Adjusting to school in France was the easiest transition I made while abroad. I found the system to be much less demanding and I noticed that the Canadian curriculum was ahead of the French one meaning I already knew what they were just learning. One aspect that confused me the first month was the grading scheme. In Canada, grades are ranked with a number out of 100% which corresponds to a letter grade (A+ through F-)
In France, the grades are ranked out of 20. A 10 is a pass and a 13 is average. However, things begin to get confusing as the scale goes higher. A 15 is absolutely flawless work; a 17 is if a professor is doing the assignment and finally, an 18 is reserved for God. No one and nothing can achieve a 20. The French students explained this to me, intended as a joke, but my Canadian mind couldn’t grasp why it would be so hard to achieve a 20. Another major adjustment I had to make was the treatment of teachers and professors while in class.
The classroom in Canada is a place for strict learning. No talking is permitted while the teacher speaks or you will be asked to leave. However, in France, the students were blatantly disrespectful, watching tv on laptops during class, having full blown conversations and arguing with teachers. I learned to deal with this a little too well and by the end of my trip abroad, I noticed I was doing those very things in class that had once offended me. When I came back to class in Canada, I had to readjust to the way things are done here but listening in class really does help in the end.