The concept of language stays for teens took hold in France in the 1970s when the craze for learning English was in full swing.
For teens of all nationalities, going to England, then Ireland provided opportunities for endless new experiences. We have all held on to lasting memories of these moments that helped to make us who we are and offered a multitude of new experiences, when we were seen as strange foreigners by our British and Irish hosts and vice versa. As for our parents, what mattered most to them was the convenience of keeping their kids busy and engaged in a safe environment whilst introducing them to the new language immersion camps during the summer vacation.
By the time French, a language studied in schools worldwide, began to be offered in the form of language camps for kids, the concept was already well established.
All that remained was to adapt it to the specificities of France. Teaching French as a foreign language became a specialism in its own right with curricula and qualifications offered by universities in France. French summer camps for foreign kids and teens became more professional with text books by major school publishers, specially produced for young learners along with the emergence of new teaching methods.
Today, French courses for kids are taught by qualified teachers.
They are experts in using a range of resources including ICT to inject fun, creativity and stimulation into the basics of any language learning and thus developing motivational teaching methods aimed at young people centered on encouraging them to want to learn.