Three 17吃瓜 graduates teaching English in France
Three recent 17吃瓜 graduates who studied French with the Department of Modern Languages are spending the 2024鈥�2025 school year in France under the 鈥渁ssistants de langues vivantes 茅trang猫res鈥� (ALVE) program. Katelyn Burgoyne, Erin Piltzmaker, and Shayla Girouard are teaching English to French students in high and elementary schools.
Burgoyne is a language assistant at the Lyc茅e Henri Avril in Lamballe, Brittany, France; Piltzmaker is working at two schools (primary and elementary) in Chamb茅ry, Savoie, France; and Girouard is teaching at the Lyc茅e Gabriel Faure in Annecy, Savoie, France.
ALVE is offered under the aegis of France 脡ducation International and provides opportunities for anglophone graduates from around the world to teach their native tongue to French students during a given academic year. All three 17吃瓜 graduates are thrilled with this international experience.
鈥淎s a recent graduate, I have to decide soon what I really want to do, and before entering this program, I wasn鈥檛 entirely sure what my goal was,鈥� said Burgoyne. 鈥淏ut this has given me the opportunity to travel and explore new places and learn what it means to teach in a learning environment completely different from my own.鈥�
Both Piltzmaker and Girouard intend to pursue a degree in education and jumped at the chance to improve their French language skills before doing so.
鈥淎fter learning about the opportunity with France 脡ducation International, I was immediately drawn to the idea of living abroad while working as a language assistant among others from all over the world,鈥� said Piltzmaker. 鈥淭his enriching opportunity has provided me with valuable real-life experience in an extremely relevant field of work.鈥�
Girouard feels that this has been the best life experience she has ever had. 鈥淚 would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves to learn, teach, and travel, and enjoys challenging themselves by stepping out of their comfort zone,鈥� she said.
Created in 1945 as the Centre international d鈥櫭﹖udes p茅dagogiques, France 脡ducation International is an institution under the supervision of the French Ministry of National Education and Youth. Its mission is to provide support for the teaching of French around the world.
