This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
It was a lot of fun and working only 12 hours a week you can't complain!
The English teachers were generally pleased to have an 'authentic' English person to help with their lessons so I felt quite valued!
My tutor was really interested and helpful so i was lucky. i really depends on your school.
Most days I worked 1-3 hours, the rest of the time was for planning lessons and just free time....!
I was allowed to take classes on my own so that involved responsibility, however the teachers all gave me the option of either helping in their lessons or taking my own.
Learning to stand in front of a class of students and trying to hold their attention for an hour came in useful for presentations in final year.
The Company
The atmosphere in the staffroom was generally good, but I didn't spend too much time there.
The schools were generally unorganised and most assistants didn't get a timetable for the first few weeks, so only really started teaching after the October holidays!
The British Council held one training day during the year but we had already been teaching for a few weeks so it wasn't that useful.
Flexi Time
Subsidised Canteen
Above 25 days holiday
Its a good way travel and earn money at the same time, I would do it again but you can't be a language assistant for life...!
The Culture
Yes- there were lots of language assistants in my school and in other schools in Lyon, we socialised a lot as we had so much spare time on our hands!
Our salary wasn't huge but it was great for the amount of hours we worked. Lyon was quite expensive for France.
There are a lot of students in the city so the nightlife was great!
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
Education/Teaching
South West
January 2008