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True or False: Teaching English in France

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When I first learned of TAPIF, the Teaching Assistant Program in France, it was the fall of 2023. I had been on the hunt for a way to work in France for a few months by that time and meeting someone who had done the program felt like an answer to my prayers. At the end of the day, whether or not teaching English was my passion, this was a short-term work contract that required a minimal level of French to give living in my dream country a go, without selling my freedom to a family as an au pair. Now, in the middle of my second year of teaching English in French public schools, you could say I’ve lost some of the starry-eyed perspective I had at first. Nonetheless, I can tell you I would do it again. 

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. Currently, applications for the next academic year are open to young professionals between the ages of 18 and 35. To learn more about TAPIF, its requirements, and this year’s deadlines, visit their official website here.

Thinking back to myself scouring the internet for information on TAPIF around this time just a few years ago, I am going to endeavor to give an honest and clear-eyed review as a second-year assistant. Bursting the bubble where necessary and reinforcing suspicions as able, here are some conclusions (true & false) that I have drawn from my experience. Let’s start with the false.

1. The program provides a livable wage.

False. During my first year, I burned through my savings with incredible speed. Inflation has hit France, and the wage of an assistant has not sufficiently taken this into account. About half of the 830 euros that hit my bank account each month go to pay my rent, and the other half pay for my groceries. Considering what it takes to move and settle into a new place, not mention in a new country, other expenses in the first two months should be expected. With six weeks of paid vacation during the school year, one naturally is going to want to travel, which is also not free. The French Education International boasts that language assistants have the right to demand lodging assistance by means of the CAF. However, even if you have your renter’s contract and all your paperwork submitted by October 1st, the wait for approval could be upwards of 2 months before receiving additional aid. 

2. It is a sustainable way to begin a long-term move. 

False. The proposal of TAPIF is not truly sustainable. It has a 3-year limit for renewing assistants and they clearly advise $3,000 in savings on top of the plane ticket to get here. Each year, assistants are obliged to return to their native country to renew their temporary work visa, an expense that is assumed by the assistant. Additionally, if French citizenship is the goal, you’ll need a long-term visa with renewable options. TAPIF is not that. Your yearly clock towards citizenship will not start with this program.

3. The paid vacation is generous. 

True. Today I am writing on day one of a two-week break in the middle of February, one of the four vacation periods that occur during the language assistant contract from October to April. Instead of favoring an extended summer, the public school system is built on six-week cycles that give students and teachers an opportunity to rest and refocus between periods. Being on paid vacation in Europe is certainly not a bad deal. I’ve taken advantage of these times by visiting many different parts of France, as well as its neighboring countries.

4. You will grow. 

True. One’s French can only improve in proportion to one’s courage to use it. In any case, you’re going to strengthen your resilience as you navigate French bureaucracy and the general discomfort that comes with living in a new country. Nothing causes growth like getting out of your comfort zone. I can assure you that living in a foreign country will mean getting out of your comfort zone.

5. It is the experience of a lifetime.

True. I have made friends for life and found a community that has become like family. This is by no means the experience of all who participate in TAPIF, but if you come with an open heart and seek out opportunities to integrate, you may just be shocked at the warm welcome you find. I was quick to join a choir, seek out a community of faith, and find other opportunities to explore my personal interests locally. I don’t know of an easier way to work less than part-time in a country as beautiful as France. Your bank account may not thank you, but your memory bank certainly will.

Have you participated in TAPIF or another teaching program in France? Share your wisdom with our community below. 

Photo by Ben Mullins on Unsplash

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people waving french flags outside the louvre

Can I Move to France Without a Job?

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With so many articles on visas, which one to choose, how to apply, how to renew, etc., we often get asked: but, can I move to France without a job?

The short answer is, no, you don’t need a job to move to France, but you do need to prove you can support yourself.

Good news for those who dream of moving here but assume that without a job offer, it’s impossible. While some visas do require employers’ sponsorship, there are many other paths for those without traditional employment.

Even more good news for retirees, freelancers, or someone with independent income.

Let’s dive into the key things to consider when moving to France without a job offer.

