French word of the day: La prépa
la prépa
?
Because you'll likely hear your French friends swapping war stories about this.
What does it mean?
Prépa
- roughly pronounced pray-pa - is unique to the French higher education system.
Instead of going to
la fac
(university) after the baccalaureate, students can opt for
la prépa
, which is a minimum two-year school programme whose goal is to prepare students for the entrance exams to renowned French universities and engineering schools.
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La prépa
is actually short for
Les classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles -
preparatory courses for prestigious schools/universities. The words
préparatoire
or
préparation
(preparatory or preparation) can be used in any context, and are used in the same way as the English words. But if when it's shortened to
prépa
, you know that it is specific to these type of classes.
There are three main types of preparatory courses: one for economic and business studies, one for literary studies, and one for scientific studies.
La prépa
is known for its intensive workload and the difficulty of the entrance exams for prestigious schools. Students who fail to get the school they wanted often repeat for a third year, sometimes even a fourth.
You might be wondering why students would choose this option when
la fac
is available. The answer is simple:
la prépa
opens the door to some of the most prestigious French undergraduate and graduate schools, such as HEC business school or Ecole Polytechnique for engineering - which in turn open doors to the top levels of professions or politics.
But because the courses are famously gruelling and intensive, French people usually reminisce about these in roughly the same way as veterans share war stories - although people people often make friends for life at
prépa
.
Use it like this
La prépa, c'est la voie royale
- Doing a preparatory course is the best path (after high school).
J'ai khûbé ma prépa
- I repeated my second year of prépa.
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