Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Students in Polynesia Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Tahiti & French Polynesia
jamiepriestley 03:48 UTC 15 Oct 2007 | Hello, I am a student from edinburgh current;ly trying to plan my third year abroad as part of a language degee. i have to spend some time in the french speaking world and was wondering if anyone has any idea on possibilities in this part of the world. either as an assistant in a school or college or as a job smewhere. I intend to use french as much as possible, does anyone know how much english is spoken in the area, ( as little as possible, though i understand this is now rare..!!) any help would be greatly received. Thank you |
raro 05:07 UTC 15 Oct 2007 | As you posted on Tahiti and Fr. Polynesia---Of course, the main European language spoken is French, but locals actually speak to each other in Tahitian a lot more than in French. In the main tourist areas some people will speak a little English, whatever is enough to deal with sales, directions, etc. But outside of tourist areas few, if any, will speak more than a few words of English. Your bigger problem will be to get a job. Very difficult for foreigners, esp. those not from France. | 1
jamiepriestley 01:47 UTC 18 Oct 2007 | thanks raro, very helpful..... glad that english is not spoken... is te problem with getting a job due to visa restrictions or due to lack of jobs? would you know if there are many french speaking schools that may be looking for language assistants? | 2
raro 06:15 UTC 18 Oct 2007 | I think jobs for those not French would require a visa in advance, but I'm not certain. No idea about the schools needed help. There are some dedicated Fr. Polynesia websites, some are mentioned on other posts. I'd start with those, and then of course contact your closest French Embassy for more on the working visa situation for Tahiti. | 3
ejpiii 07:04 UTC 30 Oct 2007 | FP is officially a district of France and requires the same paperwork as for any other EU national. If your French is up to it you can read the local papers which will put ads in-for what you are looking for-almost exclusively in French. Ed | 4