses. A 2-hour ticket costs around 3.50 francs and a day ticket 7 francs. Multi-ride tickets can also be purchased at reduced prices, which is certainly highly recommended for longer language trips in Lyon.
With the Lyon City Card, admission to various museums and use of public transport is free. It also includes numerous other discounts and a boat tour. The City Card can be purchased for one to three days and costs between 25 and 45 francs, depending on the number of days of validity. It is certainly worth using this City Card during your language study trip in Lyon if you are planning a day of sightseeing and museum visits.
Lyon is not exactly cheap and you should have a good amount of money set aside for a language study trip to this beautiful city of lights. On the other hand, many museum visits are free for young people under the age of 26 and small part-time jobs could be a good solution, especially for longer language trips to Lyon. For example, if you have a good knowledge of German and English, you can give guided tours of the opera house or help out in a café. Experience reports from language travel in Lyon show that the costs for food, transportation and going out are between 400 and 700 francs per month. This depends very much on how often you eat out.
Although the cost of living is relatively high by French standards, it is still around 30-40 percent lower than in Paris. The cost of food is about the same as in Germany - lower than in Switzerland, but not much cheaper. You can eat a meal in a cheap restaurant for around 14 francs and a half liter of local beer costs around 6 francs in a bar.
For a language study trip to Lyon, you should expect to pay around CHF 1500 - 2000 per two weeks, including 20 language lessons, accommodation and living costs (depending on the type of accommodation and lifestyle).
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