It pushed me to speak more. Yes, I had a wonderful host family that took very good care of me and showed me a lot about France. There were very friendly, took me on trips through France, and I spent the weekends with them. I would say that was probably the most valuable time I spent in France. It's very festive.
Choices just seem endless and so much cheaper.
I liked trying the different cheeses, too. Maybe it was just the classes I was taking, but I felt there was less homework, so there's more time to travel or just look around or just talk to people. Everything is up to you. It's self-learning, which is good. There were no required textbooks, but there are some books that help you for class.