Université Laval Campus

"At the age of forty-one, I am returning to school and have to think of myself as what my French textbook calls 'a true debutant'." - David Sedaris

Here's the deal: if you're a new resident of Canada you can get free French. No, it's actually better than free: the government pays you a weekly stipend and covers your tuition for language courses at a university campus.

This is not one of the Canadian federal government's programs. It's the provincial government of Québec that wants to promote French language study. So, you do have to live somewhere within the province of Québec. Where you choose to live is your decision. I was tempted to enroll in Montréal but, knowing that city is so bilingual, decided I ought to come out here, instead.

Université Laval Campus

The program is intensive immersion: 30 hours per week of classroom instruction. The stipend I receive won't be quite enough to entirely support myself: but it will cover my rent and a bus pass every month--with a little change left to spare.

The course calendar spans one academic year. Courses for all levels of ability start every quarter. I'm planning on seeing the entire course of study through which means I should be finishing up my Free French sometime come early 2013.

My first day of class was today. This is going to be a good year.