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Quite regularly I’m asked by students or parents about options to study in France, and though options in France to study a degree in English are growing, after I’ve mentioned Sciences Po, ULIP, the business schools and to have a look at Campus France, I then have to get into the many complexities of French universities which are hard for non-French speakers to navigate.

So, for many years, I’ve instead asked students who are keen to improve their French to consider Quebec.

As a bilingual country, Canada gives students the opportunity to really improve their French while studying a subject taught in English, and nowhere more is this possible than in Quebec, which was once known as New France. Having spent time in Quebec, I’m well aware that you can get by in English, but that to truly immerse yourself in the culture then understanding and speaking French is essential.

With some wonderful English-language universities such as McGill, Concordia and Bishop’s, Quebec (unlike much of France), can provide students with the safe foundation of a home that functions in English: they can access a doctor, arrange accommodation and deal with emergencies in the language that they are most comfortable in. Outside the walls of the university, however, a student can choose to fully dive into the French language and explore all that the Quebecois have to offer.

And – one more tip – Quebec also offers a particularly attractive deal to those who are French, or Wallonian (French-speaking Belgian): citizens of those areas are charged domestic Canadian rates by Quebecois universities.