French Lessons

Our mission

Sciences Po Refugee Help’s French Classes Team operates in various housing centres hosting asylum seekers to teach French, raise awareness amongst residents on French culture’s principal themes, and 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 25 volunteers teach one-hour-lessons to asylum seekers on a weekly or more basis. Our team works in five housing centers, each of them offering lessons on several days of the week except on weekends. These centers are ::

The Jean Jaurès Center : 243 bis Bd Jean Jaurès 92100 Boulogne Billancourt
The René Coty Center : 8 bis Avenue René Coty, 75014 Paris
The Cair/Cama Center : 20 Bd Poniatowski, 75012 Paris
The Albin Peyron Center : 60 rue des Frères Flavien 75020
The Pierre Sémard Establishment : 1 Avenue Pierre Sémard, 94200 Ivry-sur-Seine

Our priority is to help asylum seekers develop solid communication tools which will facilitate their integration in their day to day activities. 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 in ensuring the lessons’ continuity in order to provide asylum seekers a logical and coherent progression throughout french language. Lessons are given by a minimum of 2 volunteers, allowing to create groups in order to ajust ourselves to the levels of the students. Registration is not mandatory, and our classes are open to all.

Our volunteers

French classes are delivered by over 25 Sciences Po Refugee Help volunteers, led by 2 coordinators. Volunteers 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. On their end, coordinators ensure fluid communication with social workers and centre administration, handling material purchases, organising 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.