After Three Months in England...

It's been almost three months guys! I can't believe it! Time has flown, it's crazy! But that's it! I've now been working as an FLA for three months... Six to go. And time will be going by real quickly, because my brother is visiting me in January, after that I'm going to Berlin, then two of my friends are coming in February, then it's Easter and my parents might come, and then it's over!

But the point of this article is not to talk about how quickly time goes by, but to tell you about how my British experience has been so far.

Well. It's been pretty good! I'm enjoying my job, even though it can sometimes be really boring. Indeed, most of the time, I take out small groups of pupils to make them talk for five minutes. So basically, I repeat the same things over and over for one hour. It's a bit tedious... But I've talked to my mentors and hopefully, I'll have the chance to do a bit more after Christmas! I would like to work with more pupils and have more time with them. It would also be nice to talk about my country more. Most pupils still think I'm from France and they don't know much about Switzerland!

What about the school system? Well, on the whole, everything seems to be related to the exam that the pupils will sit at the end of Year 11. The GSCEs. They study for this exam. And the teachers teach according to what's going to be in the exam. It's a shame really, and a bit sad, too! They only concentrate on things that matter for the exam. The students don't study for themselves. And at the end of the day, they don't know much!


As for my life outside school, it's going great too! The only negative point is that I haven't met any native people my age. Yet. I find it really hard! I'm attending some keeping-fit classes, but only "older" people go there... So apart from my host family, the German assistant and the schools' staff, I don't have any friends! So that sucks. But I guess it's ok because spending some alone time is usually not a problem for me. Still, it would be nice to have English friends!

Feeling homesick? Mmmh not really no. I'm really looking forward to going home for Christmas, of course, but I don't feel horrible. I miss my family and friends, some days more than others, but I don't think that's homesickness... If it is, then it's not as bad as I thought it would be!

So yeah, this year's been pretty good so far!

My work as an assistant and more...

Hello people!

It's been such a long time! Well I spent one whole month in the Far West (yes, yes, in the US!). It was fantastic by the way, but I couldn't post anything on here while I was saying "howdy", you see?

So well, let me tell you about my schools a bit more. You already know that I'm going to "teach" in two schools: Soham Village College and City of Ely Community College. I will mainly have lessons with year 10 and 11 classes, which means that my pupils will be between 14 and 16 years old. I will mostly take out small groups of students for oral practice. Yay, that's exactly what I wanted! :D

I'll work 12 hours a week and my timetable will be fortnightly: one week in Soham, one week in Ely, etc. I like that I think. This way I won't have to travel between Soham and Ely in the same day! :)

I won't be allowed to wear jeans, which means I had to buy some "trousers for women" (I didn't have any! God... I love jeans!). Anyway, I'll find plenty of things to wear in my wardrobe I'm sure :P

As for my accommodation, well I told you I was going to accept the school's offer, and I did. I will live with a single mum in Soham. She looks nice! I will pay £350 a month, all bills included, and will have to provide my own food. I don't really mind though, because I have to learn how to cook! If I don't like it there, I'll find something else, but for now I'm sticking to that. I'm happy to have an address in the UK because it will help a lot for the bank account and CRB check (British police clearance)! :)

I start feeling a bit anxious about the whole thing but I'm really looking forward to it!

How It Started

*Wow I feel so emotional! My very first post on my brand new blog! =P*

Ok so I thought it'd be a good idea to tell you about how I got to become a French assistant...


I found out about the LAP (Language Assistant Program) at uni, when I was randomly looking at the notice board. I had just started uni then and well, as soon as my eyes fell on the small notice, I knew that I'd want to become a French assistant in the UK after my BA (Bachelor of Arts).

Only after two years could I start working on my application for the LAP. And that was not a piece of cake! Huge form to fill in, curriculum vitae, covering letter, referral letter, health statement, police record, ... That took me quite a while, but it was exciting so I didn't mind! I sent my application in December, I think. And in February, I had to go to Bern to be interviewed. I was really anxious, but it went fine! The two interviewers, the woman responsible for the LAP in Switzerland (from wbz cps) and another woman, representative of the British Council, were both really nice and they put me at ease. I was given about 20 minutes to prepare an oral lesson and then I had to present it in front ofthe two interviewers. I also had to answer questions about myself and about my motivations, both in French and in English. It lasted about one hour.

The week after, I received a letter (by snail mail) telling me I was accepted in the program! Man I was SO happy! In the letter, there was some information about what would happen next. In June, I'll have a preparatory seminar with all the Swiss assistants. Also in June, I should get an e-mail from the British Council informing me about my allocation and, eventually, between June and August, my school/s will contact me.

I still have a while to go. And gosh, I hate waiting. It makes me nervous.

*Relax, Take It Easy!*