Will work for French conversation.

March 9, 2008 8:44 AM

Where can I stay in France this summer?

OK, So it's looking like I'm going to have two months free this summer that I wasn't planning on, and I want to spend it speaking French. Last summer I did WWOOF on a farm near Provence for a month, and it was a good experience so I'll probably do that again. But I was wondering what other volunteering oppurtunities might be out there?
I'm ideally looking to for a place where there are plenty of young people to sit around chatting to. I'm prepared to spend up to a thousand euros or so if it would be worthwhile, but language school seems like a bit of a waste of time at this point, I just need to talk to French people!

Merci d'avance.

(I've been working as a language assistant in France for six months, but mostly hanging around with the other English assistants. I can converse pretty freely in French, but certainly not well enough to do an actual job that anyone would pay me for).

posted by greytape to work & money (2 comments total)

Ahem, you could go here. Actually, my brother-in-law (that's his stage name now) has been there so I can get more info for you if you Memail me. He's been to a lot of places over there. My husband was a ballet dancer in France for many years so he can chip in when he gets home.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 9:51 AM on March 9

It's not volunteer work but at the end of the summer (from september to october) is vintage time. Meaning a lot of winemakers are hiring small hands to do the grunt of work of picking and selecting the grapes.
It's an easy to get summer job in France. The pay is usually not that good and it's a pretty physically demanding job (don't do it if you have back problems) but usually they provide with lodging and food, sometimes free wine.
I found this page specifically made to register yourself as a "vendangeur", it's in french but nothing too tricky.
In general try to search for the word "saisonnier" it means season worker litteraly.
posted by SageLeVoid at 12:20 PM on March 9 [1 favorite]