Glad I Did It

The Teaching Assistant Program in France allows you to live and work in France as an English Language Assistant for 7 months (October-April). The program helps you procure a visa and but once you arrive in France, the program is basically done with you, aside from a making sure you are able to take the necessary steps to validate your visa. If you're looking for advice, or need your hand-held that's not happening. While I had tutoring experience, I wasn't quite prepared for how difficult teaching can be, especially being stationed in a vocational school where the students were understandably more interested in their work placements than learning English. Still, most of the staff where I worked were kind, welcoming and interested in American life and I was very happy with the accommodation I rented at the school (although most of the people I asked agreed, the rent was unusually high). As an African American assigned to a small town in Northern France, I was surprised by the amount of diversity I encountered. I never felt uncomfortable.

I wish we had received a better orientation, something that would explain the French school system to us and offered us some pedagogy and advice about classroom management. Two hours worth of workshops do not prepare you to stand up in a classroom full of French high school students, and your high school and college French classes may not have given you the adequate vocabulary to give a student a good talking to! Still, I had a great experience overall. I had my favorite groups and teachers to work with, and the other language assistants at the school where I worked were awesome. Although we weren't all from the same country, and didn't all speak English, I really made two lifelong friends. They were my main support system and we operated as both friends and family while abroad. I knew they always had my back. France offers ample school vacations and I was able to use that time to travel to several different countries. The school even allowed me extra time off when my family came to visit. I learned an amazing amount, met people from countless other countries, solo traveled out of the States for the first time and really broadened my horizons. Would definitely recommend.