Interculture, the SKEMA society dedicated to helping foreign students settle in to the life and culture of France, organises language exchange sessions between students wishing to learn each other’s language. Interculture organises meetings between, for example, a Chinese student who wants to learn English and, for example, an American student who wants to learn Chinese; they then meet up and spend one hour speaking Chinese followed by one hour speaking English.

This service has been proving increasingly popular as more and more international students come to SKEMA. The importance of learning languages is only too evident. This service is also proving very popular among the French-speaking students too.

This can be especially useful for the many international students who would like to pick up, or perfect, their French while living here.

Students who wish to participate simply email Interculture, explaining what language they’d like to practise. Interculture then finds another student whose language needs correspond, and sends participants the relevant contact details; the students contact each other and arrange a time and place to meet that suits them both.

Interculture also organizes trips around the region and France as well as gatherings at local night-spots. The purpose here is so that international students can get to know France, French culture, and French people.

In the first semester of this year Interculture organized three trips: two day trips to L’Esterel on the French Riviera another to Aix-en-Provence, as well as a three-day trip to Paris.

On Wednesday nights, Interculture organizes gatherings in the “Hop Store”, an Irish pub in Antibes.

SKEMA also lays on free French classes (with a teacher) for international students wishing to learn French.