One week before my departure (!)

I am heading to Reading in one week. O N E  W E E K. And I cannot really say I am entirely ready. I still need to pack, I still need to do all the paperwork, I still need to deal with my university's bad administration as I am supposed to do a Master's degree in English studies this year. (for all the French people reading this, I assume you know what I mean!)

Me when I've found out I was going to be a language assistant in Reading

I can hardly believe I am going back to live in England in such a short amount of time after one year, since I have waited this moment since my departure after my year in Erasmus. I remember the exact moment I have found out I was selected to be a language assistant: having a relaxing afternoon with my friend, Julia at the Jardin du Port Royal in Paris (I know, so cliché...) and all at once we received the email we were expecting for months telling us we were both accepted! This gif is quite faithful to how we reacted*. :)
Same city but different situation for me since I am going to be working this time! I am sure many of you have heard about the Erasmus programme but what is a language assistant?

As I pointed out in my previous post, it is a different experience for everyone because it can differ in many aspects:

1. Where you are working: I assume working in London is way different from working in a small village in Yorkshire for example; not the same environment, probably not the same kind of profiles concerning students, not the same way of living etc. Also I am sure working in a private school is not the same as working in a state school.
2. The number of school you are working in: a language assistant gets to teach in up to four schools while some will only teach in one. I can imagine there are several drawbacks and benefits in both situation such as experiencing diversity in teaching in several schools or getting to know the pupils and the staff better in a single one.
3. The key stages you are teaching: As a language assistant, you get to teach either primary school level or secondary school level. Not the same things will be expected because obviously a 7 year-old child isn't taught the same way as a Year 13 student.
4. How familiar you are with the UK/teaching. Depending on your experience with the UK and where you come from, you might find it harder to adapt to the British culture (Am I being rude? Do they all drink that often?). Same with teaching as if you don't have any experience in it, you might find it hard to prepare classes and such.

For instance, I will work in one school: a private one in a nice little village in Berkshire, next to Reading. I am lucky enough to already have a roof over my head for when I arrive, sharing accommodation with some of my youngest colleagues who probably are very lovely. I will be having conversation classes with the oldest students (Year 12 and Year 13) but I will also get to work with younger pupils alongside the other French teachers. A language assistant works around 12 hours a week (lot of free time, yay!) and needs a few extra hours to plan the lessons.

This post was rather informative so it might be a bit boring to you but I wrote thinking about my friends and relatives who were asking me: "so you are going to be paid to speak French, right?" or "it's like you're going to be an Erasmus again?" and wanted them to know in details what it was all about! Hopefully my next posts will be a bit more entertaining. ;)

*: unfortunately, no pugs were involved.

Julie XX

A Frenchie in Reading, Berkshire

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Hello everyone! 🌷

It has been a long time since I thought about creating a blog so here we go. As you can read in my presentation, my name is Julie and I'm a 22 year-old French girl from Paris. Why writing in English then you might wonder? I think it would allow more people to read my blog so it might be useful not only to prospective French language assistants in the UK but also to my fellow colleagues of other nationalities. (for my French relatives who want to read my blog, I guess you will get to practise your language skills. It never hurts, right? :P)

I do not know yet how I will organise my posts but you probably will not read only about my job but also about other aspects of my life, or even from other language assistants if they feel like sharing their experience as being a language assistant is different for everyone.

Let's talk about my prospective job as I have not started yet. I am going to work in a private school in Reading, Berkshire, where I got to live a couple of years ago. Indeed I have been lucky enough to take part in the Erasmus programme therefore I studied at the University of Reading for 10 months, that I liked a lot! Being an Erasmus is an incredible experience where you get to meet tons of people from all around the world and discover another way of life, so close but so different from the French culture. I will probably write a post about it in the near future.

I wanted to discover another part of the UK at first when I applied but I was happy about being sent to Reading in the end. I assume it's quite reassuring to live in a city you already know with some people you already know there even if you're going on an adventure alone. I am heading to Reading in ten days now and I am getting very excited even if slightly anxious (packing and paperwork, I am looking at you).

I guess that is all for my first posts, I do hope you will enjoy reading me. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!

Julie xx

The Oracle, shopping centre in Reading.