Three UPEI graduates teaching English in France

Three recent UPEI graduates who studied French with the Department of Modern Languages are spending the 2024–2025 school year in France under the “assistants de langues vivantes étrangères” (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 Lycée Henri Avril in Lamballe, Brittany, France; Piltzmaker is working at two schools (primary and elementary) in Chambéry, Savoie, France; and Girouard is teaching at the Lycée Gabriel Faure in Annecy, Savoie, France.

ALVE is offered under the aegis of France Éducation 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 UPEI graduates are thrilled with this international experience. 

“As a recent graduate, I have to decide soon what I really want to do, and before entering this program, I wasn’t entirely sure what my goal was,” said Burgoyne. “But 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.” 

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. 

“After learning about the opportunity with France Éducation International, I was immediately drawn to the idea of living abroad while working as a language assistant among others from all over the world,” said Piltzmaker. “This enriching opportunity has provided me with valuable real-life experience in an extremely relevant field of work.” 

Girouard feels that this has been the best life experience she has ever had. “I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves to learn, teach, and travel, and enjoys challenging themselves by stepping out of their comfort zone,” she said.

Created in 1945 as the Centre international d’études pédagogiques, France Éducation 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.