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Frigolet
Frigolet
Frigolet is an abbey located in Tarascon, France. Tarascon is located just south of Avignon in the south-east of France. Located between the Massif Central and the Alps mountain ranges, Avignon is a very lush and hilly area of France as the Rhone river runs through it.
Avignon is just a few hours north of the Mediterranean Sea, which helps regulate its temperatures.
La France
La France
France is the largest country in western Europe with a long and influential history.
France has both a prime minister and a president. Today, the president is Emmanuel Macron and the prime minister is Édouard Philippe. The prime minister is appointed by the president and generally deals with everyday internal operations. The president is directly elected by the French people and deals with foreign issues.
Today, there are about 67 million people living in France, with the majority of people living in the l'Ile-de-France region, which is the area in or around Paris. Paris (the capital of France) is central to France's economy as it is the most popular tourist destination in the world.
Throughout France, the weather differs slightly, but overall the temperatures are fairly mild.
French Life and Culture
French Life and Culture
Overall, French people take great pride in their culture and history. Since France is a very old country, with it's "beginnings" during Roman times, it carries very old traditions. The majority of religious people in France are Christian (primarily Catholic), with Islamic minorities. Today, many youth in France do not identify with any religion.
French is the primary language spoken in France, but many immigrants from North Africa have brought Arabic. In France, all students learn English as well. Because of colonization, France has many different cultures within it. There is a large North African or "maghrébin" population from countries such as Morocco and Algeria.
Food and cuisine, or "la gastronomie," are very important aspects of French life. At school, students learn from a young age the importance of food and good cooking. Family meals are a cherished aspect of French life. Bakeries, restaurants, and cafes are also loved and greatly respected.
The French School System
The French School System
In France, students start school between the ages of two to six. While some students start preschool at two, many students do not start attending school until kindergarten. Students attend primary school, or "école primaire" until they are ten or eleven years old, and then they move onto middle school, or "collège." At fifteen years old, students start high school or "lycée." During high school, students prepare for le bac (le baccalauréat). The bac is the final test for students, similar to the ACT or SAT in the US, to judge their capabilities. Passing le bac is an important step to continuing on to university. Some students do not take le bac, but instead choose to go to a vocational school instead.
Generally, the French education system highly values traditional skills. On l'école de Frigolet's website, they list the abilities students will have once they finish school at Frigolet. This list includes:
- lire (to read)
- analyser (to analyse)
- s'exercer (to practice/train)
- mémoriser (to memorize)
- restituer (to give back)
- se cultiver (to cultivate oneself)
As Frigolet is a religious private school, there is also a focus on faith and biblical values. This is not the case for most schools, as the French highly value the explicit separation of church and state. Therefore, public schools avoid all mention of religion. Nonetheless, the values of reading, writing, and memorization are extremely important in France. From a young age, students are taught how to write properly, so all French people have the same handwriting. Students are graded on how well they physically write words, as well as the content. French classrooms also have a very traditional layout, where desks and tables are in rows and teachers are an authoritative figure.
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