How I'm doing this
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Hey guess what? This is not Corsica. It's a French village called Cassis. Where is the photo of Corsica? you may ask. Cassis is here instead because I don't have a photo of Corsica... Haven't been there yet, silly. Cassis is lovely though. You should go.
I've been asked the same question lots of times since deciding to spend months of my life teaching English in another country: "You're going to teach English in France? How are you doing this?!?" The answer? A lot of planning, learning, and a little bit of luck.
During my sophomore year of college I took an ESL class out of pure curiosity. ( ESL stands for English as a second language.) I loved learning foreign languages myself and thought it might be cool to learn how to teach a language I actually knew. Instead of being the student, for the first time in my life I got to be the teacher. And learning how to teach is hard. Luckily I had a wonderful professor who challenged me to push myself and work harder than I had in most of my required classes.
Meanwhile, my French professor was doing the exact same thing. I was a quiet, unsure French student in the beginning. I didn't like speaking up in class because I made mistakes and I hated the way my accent sounded. A lot of the other students were better than me, but my professor was encouraging and incredibly kind. I realized I wanted to learn French more than the "good" kids did, which gave me an edge. And then I learned that everyone sounds like an idiot when you're speaking a language you don't know. Mistakes are inevitable and you will have a funny accent forever if you never practice speaking.
These two classes became my favorites. And soon I signed on to get my ESL certificate, a feat which took 3 years, multiple classes and forty hours of observing a real ESL classroom. I also decided to get more experience by becoming a camp counselor at an "American Camp" in France between my sophomore and junior years. There, I taught English for two hours a day, seven days a week. I made my own lesson plans and everything. My patience was tested as I was teaching 11-15-year olds. Yep. Middle schoolers. But I loved teaching. It was a really rewarding experience, cheesy as that sounds. At camp I learned that I like working with kids and they seem to like me too. Turns out middle schoolers aren't so bad if you aren't actually in middle school.
I received my BA in International and Cultural Studies with a minor in-- you guessed it-- French. My time at the University of Tampa was amazing, but now I get to use what I learned in classrooms and apply it to the "real world".
I will be teaching through TAPIF (Teaching Assistantship Program in France). You apply in December and get placed in a region by May. The program is run through the French government and seems like a great post-grad gig. Quick! Say "post-grad gig" 3 times fast. I will be teaching in Corsica, which is an island region to the south. (Doesn't sound so bad, right?) You may recognize the name because everyone's favorite French dictator, Napoleon, was born there. I'm hoping to see his house or something :)
So that's how I have the opportunity to teach in France. I'm very excited and a little bit nervous, but I'm sure it'll be a great experience. Honestly, I feel so lucky to have this opportunity and hope to make the most of it :)
