In the fall of 2023, I was heartbroken. I had just returned to the United States after two months in France. I spent the summer interning with a mission organization abroad and fell in love with the country in the process. I knew the only long-term cure for my heartache was to get back to France. But how could I do that for only another three months? No, it needed to be for longer, which would mean needing a visa. Getting a visa would mean needing a job, and how was I going to get a job in France?
Such was my plight when I met a friend of a friend who taught French in New York. She told me about a program she had done in Paris called TAPIF. After I got back to Texas from visiting my friend, I did a quick Google search and learned that TAPIF stands for Teaching Assistant Program in France. I also learned that it would come with a French visa for the duration of a school year.
TAPIF is the American Embassy’s face of a French government program that solicits young people from all over the world to teach their native tongue in French public schools. The program currently partners with 77 countries and in 2024 welcomed 2,992 language assistants to France from all over the world.
Who Can Apply for TAPIF?
TAPIF asks applicants to be American citizens (or green card holders) between the ages of 20 and 35 and to prove a B1 level of fluency in French. Also to be included in the dossier (French for “file”) is a letter of motivation for why they want to participate and a letter of recommendation from a teacher or mentor — both in French. No previous teaching or foreign experience is required, though it certainly helps with one’s likelihood of acceptance. For the 2018-19 school year, TAPIF boasted over a 55% applicant acceptance rate for 1,100 positions scattered across France.
My Application Experience
Finding myself within the program’s age limit, applying was a no-brainer. There was just one catch… I was definitely not at a B1 level of fluency at the time. Discovering the program in October of 2023 and with an application deadline in January of 2024, I was left to go from an A1-ish to a B1 in two and a half months. Having never studied French in a classroom, I had no French teacher or college transcript that could vouch for my knowledge of the language. Therefore, I would need to prove my fluency by a formal test like the DELF.
A little research led me to discover there was a B1 DELF test offered by the Alliance Français in Dallas on December 12th, about a 45-minute drive from my home. This would render my results at the end of December, just in time for the application deadline in January. I quickly signed up for a course to start the next week and studying French became my job (in addition to my other job).
Passing the DELF means navigating an oral production, oral comprehension, written production, and written comprehension section with a comprehensive score of at least 50%. My scores were far from perfect, but I passed and received my unofficial B1 certificate in time to submit the application to TAPIF. Once it was submitted, the waiting game began.
What’s the pay?
A language assistant’s average work week consists of teaching for 12 hours in up to three different schools for a modest stipend of €1,010.67 per month. Aside from the visa, perks include France’s generous vacation schedule and a generally lighter workload than an American may be used to. Language assistants are not allowed to give grades or to assign homework, so outside work solely consists of preparing for classes.
What’s the catch?
One of the more challenging aspects of TAPIF is that applicants have little say in what age students they will teach and where in the country they will live. Postulants are asked for their top 3 academies of the 26 in France (think school districts), if they prefer to live in a big city or the countryside, and if they prefer to teach primary or secondary school. TAPIF clearly states that preferences are in no way promised and if accepted applicants are asked to promise to do the program no matter what assignment they receive. It’s a big ask, but at the end of the day, they can’t force anyone to buy a plane ticket to France and I know people that have turned down their acceptance offer.
Getting the news
News of acceptance was promised sometime in April, and in natural French style on May 1st I received an apology email that results were not to be expected for another two weeks due to the high number of applications that year. So after a month and a half of holding my breath every time I opened my email, I got the news. I was accepted.
A few weeks later, at the top of June, I received my assignment to the Academy of Clermont-Ferrand, third on my list of preferences. Naturally, I started sharing the news with friends and researching about the city; however, this was mostly in vain. About two weeks after that, I received news of the department I would work in, the name of one of the three schools where I would teach, and the contact of my liaison for the school district. The Haute-Loire department where I was placed could not be farther from Clermont-Ferrand. At first, I was upset, but on further research of the little town I was placed in, I realized I might not have it so bad.
Le Puy-en-Velay, though little known by most French people, is a wonder for its beauty and history. The town is a medieval starting point for the Chemin de St. Jacques-de-Compostelle, aka the Camino, and boasts a 12th-century cathedral to match. It has a lively center and attracts artisans of all kinds for its beauty. Though admittedly remote, the landscape is spectacular, with surrounding views for nature lovers like myself. And even better, the level of English here is relatively low, so I am happily forced to use and grow my French vocabulary every day. In terms of a genuine French experience, I won the jackpot with TAPIF.
Final Thoughts
For obvious reasons, this is not a program for everyone. Though possible, it is not practical to do with a spouse, much less with a family. TAPIF recognizes its salary is scarcely livable for one person and even then, they recommend having a few thousand in savings to make the move and enjoy any additional travel. That being said, it has been an excellent way for me to give living in France a go, and to have a fast-track for gaining employment as a non-native. Each year applications are open from mid fall to late winter.
To learn more about TAPIF, its requirements, and this year’s deadlines visit their official website here.
Photo is of a French classroom from my first school visit.
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