Andre has always had a passion for languages and considers himself a Francophile! And, he is a hyperpolyglot.
In 2019 and 2020 Andre taught English in the beautiful, cultural city of Lyon, France. He was an English language assistant in a high school and went over with a “travailleur temporaire” visa, which means “temporary worker”.
Some pros about Lyon living include: beautiful architecture, views of Mont Blanc and plenty of poetry events. If you are interested to work in France or want to find out more about Andre’s experience… Keep reading!
When asked about his favourite teaching memory, Andre said: “My favourite teaching memory was probably seeing how my students were able to progress throughout my stay there and see them become more comfortable speaking English. I tried to establish an amicable and familial atmosphere so that they would be inclined to speak more easily to me. I also enjoyed teaching them about South Africa and our unique linguistic characteristics. I would teach them local vernacular and they would sometimes use it will speaking to me informally, which I loved because it showed that they really listened to what I taught them and tried to apply it in a practical sense.”
We asked Andre some questions about living and teaching in France so that you can get an idea of the process – we hope you like it!
So, I didn’t do a TEFL course and I am not a TEFL teacher. But I did work in France as an English language assistant in a French high school, or lycée, in Lyon from October 2019 until April 2020.
I have previously only taught French to first-year students at my university in Stellenbosch, and then English to high school students (ages 15 to 18) in Lyon, France.
So, the programme I went on to teach English in France is well-known and is organised by the various French embassies across the world. It is called an assistantship programme. And it works like this: you apply to become a language assistant in the language which is spoken as a first language in your country (in my case, South Africa is considered to be an English-speaking country and so I applied to be an English language assistant), and then if your application is successful, you will be placed at a school in France to work as an English assistant.
So, technically speaking, you don’t have to look for work yourself. The French embassy will find a school for you and you will accordingly be assigned to one. Usually, you can indicate a grade preference, i.e. you can indicate whether you want to teach high school students or at primary-school level. I chose the former because I wanted to be able to converse with my students and not have to teach them grammar.
The embassy has a formal application process with certain criteria. I had to write a motivation letter in French, indicate that I was studying or had studied French before; that I was still a student; that I was able to speak French (B2 level is sufficient). I never had an face-to-face interview. Their decision was solely based on my formal application.
Like I said, we had no interview. They informed me 3 months after my application that I had been accepted and a month or two after that I was notified about my assigned school
We couldn’t pick our specific schools, but we were allowed to indicate three location preferences. My first choice was Lyon (which is where I ended up!), second was Bordeaux and third was Lille.
The programme requires that teaching be done in person, but since the global pandemic struck during my second last month and schools were closed, I had to continue teaching to the final-year students online. We used Deezer.
I only worked 12 hours a week and only ever between 08am and 18pm Mondays to Fridays, so I had lots of free time in-between. The planning depended on each group/class I had and the level of the students. It also sometimes depended on what the “main teacher” wanted me to work one.
Sometimes, their actual English teacher would tell me to prepare a certain lesson regarding a particular subject. For example, for the more advanced students, I prepared lessons on the history of South Africa, which took a bit more time than usual. I would prepare a PowerPoint presentation with a lot of images and some keywords. Other times the teacher would give me free reigns and tell me I could have a lesson on anything I wanted.
For example, for the students who were not as advanced and who needed to learn more vocabulary, I would prepare a game of sorts and we would play it during the lesson so that they could learn new words. In those cases, I would have to speak a lot more French than English for them to understand how the game would work.
I was paid about US$ 935.00 per month after taxation (770€).
I was paid on a monthly basis into a French bank account.
Lyon is France’s third biggest city, so there are many things to do. It is a big city, but not as big as Paris and definitely not as overwhelming and full of tourists. It’s a much more breathable city and you don’t feel clogged up or trapped.
It’s also a very old city (especially the part where I lived which was the oldest!) so the architecture is very interesting to study and examine. It used to be the capital of one of the Roman provinces and was a very important city of the Roman Empire. Right next to my apartment building, were Roman ruins complete with a huge amphitheatre where summer concerts are still held yearly.
It’s also located on top of a hill with a view over the whole Lyon as well as Mont Blanc in the distance! Other than that, Lyon is also a very Bohemian city with a very rich cultural scene. There are many poetry events and second hand book stores to explore.
Lyon is also ideally located because it is close to the French Alps (so you can go skiing), it’s close to Italy and very close to the French Riviera (only 2 hours with a train!). Because it’s a big city, there are direct high-speed trains going to Paris (2 hours) from where you can travel anywhere! Even though a lot of these things are quite expensive, for me at least, it’s possible to pay all my bills (taxes, pension, health insurance, phone bills) and still be able to do grocery shopping, eat out once a week, and still have money left over to put towards my savings.
My accommodation was very cheap, because I was able to get accommodation at the primary school across the street from my high school. I only paid 90€ a month ($109) for a spacious room and shared living quarters (kitchen, toilet, bathroom) that I shared with 4 other language assistants from Austria, Peru, Brazil, and China.
The disadvantage of living in the third biggest city in France is that everything still remains quite expensive. The average price for a beer a bar was about 5€ or more (which is about $6). Going out to restaurants was also very expensive and I only went out once or twice a month. Intracity transport was not too expensive – I paid about 15€ ($18) per month to be able to use all buses, trams, metros, and funiculars. Buying groceries was more expensive than in South Africa, but also not extraordinarily so.
There are many social events that take place in Lyon. There are also many expats and other languages assistants. We would frequently meet up in the park or go out to a bar to do a quiz night. I found the Lyonnais (the people from Lyon) to be quite friendly.
Every time they heard me speak another language that wasn’t French, they would ask me where I was from. They are very friendly people! So, you could easily start a conversation with anybody at a bar, to be quite honest.
My top 5 must-sees in Lyon would be:
(1) the Fourvière Basilica
(2) the Parc de la Tête d’or
(3) La Croix-Rousse
(4) La Fête des Lumières during the first week of December
(5) Vieux-Lyon.
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