Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) Guide

English Assistants in France / Assistants d'anglais en France

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Apply to the Teaching Assistant Program in France

This guide refers to the American application process of the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF), so if you are not American, your country will have different procedures, deadlines, and contact people. Please use the official TAPIF Facebook page to ask questions.

I started writing this guide in May 2006 when I learned that I’d be teaching English at the secondary level in the académie of Grenoble (city of Annecy) for 7 months through the French Embassy of the United States. This is a chronological journal of my experience beginning with the application process. If you are interested in teaching English in France, please visit the French Culture Website for the current application for American citizens. The application is available in October and the deadline is in January, with over 1,000 positions available each year.

In order to qualify for this program, you must:

be an American citizen or permanent resident and already have your passport at the time of application (however, as of 2010 American-French dual citizens are NO LONGER eligible to apply though all other EU-American citizens are still eligible),
must have completed the majority of your elementary, secondary and university studies in the United States or in American institutions,
be a native speaker of English,
be between the ages of 20 and 35 as of October 1,
have completed 2 years of university by October 1 or already have a degree, and
have a basic proficiency in French (3 semesters in college or level B1) and/or lived abroad in a Francophone country if you do not have a university major or minor in French. (Students from all fields of study are encouraged to apply, however please note that all applicants should demonstrate good French-language skills as well as an interest in education.)
pay a $40 application fee by debit or credit card online.

You will spend 7 months in France (or the overseas départements) teaching English 12 hours a week and you will receive a salary of about 790 € a month (after health insurance is taken out) if you are placed in mainland France or Corsica, about 1,000 € if you are placed in Martinique, Guadeloupe, or French Guiana, and about 1,200 € if you are placed in La Réunion. The higher salaries for the DOM-TOMs are to offset the high cost of living, but note that assistants in Paris do not receive a higher salary.

I would recommend doing this program while you are still a student in college, especially if you are under 25, because there are so many discounts for young people in Europe. But if you do wait until you graduate, you can try to defer your student loans until you get back. You will need to talk to the financial aid office at your university about this, but you may qualify for an Economic Hardship Deferment if you can prove that you make less than a certain amount.

This program is also open to native speakers of English from several countries – however, the number of positions for each country varies greatly. The qualifications and requirements may be different for each country as well, so check with your local French Embassy. Below are links to the assistant specific pages for the other Anglophone countries as well as the approximate number of positions available.

Citizens of South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, and Barbados are also eligible, but I could not find any pages on the assistantship program on the embassy websites. The official CIEP site has applications for these countries, but the deadline dates are not specified.

If France is not your desired destination, check out the blog posts Official Programs to Teach English in Europe and Teach English in Latin America: Paid and Volunteer Programs.

TAPIF: Teaching Assistant Program in France - guide for English assistants in France