Do You Need a Job to Move to France?

Now that you know you don’t, it’s important to note that you must show the French authorities that you have some sort of financial stability before even stepping foot across the border. It makes sense: it may be a socialist country, but les français want reassurance that you won’t become a strain on the state when living here.

In fact, France’s immigration prioritizes financial stability more and more, whether through savings, passive income, or self-employment. If you can meet the financial and legal requirements, you can move to France without an employer sponsoring your stay.

Now, of course, some visa categories (such as employer-sponsored ones) do require a job offer. However, there are several other options available for those willing to plan ahead.

Visa Options for Moving to France Without a Job

1. Visitor Visa (Visa de Long Séjour – Visiteur)

Best for: Retirees, remote workers, individuals with passive income.

Requirements:

Key Consideration: This visa does not allow you to work in France, so you must have enough savings or remote income from outside the country. Contrary to popular belief, as an American, you can work remotely for a US employer while in France on the visitor visa 🙂

2. Profession Libérale Visa (Self-Employed Visa)

Best for: Freelancers, consultants, and business owners.

Requirements:

  • A detailed business plan demonstrating financial viability.
  • Proof of professional activity (e.g., contracts, invoices, website, portfolio).
  • Registration with URSSAF (the French social security system for self-employed workers).

Key Consideration: You must show that your business can generate enough income to support yourself over time, especially if you hope to renew and eventually apply for naturalization.

3. Student Visa

Best for: Those looking to study in France while exploring long-term residency options, those without access to a large amount of financial support and who are willing to go back to school, or folks who simply want to learn French in France.

Requirements:

Key Perk: This visa allows part-time work as well (up to 964 hours per year, around 20 hours per week), making it easier to support yourself while living in France.

4. Talent Passport (Passeport Talent)

Best for: Entrepreneurs, artists, researchers, and highly skilled professionals.

Requirements:

  • Proof of expertise or a recognized contribution in your field.
  • Financial stability and a viable business or research project.

Key Consideration: This visa is more selective — perhaps one of the most selective — but if you can land it, it offers one of the stronger paths to long-term residency and eventually citizenship.

How to Support Yourself in France Without a Job

While the cost of living in France is much lower than in the US, if you plan to move here without employment you’ll still need a reliable source of income — yes, in order to get your visa, but also to find a place to live and support yourself throughout your stay. You can’t forget about all of the travel and exploring you’ll want to do when you get here too.

If you plan to move to France without employment, here are some options that come to mind as well as the visas to go with them:

  • Savings: Many who aren’t too fussed about obtaining nationality one day choose the visitor visa, and a chunky savings account is the easiest way to prove financial means. Be prepared to share bank statements at your visa application appointment if you do go this route.
  • Freelancing or remote work: Consider finding a remote job in the US that is willing to allow you to live in France. Then, have your employer write a letter indicating you will not be working with French clients. Or, apply for the profession libérale visa if you’d prefer to have French and European clients.
  • Start a business: One of the more expensive and complicated ways to move to France. That said, if you have an entrepreneurial mindset you could come up with a plan to build a business in France and come over under the passeport talent.
  • Part-time work: Remember that student visa holders can work up to 20 hours per week, which can help supplement savings or support from family.

Whatever direction you choose, planning ahead is key. Again, you will be required to prove your financial situation at your visa interview, but beyond that, you want to be able to enjoy your séjour en France without having to stress about cash.

And if you need help coming up with a plan, please get in touch!

Photo by Alice Triquet on Unsplash

Did you enjoy this article? TAIP is 100% reader-supported through tipping. If you want to leave us a tip of any amount it would be highly appreciated. These tips help support our efforts to keep TAIP an ad-free environment. Just as at a cafe, the tips are split evenly among the team.

A French Classroom

How I Got a Job Teaching in France (and How You Can Too)

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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.

Did you enjoy this article? TAIP is 100% reader-supported through tipping. If you want to leave us a tip of any amount it would be highly appreciated. These tips help support our efforts to keep TAIP an ad-free environment. Just as at a cafe, the tips are split evenly among the team.