Teaching Abroad: Valreas, France

By Gina Lanfranchi

I am working as an English Language Assistant for a little village in the southeast of France called Valreas in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region. Don't worry; it is not as glamorous as the French Riviera, but it is certainly not far it, literally and physically! 

Everything in terms of my job was organized by the rectorat of the Academy Aix-Marseille, so I had almost no problem getting my visa and all of my working papers; however, I had to find my own housing--and that was interesting...but after months of e-mail tag between people that I met when I studied abroad in Grenoble and contact with friends of friends, I managed to find a host family who lives within a 10 minute walking distance from my two main schools! I live in a summer home attached to their house. It is perfect because I have my own space (fully furnished, fully equipped in every way possible) but I can go to the main house whenever I have a question or if I just want some company! And they don't let me speak English--well I told them I wanted to improve my French, so now they don't let me speak English!
My job requires me to use the French that I learned in school to communicate with my colleagues and to communicate on a day to day basis, but I have the opportunity to teach English in the way that I learned how to teach French as a foreign language. I absolutely love what I am doing because I am a native English speaker, so I get to share personal and authentic experiences with my students--and they are always shocked when I tell them that I am from NEW YORK! We play games, we sing, we read silly stories, and we laugh a lot in ENGLISH! I get to see the very inner workings of the French education system as well. I work in an elementary school, but I work with at least 20 different teacher each week, so I get to see different styles of teaching, different grade levels, and different student and teacher mentalities...I also really like that we have 7 weeks of school followed by 2 weeks of vacation...I have not been to many countries, but this region and the people who live here are becoming more and more like family to me. This experience has been such a blessing.

I am in the process of applying for a Masters program right now. I plan on teaching English in France. I feel like I found my purpose in life, and I am looking to pursue it " à fond."