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Overview

The Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) is one of Villa Albertine’s longest running and most sought-after programs. Each year, TAPIF places around 1,300 Americans into French public schools to work as English language teaching assistants for 12 hours a week.

TAPIF works with France Éducation international (FEI) to place language assistants in classrooms of all ages across metropolitan France, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and La Réunion. The seven-month contracts, which can be renewed twice (consecutively or not), enable young adults to gain valuable classroom experience, improve their French language skills, and immerse themselves in the francophone world. TAPIF is the American version of the worldwide Programme des Assistants de langue en France managed by FEI.

After completing the TAPIF program, teaching assistants pursue global careers in education, international business, public health, international policy and development, arts and culture administration, and more.  All TAPIF alumni gain access to generous scholarships with our partner universities in the US and France for MA and PhD studies in French, Lingustics, Business, and more! There are over 30,000 TAPIF alumni around the world.

Applications and Eligibility

Application Timeline:

• November 3 2025 – March 15, 2026

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible, applicants must meet all the following conditions:

• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident with a valid passport through the end of the contract in France.
• Be aged 20-35
• Have completed at least three years of higher education.
• Be a native English speaker with intermediate proficiency in French (B1 level on the CEFR scale).
• Accepted applicants may participate in the program up to three times – four times in total.

Applying

Apply here for the next cycle by March 15, 2026.

Job Duties

Location

TAPIF offers positions across all 30 regions of metropolitan France and in the overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Mayotte, Martinique, and la Réunion. Applicants may indicate up to three regions of preference on their application. Accepted applicants are notified in April and receive placement in their Académie (school district). Participants will not know the exact city or schools where they are placed until the summer before they travel to France.

Contract Length

All teaching contracts last seven months, from October 1 through April 30.

Short-term contracts, summer contracts, and alternative start dates are NOT available. Following their contract end date many participants choose to exit the Schengen Zone before the date on their visa and may return to France to spend a total of three additional months in France/Europe as tourists the summer.

Renewing or Reapplying

Americans may participate a maximum of three times in the TAPIF program. If you are applying for an assistantship for a consecutive year, you will need to apply to renew your contract through France Éducation international. Renewal is contingent upon a positive review from the host institution, whether or not the assistant wishes to remain at their institution or be transferred to another school or Académie, among other factors.

If you are applying in non-consecutive years (ex. You were an assistant in 2017-2018 and now you are applying again for 2024-2025) you must apply through the general TAPIF application. In this situation, we review applications with the same criteria as first-time assistants, however we systematically place former assistants who are accepted on the waiting list.

Financing and Support

Stipend: €1,010.67 per month gross, approximately €810 per month net (slight variations possible due to region-dependent local deductions).

Due to the higher cost of living in the overseas departments, assistants in those regions are paid an additional 30% to 35%. The stipend provides enough money to live the lifestyle of a typical undergraduate student in most regions of France (but NOT Paris due to the very high cost of living in the capital region). No additional support is provided for travel to France or for dependents. Assistants are responsible for making their own living arrangements, however about 50% of assistants who are placed at the secondary school level are offered the possibility of boarding by their schools for little to no cost.

Personal funds are needed for the initial period of the contract, to book a flexible flight and to secure housing. We recommend that participants save around $5,000 to pay for their first few months in France.

Health Insurance

Joint Applications

TAPIF to Teacher offers teaching assistants in France a full scholarship to study for a graduate teaching certificate from the Université de Nanterre online while working for TAPIF. Awardees may then transfer these graduate credits to partner universities in the U.S. to complete a MAT. More information here.

Prospective language assistants may apply to work for TAPIF and be funded by the US Fulbright ETA Program simultaneously. More information on the benefits and requirements for this dual application are accessible here. Applicants must apply and be accepted to both programs, taking into account the different deadlines.

In partnership with Middlebury Language Schools and schools abroad, up to four selected teaching assistants will have the opportunity to obtain their Masters of Arts in Applied Languages in tandem with their 12-hour work contract with TAPIF in Paris. Interested candidates apply for both TAPIF and the MA in Applied Languages by January 15.