Dream Accomplished - Living and Teaching in Southwestern France

I will start off by giving a shout out to Allison Yates, my homestay coordinator. She made this all happen for me in a matter of weeks. I'm eternally grateful for her patience, hard work and expertise! Since I was a pre-teenager, I'd wanted to live and teach in France. I learned about the culture and learned French, never having the opportunity to stay more than 1 week in Paris. To say the least, Southwestern France is incredibly different from Paris. While I can appreciate Paris for it's amazing arts and culture, living in Tarbes was beyond worthwhile as my French skills were used every day to do just about everything! I loved the fact that not many people spoke fluent English like in Paris. I grew to love my host family, they truly became my family away from family. I spent my weekdays teaching English and my weekends traveling around Southwestern France. This trip was something that I'd wanted for a very long time! As a former classroom teacher, I solidified my teaching skills and expanded my cultural perspective. Depending on where you live in France, you should have a basic grasp of the language so that you can be somewhat independent when you're on your own. The French will appreciate any effort that you make, trust me. Greenheart found a family that would be able to accomodate my dairy allergy and this felt like a miracle in a country like France where so many staple foods are dairy products. I really can't speak highly enough of the program! It's a great deal for the experience that you get.