Language students often take advantage of study abroad opportunities to immerse themselves in a language.
The following programs offer specific opportunities of interest to language students.
French
The Strasbourg Program
The Strasbourg Program offers the opportunity to spend a year of studies at the Institut international d’études françaises at the Université de Strasbourg. Students may earn up to 30 credits in French language, literature and/or cognates. These credits may be applied to the minor, the major, and honours programs.
For more information, visit international exchange programs.
Assistants d’anglais en France
Teach English in France! This program is intended for graduating students from Canadian universities who wish to spend a year in France working as English language assistants in French universities, but students who wish to take a year off after they have completed two years of study at a Canadian university can also participate.
Find out more about the program
What is an assistant?
Your role will be to improve your students’ confidence in spoken English through interactive and recreational activities. Students will also expect you to introduce them to Canadian culture. You will have to plan various activities and games using everyday, authentic oral and written documents from Canada.
Deadline
The deadline for submitting the application is Jan. 15, 2021. Application forms and supportive documentation should be submitted online (www.tapif.org).
Application fee
A non-refundable application fee of $55 CAD is required for processing the application.
Language proficiency
Please note that you should have a functional knowledge of French as well as an interest in French language and culture to apply. A minimum B1 level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages is required. This is roughly the level achieved by a student who has completed FREN 1711 with a minimum of B-. French majors and minors are particularly encouraged to apply.
Language assessment
Students are strongly advised to ask professors in French at Mount Allison University to fill out their two assessment forms (the referee needs to be able to evaluate your French).
Salary
This is a paid internship that allows students to acquire valuable teaching experience. The net monthly salary of a teaching assistant is approximately 800 euros per month. This salary provides enough money to live in the lifestyle of a typical French student.
Please note that assistants are responsible for their own travel expenses.
Personal funds are recommended for the initial period of the contract.
Student assistants are required to work 12 hours per week.
Posting
All contracts start on Oct. 1 and and finish on April 30 every year.
French schools are located in 30 different administrative regions called académies (school board district). On the application form, applicants can choose up to three académies. You may be posted anywhere within an académie.
You will be able to choose between primary and secondary school teaching.
Who can apply?
The following requirements are not flexible:
- Candidates must be Canadian citizens residing in Canada at the time of the application.
- Candidates must be between 20 and 35 years old on the start date of the program.
- Candidates must have completed at least two years of university studies.
- Candidates must have completed the majority of their secondary and university studies in Canada.
- Proficiency in French is required (see above).
- The selection process favours applicants who have prior experience teaching or working with children, teenagers, and/or adults. This is not required, but all applicants should demonstrate at least an interest in education.
Further information
For further information on the program and related opportunities, check out:
- Teaching Assistant Program in France — official program website
- France Education International — information for foreign language assistants
- Transitions Abroad — practical information for teaching assistants and information about other opportunities that might be of interest
For more information about the program, contact:
Dr. Mark Lee
mlee@mta.ca
Explore
Discover another region of Canada! Although offered in Canada with sponsorship from the federal government, the Explore program also provides students with an exceptional opportunity to improve proficiency in French in a different geographic context.
Find out more about the program
About the program
Explore is a five-week intensive language-immersion bursary program. You can take the program in the spring or summer.
Letter of permission
Mount Allison students planning to participate in the Explore program are first required to obtain a Letter of Permission from the Registrar’s Office.
Please apply as early as possible and at least one month prior to the commencement of the program.
Course credit
All participating Explore institutions provide participants with an official certificate. However, not all Explore institutions offer credit for the program. In order to earn transfer credits for the program you must attend an Explore institution that offers credit.
Please confirm directly with the institution you will be attending whether they offer credit.
Upon successful completion of the program at a credit-granting institution, students can obtain six non-designated credits in French Immersion at the 1000 level.
It is your responsibility to have an official transcript sent directly from the host institution to the Registrar’s Office at Mount Allison.
Further information
Please visit the program website at https://englishfrench.ca/ for details.
German
CSSG: Kassel Summer Study Program
The Canadian Summer School in Germany (CSSG) is managed through the German section of the MLL in partnership. It offers university-level language and culture studies in Kassel, in a unique and intensive immersion program.
Find out more about the program
The CSSG is organized under the auspices of the Canadian Association of University Teachers of German (CAUTG) and offers courses at the intermediate and advanced level.
