Cafeteria Food and Other Reasons to Learn French in France

Cafeterias everywhere get a bad rap. It's always easy to crack jokes about institutionalized food, even in the world's gastronomic capital. (Pictured: Gabriel, my Brazilian friend, pokes fun of his half-empty tray-- displaying the only edible menu options: water and bread.) But for EUR 2,75, who's complaining? At the dining hall at the University of Limoges, lunch is quite a civilized affair. One must choose a salad, main course, fromage, and dessert, accompanied by a bread roll, of course. If you happen to turn your nose up at the day's plat (sting ray, anyone?), there's always the pizza and fries option. The cafeteria is civilized even when it's packed with hungry students jostling for a place in line; murmurs of "Pardon" or "Oh no, after you," thread the conversation.

Learning French in France has many advantages, cultural and linguistic immersion being the most obvious. But right up there on the list is price. Like the ridiculously inexpensive lunch, a full year of language classes at the University of Limoges is about EUR 500. For 16 hours a week, two full semesters.