Teach Abroad In France

May 01, 2017

Teach Abroad In France

Ever since I made the decision to move to France and teach English, I have been getting a constant inflow of questions. Anything from: how did you find your program? Why did you decide to do this? Do you like it? How did you choose where to go? How does it work? etc. And 8 months later I finally realized I should put all my answers and advice into a blog post (or 3).

Finding a program was both easy and hard at the same time. While it was easy in the sense that there are so many options, it is hard to figure out which one you want to commit to or which ones seem the most organized or legitimate, especially if they had application fees. I am going to be writing a series of posts about different programs, how to prepare, and why I believe teaching abroad is such a fulfilling experience.

First, I am going to provide you with a few options of where to look and what programs to apply for within France. However, before I even give you examples, I will say google and blogs are you best friends. I was consistently googling "teaching abroad programs in Europe" or "teaching abroad programs in France" and then would compare my findings to online reviews and blog posts so that I could find some first hand accounts. But now, for what I have found online and also found in my person experience.

Overall Pros of Teaching Abroad in France

Improve your French language skills
The lifestyle is less stressful
Helps strengthen your confidence and independence
It is required to have a 2 week vacation for every 6 weeks of work (so you have four 2 week vacations)
CAF: a housing subsidy from the government (super convenient and helpful but a long process to get)
I obviously have to mention the food and wine

Overall Cons of Teaching Abroad in France

Depending on where you are, language could be hard

Not many people speak English in my city so before I really improved my french, there were some things lost in translation (literally)

There are not many programs that send teachers to France

Luckily TAPIF and TEFL are very big programs and send a lot of people each year, but France compares itself to the US in the sense that they do not put as much of an emphasis on learning another language where as Spain has countless programs to choose from for teaching english

Some programs require a knowledge of french
It is not what you're use to

For me this could also be a pro, I love the European lifestyle but it can be a shock to a lot of people and be too different

1. Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF)
Alright so this one is easy for me to write about...it is the program I did. Overall, I really liked the program and I through for the most part it was about as organized a European program could get. In this program you are contracted for about 12 hours per week (it ends up being more than that, but that is your supposed class time) at two different schools and get paid 790 euros per month.

Pros:

Assistance in both the US before you leave and assistance in France when you arrive
Detailed guidebooks about how to prepare and what you do when you arrive
Orientation when you arrive
Informational meetings about administrative paperwork

i.e. banking, phone plans, housing subsidies, medical insurance, etc

You get somewhat a choice in your placement
Can do for 2 years
You don't need a TEFL/ESL degree
You're in France!

Cons

No help in finding housing
No airfare included
790/month is not livable in every city
50 dollar application fee
Some schools may not know your specific role in the classroom
You could end up in a small farm town
Level 3 French required

International TEFL Academy

While I do not have experience with this program specifically, I did do research on it while I was applying for programs because it is one of the only programs that specifically goes to France. Unlike my program, they work 20-30 hours per week (including prep time and classroom time) and are paid a bit more as well, but some of the credentials are different.

Pros

Average monthly pay is higher ($1600-2100/month)
No language requirement
Hiring periods are in September, October and January
Help with Visas if you are non-EU resident
You can teach to children, business professionals, and older kids

Cons

You need a TEFL certificate
You do not have as many choices of where you can live in France
Start up costs and monthly living costs are listed as higher than TAPIF because these are in bigger cities
You need to have an in-person interview in France

Once you are hired, you begin right away

No accommodation or flight assistance

So these two programs are the two most organized and reliable programs for teaching in France. However, there are plenty of programs throughout all of Europe and the world. TEFL for instance, has programs in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe and you can apply for any country or region you would like.

As mentioned before, google is your friend. If you wish to teach in Thailand or South Korea, there are programs for that. There are programs for Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, etc.

For all things teaching in Spain, head over to This is the Milk. There you will find a list of programs for teaching in Spain, questions and answers, and also resources if you are already an ESL teacher. Additionally, a couple of programs mentioned in her blog (CIEE for example) have locations around Europe and around the world for teaching English as well.

Below I will provide links to the programs I have mentioned as well as some good sites that I found helpful while doing my research. Hope this was all helpful!

Bisous,

Libby

International TEFL France

International TEFL Academy

TES