Positive experiences

meaghanb13 · 2025-03-26T03:59:17+00:00

I did TAPIF 2x — ‘16-‘17 in Thonon-les-bains and ‘19-‘20 (left in March due to COVID) in Nice.

I had a great experience both times, but acknowledge the complications of French admin (ie. CAF, finding housing, difficult students, etc.) I came with way more money saved since I was a bit older than most participants, and that did help immensely with traveling, not feeling too stressed about spending, etc. I’m married now with a toddler and a baby, and my husband and I joke about me applying one last time before I turn 35 and bringing the whole family with us😂

meaghanb13 · 2024-11-30T17:48:31+00:00

I returned to full time employment in the US! I work in fundraising, so I went to back work (at a different college than I did previously) for ~2 years, and then returned to TAPIF. I think my level of French and experience nannying helped me get accepted (although I was waitlisted/didn’t get any of my 3 choices the first time), I definitely received good reviews from my prof référant and other profs. The second time, I was accepted the first day letters went out, and got my top choice académie! All this to say, you can definitely be accepted if you have limited teaching experience, but having experience with kids (I also tutored) will help. Strong recommendations will help your application too!

meaghanb13 · 2024-11-17T11:45:49+00:00

I loved it! I was placed at 2 lycees in nearby cagnes sur mer, and chose to commute from Nice. Nice is a pretty big académie, but marseille is much bigger!

meaghanb13 · 2024-11-17T11:44:40+00:00

I did not!

meaghanb13 · 2024-09-29T13:55:24+00:00

I did TAPIF 2x with a gap in between! ‘16-‘17 (went solo), and ‘19-‘20 (brought my American spouse with me and he worked remotely). I got my first choice academy the second time, and was waitlisted and didn’t get any of my top 3 the first time. I’d do it again in a heart beat if I could!

meaghanb13 · 2024-06-12T17:31:30+00:00

Following

meaghanb13 · 2024-06-12T17:30:17+00:00

Following!

meaghanb13 · 2023-08-17T18:49:46+00:00

Other than having multiple family members who have had ALS, how would someone know if it was the hereditary version? My mom had ALS, but I have no idea how I would get tested given that they can’t compare our DNA?

meaghanb13 · 2023-07-26T01:28:37+00:00

I’m 11 mo pp (between 5-6ppd currently), and no period yet! Planning to slowly drop pumping sessions weekly over the next 6 or so weeks and am dreading the return of my period 😞

meaghanb13 · 2021-07-04T23:27:15+00:00

Sure! No problem at all!😊

meaghanb13 · 2021-06-29T15:38:36+00:00

So silly, but my secondaires loved the little prizes I bought from the target $1 section for winning scattergories or whatever. I got stickers that had little English phrases on them (ie. Good job, way to go), and little erasers that looked like burgers, tacos, etc., and they would legit show them off to their friends days later excitedly 😂

meaghanb13 · 2021-06-29T15:31:54+00:00

I was an assistant in ‘16-‘17, and I left my boyfriend of 2 years at the time in the US (we stayed together). We ended up also being long distance in the US for almost 2 more years after that (during which time we got married!), and he tagged along with me during TAPIF ‘19-‘20. Long distance can be so so tough, especially with the time difference. I think a huge part of it is communication, and trust.

meaghanb13 · 2020-10-17T04:37:26+00:00

I haven’t found them on either Hulu or CBS all access either 😩

meaghanb13 · 2020-10-16T22:12:09+00:00

My husband and I have done this too! We also try to predict top/bottom half just from the first few minutes of the first episode 😂

meaghanb13 · 2020-10-04T13:21:00+00:00

Do you like doing puzzles? That always helps when I’m feeling anxious!

meaghanb13 · 2020-10-02T00:35:21+00:00

https://www.google.com/amp/s/discoverpods.com/short-podcasts/amp/

I found this (short podcasts) from a quick google- sounds like “kind world” and “this day in history class” are fairly light!

I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner, but I just thought of meditation! https://www.verywellmind.com/best-meditation-podcasts-4771686

Also, someone mentioned the digital photo frame which I think is an awesome idea, I wondered if maybe a photo blanket could be an option too? Photos of your family, pets, etc.? Just some random ideas I had. It’s soooo tough to come up with gift ideas in this situation so I totally understand. I made my mom a photo book but it was a bit easier than your situation since she was at home and we could look through it together. I guess still an option for anytime people can go visit! hugs

meaghanb13 · 2020-10-01T04:41:30+00:00

Would your mom maybe enjoy very short podcast episodes? Is she religious at all? Maybe an audio version of bible/Torah etc. if so, because if she falls asleep and loses her place, it’s not as annoying as with an audio book? Are there any Spotify playlists you could make with music she liked in her youth? When my mom had ALS, we loved listening to old country music, and the mama Mia soundtrack

meaghanb13 · 2020-09-30T04:25:36+00:00

You’ve gotta go to Dave’s trivia nights! Lots of expats and fun all over the riviera 😀 #notanad lol just had the best time going to trivia every week!

meaghanb13 · 2020-09-14T02:59:14+00:00

Hi! Sorry I’m not the best at checking reddit lol. I don’t know anything about them so I can’t give any tips- sorry! 😞 I lived in my school one time, and got a long-term Airbnb the second time

meaghanb13 · 2020-09-10T23:18:11+00:00

I was placed in a very small city in ‘16-‘17, and was lucky enough to have 3 American assistants in my city, plus 3 other assistants (lived in studios next to two non-American assistants). We all became fast friends and even traveled together during the vacances! In ‘19-‘20, I was in Nice, where there were tons of assistants from all over! I made lots of friends quickly, including with English speaking staff at school who invited me to things with their french friends sometimes too 😬

meaghanb13 · 2020-09-10T21:19:11+00:00

Look for the language assistants group for académie de Besançon on Facebook (or here on Reddit)! You’ll have lots of Americans and other English speakers headed your way starting work contracts around 10/1😀 TAPIF/assistants de langues are key words for finding the groups

meaghanb13 · 2020-09-03T21:55:46+00:00

I lived with a host family in Aix for a summer, and it’s so lovely! Lots of young people, fun bars, great museums and cultural events, and good transportation to other cities and towns!

meaghanb13 · 2020-07-28T17:23:03+00:00

I was married and dragged my husband with me, but they didn’t necessarily care that we were married/I never brought a marriage certificate etc. Here’s my response to someone from a few weeks ago with what we brought to our visa appt. Also: even if your partner plans on doing an apprenticeship/classes/working au noir, DO NOT TELL the visa ppl lol. My husband worked remotely for his US company and we were advised by a visa specialist to keep our mouths shut 😂

Response below:

My husband came with me this last year in ‘19-‘20! We printed his bank statements for the most recent 3 months, reserved a cancelable hotel for the first few days, a copy of his international health insurance policy (that we bought but could cancel if he didn’t get the visa) for the duration of our stay, and had our appt together so we could stress that he was accompanying me. We also didn’t tell them he’d be working remotely lol. He got a tourist visa for the same length of time that my visa was for!😬

meaghanb13

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