Living and working in France: English Assistants and Expats

Outline of map of France If you are currently living in France or plan to move to France (especially to work as an English teacher), I have written several articles on my experience in France. I moved to France in September 2006 to work as an English Assistant and decided to stay for a while. Originally, I had planned to stay for 8 months and then move to Australia to start my PhD, but I quickly discovered that 8 months would not be enough time and I ended up staying for nearly 5 years. I accomplished a lot over the years and learned many valuable lessons about life in France, so I wanted to share them with others who are thinking about moving to France. I've written a few guides for expatriates in France to help with French bureaucracy, especially for non-European Union citizens. The information on these pages may not be 100% accurate since so much depends on your location in France and which civil servant you are dealing with on that particular day, but it should give you an overview of what to expect. As a disclaimer, please keep in mind that this is just my personal experience in France, and yours may or may not be anything like it.

For other glimpses into French language and culture, try the following links:

Informal French & Slang Learn how to understand what people are really saying
French Listening Resources Authentic recordings of native speakers on a range of topics, with transcripts and listening exercises
Authentic French with Commercials & Films Transcripts and listening exercises for commercials, trailers and film clips

I worked for two years as an English teaching assistant in middle & high schools near Annecy and during my time in France, I kept a detailed account of what life is like so that future assistants would know what to expect. I have also made all of my ESL lesson plans (most in MS Word format) available for download, including the plans I made specifically for the assistants program as well as plans I made for private lessons.

A lot of former assistants who have Master's degrees go on to become lecteurs or lectrices at French universities (such as myself!) You can refer to a blog post I wrote for information on how to become a lecteur or lectrice. Additionally, each year I post job listings for various lecteur/maître de langue jobs on the blog.

How to Become a Lecteur/Lectrice d'Anglais or Maître de Langue at a French University

Buy French Language Tutorial as an e-book! French Language Tutorial includes more than 200 pages of grammar and vocabulary topics, sample sentences, informal ways of speaking, cultural information about France, and an overview of French pronunciation. This e-book also comes with 200+ mp3s (more than FIVE HOURS) recorded by three native speakers and FREE lifetime updates. Download the first 10 pages of French Language Tutorial (including the table of contents). NEW! The companion e-book, Informal and Spoken French, is also now available! Buy the two French e-books together at a discounted price!

Buy French Language Tutorial

For more French learning through authentic videos, I recommend Yabla French and FluentU. For audiobooks and lessons of modern French, try French Today. I've recommended some French books at Amazon, and Interlinear books are great for learning French by reading literal translations in English.

Expats in France: Information and Advice on Living and/or Working in France