Ways for Students to Meet Parisians?

Hi there- I haven%26#39;t seen this exact topic addressed (though one thread about meeting Parisians helps a lot).

I%26#39;m teaching a communication class in Paris in June. I%26#39;d like the students--10 undergraduates of different majors from a US university--to meet Parisians. I%26#39;m looking for ideas for planned events at which people talk to each other; for example, I may ask them to register for and join a Paris %26quot;meetup%26quot; group to discuss a topic like coffee (www.meetup.com).

The trick is that these students are not French majors, nor do any of them speak French. So, these conversations need to be in English.

Any ideas would be most welcome.

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%26gt;The trick is that these students are not French majors, nor do any of them speak French. So, these conversations need to be in English.

Sometimes, the hotel/hostel receptionists get bored out of their skulls at slow times during the day. If they%26#39;re normal human beings, they will welcome socializing or something else to keep things interesting. When the phone rings though...let them do their work!

French are often shy about their English, being reserved and self-conscious of how bad they think their English might be. Tell the students that they need to keep this in mind when breaking the ice.

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I believe volunteering is an excellent way to meet people (anywhere actually). There is an English speaking volunteer group that might be able to help you: WICE. Their website does not appear to be working today but usually they can be contacted at

http://www.wice-paris.org/

Additionally there is a French English website that may offer some suggestions about meeting Frenchmen willing to speak English:

http://www.franglo.com/

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%26gt;If they%26#39;re normal human beings, they will welcome socializing or something else to keep things interesting.

I confess that when I was an undergraduate student, I used to do this, especially if the receptionists were young, attractive Parisien women. A lot of times, they are also students who would otherwise try to get some studying in during those slow times. I got a few nice dates out of it too. Bonus. Talk about fantastic city guides who showed me around a bit! I was trying to speak in French though.

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Bonjour Madamoiselle SpunkyGirl

Having met some Spanish students in London only recently, and found they were on some sort of exchange programme, perhaps you could try your local college/university to see if the Language department has an %26#39;exchange%26#39; programme to Paris, then they might be able to organise some French students to meet up with yours and show them around????

just an idea

EW

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Thank you for the replies so far. I very much appreciate the sites and ideas. For example, I never would have thought of asking students to watch for opportunities to start a conversation with a hotel clerk. Much appreciated... and more ideas are welcome.

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why not trying to find by internet a vocational training centre in/near Paris that provides english courses ?

I remember that when I was improving (in fact, trying to impove!!) my english in a very dynamic institute, they would have been very happy to organize such meeting!!

But unfortunatly, it was not in Paris but in Fontainebleau.

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%26quot;The trick is that these students are not French majors, nor do any of them speak French. So, these conversations need to be in English.%26quot;

Then why teach this class in a non English-speaking country?

Isn%26#39;t demanding, from the very start, that English be the conversation language delivering a strange message to communication students, which should instead be given the opportunity to develop some empathy and cultural sensitiveness?

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ileana and rogermauricemartin--these are wonderful ideas. Thanks so much. www.pourvousparis.com looks like just the thing I need, and I%26#39;m definitely going to check on the possibility of setting students up with Parisian students (or others) who would like to practice their English. Again, I very much appreciate the kind help. SG

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