Teaching in France

[Matthieu]

If anyone is ever interested in teaching in France, I would recommend this program: http://www.frenchculture.org/assistantshipprogram

Cheers!

[george nair aick-a]

I did this program and loved it. Apply for DOM/TOM -- you get more money and get to live on a tropical island!

[Jozigirl]

Saw this post by chance today.  Thanks so much for the link!  I've just started looking into working in France so it's great to have info on a program that people can recommend.

[K]

Does anyone know of a similar program that is open to citizens of other countries (not just America or those with a US Green Card)?

[cassie]

The assistantship program is open to citizen of most of the major English speaking nations, including Trinidad and Tobago. Check the website of the French embassy/consulate nearest you for applications and information.

One thing to keep in mind about these programs is that it's not about the money. The pay is much lower than Korea (but so are the working hours), and rent and airfare are not included. But it's a great experience nontheless!

[starsail]

Yes, I did this program too before coming to Korea. It's good for the experience, improving your language skills and travelling but certainly not the pay as you are not generally provided housing and you're basically just getting by. Feel free to ask me any questions!

[r3cogniz3]

Hi everyone

I'm from South Africa. Does anyone know how we can apply to this programme? I just realised it's a French/American exchange.

Cheers in advance

[steveperry]

Hi everyone

I'm from South Africa. Does anyone know how we can apply to this programme? I just realised it's a French/American exchange.

Cheers in advance

You can find the links for all the countries involved here:

http://www.ciep.fr/en/assistantetr/pays-concernes.php

I did this program way back in 2002. I enjoyed it for the most part, but the pay is low and you don't have much control over where you are placed. I wrote down 3 cities I was interested in on my application form. I was placed at a school "near" my third choice. "Near" turned out to be a tiny town (population 7,000) about an hour away from the city with only 4 buses running per day (last one at 6:30pm!).

I had occasionally thought about returning and doing this again in the future after saving up some money here in Korea. It would be nice to have some money to get out and enjoy things more and do some more serious traveling during vacations, as the first time around I was severely budget-limited (I wonder if the pay has increased at all in the past 10 years). It looks like this isn't going to happen for me though, as I just noticed that the maximum age for applicants is 30.

[cate14]

Check with your country's Department of Education. In Ireland you have the option of teaching in France, Spain, Germany, Italy or Austria. If any Irish people are looking into this here's the link: http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?pcategory=10900&ecategory=32241&language=EN

[klf3643]

The assistant program is great.
I teach in France and we have the chance to have an assistant every year, and it's really great for the pupils too.
So please, come !! :)
Pay is quite fair and you make about 12 hours of work per week. Quite cool :-)

[DejaVu]

All the people that I know that have done this said they had terrible experiences.  The work hours for them involved 12 hours of teaching with a new lesson for each of those hours.  Their schools expected complete 1-hour lessons meaning they had to actually for work for 32-40 hours a week on teaching/material anyhow.  They also had to travel a VERY long distance between each school.

They said they could barely survive on the money and had almost no free time...

[Glolinde]

As far as I know there are teaching positions at Les Petits Bilingues in France. Not sure what they're like though?? :D