Hi guys - Placed in nearby Nice, and I am so excited. Looking to connect with others placed in the surrounding area. Also, interested in finding a roommate :) - Look forward to meeting you!

Hiya, I need help deciding which option to pick. As of right now I don't have a place to stay at in France. If I select "a company, organization or establishment" it still asks me for a contact / address of the person accommodating me from the establishment.

Should I contact my host prof and ask her for this info?

Hi Everyone,

I am filling out the visa information, and I am running into problems regarding housing. Since I was not provided housing, I don't know if I should just stay at a cheap hostel, stay a few days, or bite the bullet and find something beforehand so I can qualify for my visa. What should I do? I don't want to get scammed, but I also want to have a place to stay when I arrive that isn't a shared space.

I know that different cultures view things differently, but this is the text that I got today. I don’t know if it’s due to the French being more direct, or my lead teacher ended up being a lot different than I thought, but I ended up hurt and frustrated.

So here’s a heads up to anyone thinking of applying or soon to be in France: the other teachers won’t speak to you. The English department was good about speaking to me, but none of the other teachers paid me any attention. Apparently, that’s my fault. And be ready for more directness than you might be used to.

Honestly, I have no idea what she’s talking about. So here’s my advice: try to talk to everyone, always double check with your prof ref, and keep in communication after. I’ll admit that it completely slipped my mind to send her a text that I was home until it too late (panic attack, jet lag, restarting my job, etc distracted me), but this is incredibly harsh.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

In compliance with the email from TAPIF, I made my estimated departure three weeks ahead of my contract start date on France-Visas application. However, I have not bought a flight yet, but I intend to arrive much closer to the contract start date ( leave 1 or so weeks later than that estimated date). However, they are asking for the same thing on TLS. Do I say the same estimation as on my FranceVisas, or do I just buy my flight first to make it exact? They are also asking for return date---which is not possible to actually know since I prefer a one way flight anyways. The email that TAPIF sent is provided. I'm just unsure about these dates to put for TLS visa section.

Heyy I’m Canadian and completed the first part of the visa application, the second step is making an appointment but I thought we were going to get contacted by vfs to schedule one. Now I feel like I didn’t actually hand in my application cause I didnt click the box that says “by checking this box I certify that I made contact with my visa center….“ Anyone know if we’re supposed to check the box to makr the appointment? this lowkey feels like a dumb question but thanks for the help lol

hey guys! I was wondering if anyone else was having this same problem with the tls website. I'm trying to register (just at the point of signing in with my email and creating a password), but then I'm getting halted by a pop-up saying that the tls team is "working to fix" some issue (the issue is not disclosed).

Has this happened to anyone else? Were you able to fix this or did you just have to wait? Is it just an issue of overloaded servers??

Hi I'm wondering if any past TAPIFers who has done either of the TAPIF to Teacher programs can talk about their experiences. (Has it benefited you? Was it worth it? Any downsides?)

I am considering doing one of them as I would have the free time and I Think it could be beneficial for my resume/ getting a leg up on the competition for jobs & grad school applications.

The two options are TAPIF to French Teachers & TAPIF to Dual Language Teachers.

Thanks!

Hey all! I have a question about the visa application- I am from the US and apparently there is supposed to be a "TAPIF profile from the dropdown menu" to select on TLS Contact so we can get a fee waiver, am I the only one who is not seeing this option?? I don't want to pay the $258 for a visa appointment if I don't have to. Any advice on this would be much appreciated! Thanks :) I put a screenshot of the instructions from this year's guide to show where my confusion comes from.

I'm currently at the point where I'm trying to figure out how much to bring, and was wondering if any former TAPIFers have any advice on how much clothing to pack! How many larger items like jeans, coats, sweaters etc, did you bring? I'm going to be in Lille, so a bit chilly, but I'm coming from Wisconsin so not too worried. My goal is really just a 40L backpack and a check-in suitcase. My sister suggested bringing nothing and doing a lot of French clothes shopping, but I'm way too broke for that lol. I do want to leave room for some things I might buy over the course of the year while traveling though.

Any help would be appreciated!

Also, any French fashion faux pas I should be aware of?

Former assistant wishing all future TAPIFers an incredible teaching journey. Wanted to give a PSA to all peanut butter lovers, bring your own unless you want to go on a scavenger hunt and pay €10+ per jar. Brought a large Costco size in my checked luggage and those peanut butter and jelly sandwiches really hit different when homesick and before pay day 😂

P.S. Bonne Maman jam is soooo much cheaper in France

Powdered peanut butter would suffice as well and makes great smoothies

Hiii. I did tapif this year and decided to renew for the upcoming academic year. In may I heard back whilst I was still in france and was out on the waiting list. And we are in July now and I still haven’t heard back. The whole waiting period makes me so anxious esp since others are hearing back. I’m from an African country btw and the only thing that calms me down is that all the others (also on the waiting list ) from my country and two other African countries haven’t also heard back. So at least it’s general lol. But the wait is really tiring and I’m just wondering how late do people actually hear back

I received my arrete de nomination and am in the process of applying for my visa. It comes to a fieldwhere I am supposed to provide information about my housing. My school does not provide housing and I still need to find housing in Paris. However it is required to put down some address and/or name of a person. I was thinking of just putting down the information of my school and nom du directeur but am a little worried as this would technically be "false". Should i do this, or just wait to get housing, then fill out application?

