For UChicago undergraduates studying and living abroad in Paris, it is essential to immerse themselves in French culture and know how to order pain au chocolat at the local boulangerie. Most students come to Paris knowing little to no French, which is exactly where Director of the French Language Program, Xin Miao, steps in.
At the John W. Boyer Center in Paris, Miao is in charge of sorting all students into their French course levels, creating the curriculum for the classes and teaching the beginner and intermediate level courses. She loves teaching French because of how unique the language is and its detailed grammatical structure.
“It is a language which is very precise and quite sophisticated,” Miao said. “All of the agreements and all of the small things that don’t exist in many different languages, for example the articles.”
Miao’s love for French began on a unique path. Her university in China chose university students to study the French language, in order to build a stronger national connection with France. Miao was selected as one of these students, which is what led to her future love for French and her earning a B.A. in French Linguistics.
After her undergraduate studies, she studied and worked at UChicago as a French professor, where she taught undergraduate students and attended teaching workshops. She was the first Asian student in the Romance Languages and Literature department at UChicago, which made her time there a special experience.
“Teaching made those learning experiences more tangible, more concrete, so I can really practice all of my thoughts in my teaching,” Miao said. “Also, UChicago gave me the first opportunity to teach the French language to international students.”
Miao particularly enjoyed the new challenge of teaching French to students from a wide variety of backgrounds. With different native languages, Miao saw how different languages had alternative ways of tackling learning French. This aspect of the teaching process made Miao further fall in love with the French language.
“I was intrigued by the pedagogy that can be applied to different native language speaking learners,” Miao said. “For example, the students who speak Spanish and the students who speak Chinese or the students who speak German, they have different difficulties in learning French.”
Miao took the teaching skills she learned in Chicago and brought them to Paris. Teaching in Paris became a new invigorating experience because students needed to learn French in order to navigate daily life. Their French experience no longer ended in the classroom. By being fully immersed in French culture, students’ ability to learn is increased.
As the Director of The French Language program at the Paris Center, Miao focuses on providing students the essential skills they need in order to live in Paris. Most students are placed in 15001 or 15002 beginner levels, where they start by learning typical greetings and phrases. The curriculum also shows students how to order in restaurants, how to use the Paris metro, as well as how to talk about school and classes. Miao, in particular, loves teaching beginner level students because their progress in French is evident over the course of the nine-week quarter.
French levels extend to 15003 and 15005, where intermediate and advanced students focus on higher level grammar and vocabulary and speak only in French during their class time. The French program also includes a weekly opportunity for UChicago students to engage with local Parisian students. These sessions divide classes into groups and allow students to practice their French with a native speaker. For many students, this is a great opportunity to pick up some French slang and learn more about local trends. Students also get the chance to visit sites in Paris with their conversation assistant, including the Salon de l’Agriculture that students attended during the Winter 2025 session.
The new Center in Paris provides students a new and larger location to conduct their studies. Located in the 13 arrondissement, students are surrounded by a busy office and university centered neighborhood. The Paris Center team is dedicated to giving students the tools in order to have a special experience during their time in Paris.
Miao continues to love teaching the French language because of its intricate details and how French people use their language. She loves the musicality of French. The sounds of vowels and the elimination of consonants gives the language a certain flow and musical quality that cannot be mimicked by other languages.
“There are so many words in French that I do not even know their translations in English or in Chinese. French people have this passion for naming things or this curiosity between the language and things.”
The French language has inevitably led to Miao’s love of French culture. The acts of cooking, thinking critically and relaxing have all opened up new doors to her. The French language has opened up so many doors for Miao to further enjoy French culture. For Miao, Paris is a city full of endless things to see. She hopes that students who come to Paris are able to indulge in the various opportunities and immerse themselves into Parisian life during their time abroad.
“There are so many inspirations when you are in Paris,” Miao said. “You go to see museums. You just ‘flanner’ along the river. This is a city full of so many rich experiences. As a young mind, I think you will never get bored.”