FRENCH LESSONS TEAM
CONVERSATION | READING | WRITING
Our mission
Sciences Po Refugee Help’s French Lessons Team operates in various housing centers and teaches the asylum seekers living there language skills, as well as key cultural elements, to facilitate their social integration within French society. The main objective is to return a sense of autonomy to asylum seekers’ daily lives, overcoming language barriers as they learn to interact with French speakers and gain a better understanding of the environment they live in.
Our activities
Approximately 15 volunteers teach one-hour lessons to asylum seekers on a weekly basis. Our team works in three housing centers, running lessons on multiple days of the week. These centers are :
- The Albin Peyron Center : 60 rue des Frères Flavien, 75020, Paris
- The Halte Humanitaire Center : 33 avenue du Président Wilson, 93200 Saint-Denis
- The Aurore Center : 31 rue Falguière, 75015 Paris
Our priority is to help asylum seekers develop solid communication skills which will facilitate their integration into society. As such, a particular emphasis is placed on oral communication; our sessions are rooted in oral exchange and are constructed in a highly interactive manner. We put effort into ensuring the lessons’ continuity to provide asylum seekers with a logical and coherent progression throughout the French language.
Our volunteers
Our volunteers, led by two coordinators, use teaching material provided to them by the association or the centers. Both students and teachers are in constant communication throughout the academic year to monitor class progression and discuss the various obstacles encountered. Meanwhile, the coordinators ensure fluid communication with social workers and the center's administration by handling material purchases, organizing class schedules, and assessing the needs of asylum seekers in the Paris region during classes. Activities are then reported to the Administration Team of Sciences Po Refugee Help, and communicated to other branches for discussion and feedback.
Contact us! Write to french.lessons@refugeehelp.fr
MEET THE COORDINATORS
Alice Robert
Hi! I am Alice, I am a French M1 student in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action. Through my studies and volunteering experiences, I got the opportunity to get acquainted with asylum law and provide material support to people on the move in the North of France and in Serbia. Each time, I realized how much the language barrier can be an obstacle for newcomers. That’s why I am very happy to be part of SPRH and coordinate the French lessons team this year!
Chloe Sibille
I’m Chloe, a first year master student at the research school studying political science. Before this I was enrolled on the Menton campus where I was first introduced to SPRH. I am really pleased to continue volunteering for this great association on the Paris campus as part of the French lessons branch !