For a period of approximately 6-1/2 weeks, students participate in a full course (approximately 85 hours of classroom instruction) and in numerous additional activities:
- lectures at various museums
- visits to theatres and operas
- excursions to cities with cultural and historical significance
- four-day trip to Berlin
The main feature of the program, though, is the students' rapid progress in linguistic skills enhanced mainly by the fact that they are immersed in German life, culture, and civilization. The courses offered in Kassel are Augustana Faculty, University of Alberta courses and credits are transferred to Mount Allison participants upon successful completion of the program.
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Program
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is a publicly-funded independent organization of higher education institutions in Germany. It provides financial support to highly-qualified students for research and study in Germany.
Students from Mount Allison apply for University summer course grants, but they also submit applications for the more substantial Undergraduate Scholarship which can allow for up to 10 months of study at a German university. Credit from the German universities attended is transferred to their programs at Mount Allison.
For more information, visit the DAAD website.
PAD (English Language Assistant Program)
The PAD program is an initiative of the government of Germany. It facilitates the employment of graduates from Canadian university as English language assistants in German high schools. This is a very popular program and our students at Mount Allison have benefited from the experience of living and working in Germany for a protracted period of time.
This program is administered through Acadia University, but students at Mount Allison apply through the German section of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Mount A.
» Find out more about the program
Tübingen exchange program
The Tübingen Exchange program is administered through International Studies at Mount Allison University.
For more information, visit international exchange programs.
Philipps-Universität Marburg programs
There are two study program options at Philipps-Universität Marburg for exchange students to choose from:
- Regular program — requires students to have advanced German language ability. students in this program can take regular courses at Marburg University offered in German.
- International Undergraduate Study Program (IUSP) — for students who wish to study in English. Students in this program are required to take a German language course, a German history and culture course, and three electives of their choosing. No prior knowledge of German is necessary for the IUSP.
For more information, visit international exchange programs.
Hispanic studies
University of Extremadura exchange program
The University of Extremadura exchange program takes place in Cáceres, Spain, a typical Spanish city nestled out of the way of tourists and situated near the border with Portugal, about two hours southwest of Madrid.
Its isolation from English-speaking tourists makes its location ideal for Mount Allison students, as they will properly become immersed in the language in this environment.
The program offers a for-pay language school, and one or two semester-long options in which students would take courses suitable for their academic career at Mount Allison and earn credits toward their degree while paying Mount Allison tuition fees.
The cost of living in Cáceres is similar to that of Sackville and the area surrounding the university will ensure a unique cultural immersion as much as a linguistic one.
For more information, visit international exchange programs.
Cultural Ambassadors: Language and Culture Assistants in Spain
After graduating from Mount Allison, several of our students have applied to work in Spain teaching English or French for eight months. This is a program that the Spanish Government offers to young Canadians.
Students are sent to different parts of the country to work as teaching assistants, mainly in middle or secondary schools. The process begins with a direct application to the Ministry of Education of Spain, via the Embassy of Spain in Canada, and a recommendation letter from a Spanish professor who knows the applicant directly. Several of our students have chosen this unique opportunity that allows them to know the different cultures of the country and improve their knowledge of the Spanish language.
» Find out more about the program
Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso
A language and culture program is available through PUCV in the summer for those who wish to study Spanish in Chile. Prior knowledge of Spanish is not required. This program is not considered an exchange, therefore tuition is paid to PUCV for participation in their language and culture program.
For more information, visit international exchange programs.
Japanese
KGU (Kwansei Gakuin University) exchange program
KGU is located near Kobe adjacent to the ancient city, Kyoto. This year-long program (September to July) consists of intensive Japanese language studies and Japan/East Asia studies.
Students who have completed at least 1000-level Japanese (2000-level recommended) at Mount Allison are eligible. When the KGU program is successfully completed, transfer credits may be earned and applied in fulfillment of the minor/major in Japanese Studies. Up to three students from each university are exchanged every year.
For more information, visit international exchange programs.
KGU Cross-Cultural College (CCC)
With a subsidy from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), KGU launched this program in collaboration with three universities in Canada — Queen's University, the University of Toronto and Mount Allison University — in the spring of 2012.
Students from both countries work together on the key courses of multicultural studies and international relations in the form of seminar/ internships. The course activities take place in both Japan and Canada throughout the year.
For more information, visit international exchange programs.
Waseda University exchange program
Waseda University is located in the heart of Tokyo. Mount Allison University has an exchange agreement with the School of International Liberal Studies (SILS). SILS offers a one-year program and a spring semester (March-July) program. In addition to Japanese language courses, SILS offers courses in a wide range of subjects in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
For more information, visit international exchange programs.