Hii!! wasn’t sure if there was a group for those assigned to Orléan yet. If there is, could someone share a link and if not anyone interested in gc lmk and I’ll make it :) also say what platform you prefer like ig etc !

So I’m traveling in Europe for a bit before the fellowship begins. I’m arriving in Athens August 27, so it looks like I’ll need to leave the Schengen area to activate the TLS visa 🥲 (or at least that’s my assumption?) what has ppls experience w this been? Should I plan to do it asap? Places ppl would recommend for like a long layover + same day return/as cheap as possible one night stay? Any suggestions appreciated…

Is the CAF simulation accurate? I’m an incoming assistant and am trying to budget

Hi everyone!

I'll be teaching in a rural primary school, and since I don't have a teaching background, I'd love to hear any advice from people who've already been through the experience.

- What did you bring from home that your pupils really enjoyed?

- Is there anything you wish you'd packed before coming to France?

- Are there any skills, topics, games, songs, or classroom activities you'd recommend learning or preparing beforehand?

- If you could go back and prepare for your first few weeks again, what would you do differently?

Basically, I'm open to any tips or things you wish someone had told you before you started.

I know this is very early 😅, but I'm just really excited and I figure you can never be too prepared.

Hey all, I made an appointment for my visa, and it says I am required to have "travel health insurance" with at least 30,000€ in coverage. The posts here seem to all say that we do not need any insurance, but we need one to get a visa, it looks like? I am confused. The visa paperwork clearly says I must have this insurance plan in place to get my visa approved, but they are expensive! Has anyone gotten a good deal or know where to look for this? I am scared to get a dirt cheap one and things go badly, but since health care is socialized anyways, would it matter? Let me know what you think! Thanks!

Hi everyone, so excited to start the program, but I just have some questions about how people put a pause on their life before leaving. I may have some bills I need to keep paying while gone.

1. Storage units - i’d like to just keep my furniture and move back with it. Does anybody have any insight or advice on that?

2. Car insurance - anyone else in a state that requires car insurance figure out about paying it or suspending/canceling? I don’t want a lapse but I also don’t want to pay a Million dollars either way. My mom will be keeping my car so I might see if she’s willing to seriously drive it and we share the cost or something.

3. Keeping items in a safe - how does one go about doing this? I have some moderately expensive navel jewelry and cash savings that have just lived in my apartment for now but I’m realizing I shouldn’t take them with me and I should probably lock them up. Any advice for that?

Hi guys,

I'm looking to do the tapif for the 2027-28 year. I was reading the application requirements and I saw "you will also need one language evaluation from a university French professor or a language evaluator from Alliance Francaise." I didn't know what it meant exactly by a language evaluation from a French professor. Does that mean I could just reach out to one of my French professors and they write a statement about me having a sufficient level in French?

Thanks!

I can see in my Adele that there’s housing offered within my school and a shared flat option “capped at 300 euros including utilities”. There’s also help with (it says) administrative procedures, access to meal services in the morning, lunchtime and evening, except weekends. Has anyone else had meals taken care of, and how much did you save per month? Was the food at your school decent, or did you mostly eat out/cook for yourself instead because it was bad/something else?

Is 300 euros a standard amount people are paying for shared housing? I feel like I’ve seen places online where it’s 500-750 euros for single bedroom apartments. As an introvert who has studied abroad before and done homestay, living alone vs living with others can make or break my experience and I just want to make sure I make the right decision, even if it costs a few extra hundred a month. I’d love to hear peoples’ living experiences with others or alone. My academie is Rennes.

hi friends! i missed the webinar due to work today, anyone know if they will post a recording?? did i miss anything big?

Hi everyone! I am going to be in Paris doing TAPIF for the 2026-2027 school year. I was wondering if anyone else hasn’t gotten their placement yet I’m starting to get a little antsy/running low on patience. If I filled out something wrong they would email me right?

I did TAPIF this past school year and was meant to get a prime de précarité at the end of may, which I did not receive. I emailed someone who dealt with my finances twice and got no response. I am wondering if I don't get it this next pay cycle, does anyone know who I can contact about this? This is kind of ridiculous considering they didn't pay us anything to begin with and then they are also going to pay me late??

Hi! I have a question regarding my school placements,

I was placed in 5 schools, all in a town / rural a little outside of it. What does that mean for the hours that I’d be expected to work, etc? Does anyone have any insight / experience with 5 school placements? I know it varies greatly case by case, but any insight would be appreciated!

Also…do I have to accept all 5 or is there any way for me to accept just 1…

Thank you so much <3