Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF)
Middlebury Language Schools is an official partner with the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) to provide funding for our French MA degrees and Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) with a Secondary Teaching License to qualified alumni in recognition of their commitment to language and cross-cultural exchange.
Funding
Depending on your demonstrated financial need and degree track as follows, you are eligible to receive:
- MA in four summers on the Vermont campus: Up to 100 percent
- MA in 3 summers on the Vermont campus and one summer in Paris: Up to 100 percent
- MA with an initial summer in Vermont, followed by an academic year in Paris: Up to 47 percent
- MA with an initial summer in Vermont, followed by an academic year in Paris, and a final summer in Vermont: Up to 54 percent
- MAT with a summer in Vermont, followed by an academic year online, summer in Vermont, and teaching practicum: Up to 100%
Eligibility
TAPIF alumni are eligible for our need-based graduate financial aid and an application fee waiver. Our financial aid is awarded in the form of grants, not loans. This means that if you qualify, you will attend the School of French at a reduced cost. The official partnership started in 2018.
Deadline
You are encouraged to apply as early as possible, and follow the application deadlines.
The deadline for applying to the academic year in Paris option is March 15, and there is limited funding for this option. Aid awards are offered on a first come, first served basis. If you need funding to attend, you are encouraged to apply as early as possible.
Application and Financial Aid
- Please review the graduate program application requirements and instructions.
- Once you have started your application (and before you have submitted it), please email the School of French at frenchgraduate@middlebury.edu to receive your application fee waiver.
- Once the waiver has been processed (typically within 24 hours), submit your application with the required transcripts, letters of recommendation, and language assessment.
- When you apply, indicate in the short answer questions that you’re affiliated with TAPIF.
- Upon submitting your application, you will receive a confirmation email which will include a link to our need-based financial aid application. Please complete and submit this application.
French Graduate Partnership with TAPIF
Work as a TAPIF English teaching assistant in the Paris region while earning an MA in French!
Spend two summers on our Vermont campus, and an academic year in the Paris region where you will teach for TAPIF while completing master’s course work at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle. You’ll deepen your cultural and linguistic French and Francophone knowledge, learn from outstanding specialists in the field of “Didactique du français et des langues”, and enjoy a fantastic TAPIF experience, all at the same time.
Your Middlebury MA in French will open doors to teaching opportunities throughout the US and prepare you to teach in various settings abroad. Applications to both Middlebury and TAPIF are required! Deadline is February 1. Additional Application Instructions - French
Middlebury and TAPIF Alumni
Sam Bell
I did both the Master’s in Teaching (MAT) with Licensure AND TAPIF. I studied in Vermont for two 6-week summers, completed 4 classes online (while living in Fécamp, France with TAPIF), and am now completing the teaching practicum for the fall. TAPIF and Language Schools have made teaching in French a breeze. My mentor commented on how my accent and fluency have dramatically improved since doing these programs. Middlebury has given me the skills to teach, and TAPIF has given me the experiences to make French real for my students. Read more
Melissa Duluc
I chose the Language Schools after TAPIF for two reasons. The first was because while I was doing TAPIF, I met other Teaching Assistants who had done Middlebury in the past and had nothing but positive experiences from it. The second was because I knew that I still wanted to expand my French language skills after TAPIF. Being able to apply the language skills I learned during TAPIF to the Master’s in French truly resulted in a positive learning experience. Once I heard about the Language Schools and their fully immersive program, I knew I just had to do it to improve my French language abilities immensely.
Sean Fonteyne
It’s important to keep an open mind and remain adaptable to whatever comes your way during your TAPIF experience. As far as the Master’s in French program at Middlebury, I would strongly recommend it to anyone looking for an intensely satisfying educational experience! I chose the 4-summer option.
Brittney Gehrig
Complete this thought: “Learning another language means…” My answer for this question is influenced by the poster I have hanging in my office in the World Languages building at Boise State! It is an image I printed out from the ACTFL website years ago—a quote from Charlemagne: “To speak another language is to possess another soul.” I can’t seem to come up with a better definition because this rings true for me daily! Read more about Brittney and her TAPIF experience.