Languages News

My Individual Exchange to Réunion Island

Bonjour tout le monde! My name is Jasmine and I am currently a Year 12 student. As most of the school community would already know, our school MFG is lucky enough to have a ‘sister school’ in Réunion island, a little French island next to Madagascar, and our schools have been in this fantastic relationship together for over 20 years.

Last year in 2019 I was fortunate enough to attend our sister school, Le Lycée Sarda Garrgia, for 6 weeks on exchange by myself and live there! I stayed with a host family and went to school every single day and it was the most amazing time of my life and something that I will never forget. The best part about the trip wasn’t just that I got to make countless friends, explore a beautiful tropical island or go to school, but it was that I got to speak French for the entire 6 weeks!

I have been studying French ever since I started at MFG in Year 7 and I immediately found a liking for it and am extremely passionate about it. Going away allowed me to put everything that I have learnt for the last 5 years to use and it was such an enriching experience for my French skills, I can nearly say that I am fluent ! However, this trip to Réunion Island was not my first time there. In fact my connection to the island started in 2017 when I went there with the school trip for 2 weeks when I was in Year 9. Even from just those two weeks I learnt so much. It was such an incredible experience and going back there for a second time was even more amazing.

Réunion Island, or island of the meeting, is a beautiful tropical island surrounded by lush and vibrant nature, mountains, beautiful beaches and an active volcano. It is a tiny paradise that not many people even know about, and it is so small that you can drive around the whole island in half a day. However on this island is a mixture of rich cultures, beautiful and kind people and of course amazing food!

At school, which started at 7am and finished at 5pm, I studied many subjects including philosophy, economics, lots and lots of maths and history while also helping out in English classes. When I wasn’t at school such as on the weekends, I spent my time mostly with my host family as they showed me around the island, took me to their favourite places such as the beach, and spent time bonding with me and getting to know me. I also went out with the friends I made often and we went to places such as the movies, shopping centres and to their favourite spots to eat. One time while out with my host family, I actually met the president of Réunion island!

Although I am a bit biased, I really encourage students to choose to study French as the French program at MFG is amazing and from my experience it actually teaches you language that you can use in real life - I have only ever learnt French through MFG and it taught me everything I needed to know to travel and stay in a French country, and of course it is fun! However, even if you don’t study French, anyone is able to travel to Reunion Island on the school trip and I cannot encourage you enough to take up this once in a lifetime opportunity. Even if you don’t go on the trip, you can still be involved through hosting the students from the school there when they come here! You can form lifelong friendships like I have, meet extraordinary people and show off our beautiful country. I encourage all of you to follow in my footsteps by choosing to study French (the best language in my opinion!) and travel to this beautiful place as I have for an incredible and unforgettable experience!

If it weren’t for Madame Casboult, Monsieur Keast, Ms Crofts and the hard work of many other people including Monsieur Said from Lycée Sarda Garriga, this opportunity would not have been possible for me, so I would like to say a big thankyou to everyone who was involved in making this happen for me and I am forever grateful! Merci pour tout!

Jasmine Steen Year 12