The Student Life: École Normale Supérieure de Lyon

I feel like this post has been in the works the longest of any post so far. I want to share my experience of my school and how it compares to Brock (my home university), what my courses are like and how the teaching style compares to back home, and any other random things that I find interesting about ENS de Lyon. (I just wanted to warn you that this might be a long-ish post.

First, you might be wondering what an École Normale Supérieure is.. and why there are several of them in France. An École Normale Supérieure is similar to having Ivy League universities in France (in Canada, that would be University of Toronto which is ranked in the top 20 universities worldwide). Students don't casually apply to be at an ENS. They often do an entire degree (equivalent to a Bachelor of Arts/Science) and then apply OR they do several years of préparatoire (special school designed to help them pass the exams to get in) before being accepted.. and only if they are the top in their field. Some of them get paid to study here and then they have a ten-year contract to complete with the government. All I did was apply for an exchange and list it as one of my choices. As you can imagine, student life won't quite be a repeat of first year.


Parvis Descartes Entrance

There are around 2200 students at ENS de Lyon which means there will be small classes and the teachers will be more accessible (similar to what I experience at home since the Brock French department is relatively small). There are two campuses: Descartes and Monod. Descartes, where I study, covers the "humanities", and Monod focusses on science & math. There are residences at both campuses. ENS de Lyon also has a library that services all of the other universities in Lyon (the Université de Lyon is composed of three separate universities which are much larger than ENS).

My first impression of my campus was the "Parvis Descartes" entrance. All I saw was cement. The next bit of the outdoors I saw was the route I will now be taking every day to my classes, which meant a few bushes and more cement. I was slightly concerned. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that all of my classes will take place in one building (which is also where the majority of offices are that I need access to), and it is a two minute walk from my residence room.

 On my way for lunch, I realized that the exterior of the campus is extremely deceiving. The majority of the campus is actually a garden. I like to think of it as the Secret Garden because of all the terraces and winding pathways. There is a bee-keeping hut and a fire pit hidden throughout the garden. Most of the garden is a giant space where students like to lay outside in the sunshine or have picnics. It's very French. One day, while exploring, I happened on some animals. There is a club on campus called "Mouflons" who take care of the "mouflons" (which means mountain sheep).

 



The school is within walking distance of a bank, a post office, two metro stations, a Velo'v station (for short-term bike rentals) and two grocery stores. I wouldn't ever have to leave the 7e quartier if I didn't want to!

 

I've been slowly getting to know Monod campus because most of the Orientation Week events took place there. However, it is really an Orientation Week to try and orient you. They have sessions every day where you get to meet all the members of your department and learn about all the different courses you could take. They give you information that you will need to help you choose your courses and encourage you to make decisions about what type of degree you'd like to do (and how to do it). And on and on! I feel now that Canadian Orientation weeks actually work to dis-orient you. There's nothing wrong with that! Being disoriented just means getting pulled outside of your comfort zone, so there's no harm in that, but the approach here was totally different. There was a rafting weekend excursion that I didn't attend, but it sounded like a small-scale version of Canadian O-Week (except for the naked people!?).

 

I started classes this week. I was warned that the style of teaching is extremely different... and it is. For six hours today, I listened to lectures. After a summer of either travelling or having 16 browser screens open and never having to concentrate for longer than twenty minutes, two hour lectures where the students are engaged sparingly is an effort. A lot of the professors are extremely good speakers which is good, but it will still be quite an adjustment. The approach taken by profs at home is to get you to give your own ideas and to learn as a group. Here it is really wrote learning. So far, they seem to be accommodating to International students, which will be helpful. I am so grateful to have had practice writing essays and reflections in French before now.

 

I got my French placement test results back and managed to get a level C1, meaning that I am at the highest level before "bilingualism". I was actually terrified. I constantly wonder if my French is even improving because I have such awkward conversations with francophones and mispronounce words that I definitely know how to pronounce. I've gotten out of the habit of talking to myself in French in my head. I mean...

 

... anyway, I'm looking forward to starting the rest of my classes this week and to getting involved in the ClubRock dance club (it's like ballroom, only it's just the up-tempo dance styles). Until next time..

 

Bisous,

 

Tessa