A new study abroad option will be available for Ball State students when the university opens its new European Centre in Toulouse, France, in fall 2006.

The new center, located in the south of France, is the university's first to be located in a non-English speaking country. Knowledge of French is not a requirement for students who wish to participate in the program.

"The arrangements will be similar to our centers in London and Australia," said Frank Adams, director of international communications. "Students will take a four-week intensive crash course in French and will continue to learn the language through their immersion in it."

Courses will be taught in English by faculty from the University of Toulouse and Ball State.

"The program will be as immersive as possible, with students integrated into the University of Toulouse and living near campus," said Cy Reed, assistant provost for international education. "We have worked with the university there and hope to see American and French students studying side by side."

Patricia Pearson, a Ball State graduate, will serve as director of the center. She and her husband, Dan Dullaghan, another Ball State alumnus, have had a home in France for the past seven years. Through her experiences there, Pearson found Americans had many misconceptions about the French people.

"A lot of Americans think the French are rude, but the culture in southern France is very similar to that of the Midwest, very kind and polite," she said.

Pearson was so enamored of the French people and the French countryside that she wanted other Americans, particularly college students, to have the opportunity to experience it firsthand. When she looked into the study abroad programs available, however, she found that they required students to be fluent in French.

"I didn't speak fluent French when I first went there, and I had a very exciting experience," she said. "And being in a university town, lots of people speak English. And even those who don't speak English are so outgoing and helpful, it's just a wonderful experience."

Pearson approached officials at Toulouse University and asked if they might be interested in an exchange program with Ball State, one where the students could study at Toulouse in English. She said they were excited about the possibility, and a program was put together within about two years.

Students will begin with an intensive language course that will introduce them to the kinds of phrases they will need to get around campus. Living arrangements are still being finalized, said Pearson, but students will live in a rented house near the university campus.

Pearson will teach the one course required of all students, a course in French life and culture in which students will examine the sociocultural differences between France and the United States.

"It's a very exciting program," said Pearson. "I have many American friends who live in Europe, and they have such wonderful lives. It's all about getting people out and getting people to understand other cultures, offering them new perspectives."

For more information, contact Jim Coffin, director of the Center for International Programs, at (765) 285-5422 or jcoffin@bsu.edu.