C’est magnifique! Champittet FLE students perfect their French language skills through real-world immersion

At Collège Champittet, our FLE (French as a Foreign Language) department specialises in helping students from around the world to master the French language and thrive in a francophone environment. This is achieved not only through our excellent FLE programme on campus, but also through enriching language immersion activities beyond the classroom!

Last month, our department organised several special activities for our FLE students to practise their language skills in different contexts. In Lausanne, our FLE learners participated in a chocolate-making workshop, giving them a real taste of Swiss culture while speaking French. Afterwards, our students explored the literary side of French at the Payot bookshop, where they became journalists for a day and interviewed staff members as part of a class project.

In a separate activity, our FLE students used their French to solve an outdoor treasure hunt around our school. This fun challenge gave our students a chance to become more confident with tasks like asking for information and giving directions in French.

More French language immersion outings for our students are on the horizon, including a visit to the archaeology museum L’ArchéoLab – a great opportunity to practise using the past tense, while learning about the history of our region – as well as visits to museums in Geneva, such as the Red Cross and the United Nations.

These immersive experiences form a key part of our one-year FLE programme, which welcomes students with no prior French knowledge. By testing their language skills in the real world, our students build confidence in French while learning more about the francophone culture around them. Our FLE approach prepares students for success in their future French studies – and with a whole new global perspective!