FEELIN'
[OH, SO]
FRANCE-Y
TAPIF 101-ish
What is TAPIF?
The best source of information on this topic is the TAPIF website itself, so I won't go into too much detail here. TAPIF stands for "Teaching Assistant Program in France"-each year, the French Department of Education hires about 1,100 Americans to teach English in France for seven months. If you're curious about eligibility and/or the application process or any other details about the program, look here.
Why did you apply for TAPIF?
I answer this in my first blog post, but long story short: I have always loved France and wanted to learn French since I can remember. I studied French in high school and college, and had TAPIF in my sights for about three+ years before applying. In my mind, it was just the thing to kickstart my post-graduation life.
How did you choose your académie preferences?
This was honestly the hardest part of the entire application process. You're required to pick your top three preferences for placement in France or one of their DOM-TOMS (Département Outre-Mer, Térritoire Outre-Mer). The académies are like school districts on a large scale, and are separated out into three lists-A, B, and C. Here's what the académie map looks like, along with the lists.
Most of the "popular" or more desirable académies are in Group B, this is to make sure there are applicants placed everywhere in France, not just in the biggies. A good resource for learning about the académies is provided by CIEP (Centre International d'Etudes Pédagogiques). Another thing to keep in mind is that just because a person is placed in, for example, the Toulouse académie doesn't mean they will be teaching/living in the city of Toulouse or anywhere near it. It just means they can be assigned to any school in that geographic region. (Toulouse is actually the largest académie of the bunch, so the likelihood that someone will be placed anywhere but Toulouse proper is high.)
I ended up choosing Clermont-Ferrand as my #1 choice because of its central location, proximity to the Alps, and VOLCANOES. My #2 was Montpellier because, hello, Mediterranean Ocean, Verdon Gorge, and mountains. Bordeaux was my #3, and while that académie is huge, I was hoping that being in wine country would balance out potentially being placed in a tiny village somewhere.
How do you move to France temporarily?
Once a person is accepted to TAPIF and accepts the position, they then have to wait to receive their arrêté de nomination, or work contract, in the mail from the académie where they have been hired. I was lucky enough to get mine in mid-June! Each académie operates individually, so the wait time can really vary quite a bit depending on when your académie sends out their contracts. Once this document is received, the next step is to make an appointment at the French consulate for your region of the U.S. I'm in the Midwest, so my consulate is Chicago. To legally live and teach in France for seven months, a long-stay work visa is essential. I wrote about the experience of obtaining mine here. As far as figuring out a living situation, that can also be a different experience depending on where you're placed. It totally varies from school to school whether or not they offer housing. The best plan is to plan on having to find your own place to live. There is other official documentation that needs to be taken care of to seal the deal, but I won't bore you with every single detail! Just trust me, there is SO much paperwork.
Still want to know more?
When I first became curious about TAPIF, I googled the heck out of it and tried to get my eyeballs on every blog I could find. I'll make it a smidge easier for you if you're interested in further reading and link below all of the lovely people whose writing was influential in helping me make my decision:
Lauren // Dana // Francey Pants // Little Miss Frenchified // La Vie en C-rose // French Crazy // Big Eyed Birdie // Present Perfect