Erasmus Language Assistants

Internship as a Teaching or Language Assistant in a School

Most schools are keen to recruit language assistants in English, but German, French and Spanish are also in demand. In addition to the language as a school subject, it may well happen that you should / can also teach other subjects (often history, geography, economics, science, ...) in this language. Often, schools offer a room for a workgroup in their native language. In general, the assistants are allowed a lot of freedom to personalize their stay.

Working hours at school are between 10 and 20 hours a week. Accommodation is often provided by the school itself, also sub-rent with teachers are not rare.

Who is eligible?

This option is especially interesting for future teachers, but of course also students of other departments who would like to get to know the teaching profession more closely. At least 4 semesters must be completed before the internship can be started and funded.

How long can I stay?

Positions as language assistants usually last one semester or one school year. The minimum duration for funding is 2 months (60 days), with a maximum of 12 months. Each study cycle (Bachelor, Master, PhD) can be funded by the Erasmus + program for a maximum of 12 months. So if you already completed a study visit of 5 months in your current cycle, you have 7 months left for an internship or a language assistant internship.

Funding amount

Whether your internship as a language assistant will be remunerated depends on the school, but in principle you should not expect any payment. However, you can apply for funding through the Erasmus + program, which is independent of the school's compensation for the internship.

The financial support for Erasmus+ student stays is based on the different costs of living in the target countries ("program countries").

The following three country groups apply to ERASMUS internships in the 2023/24 project year:

• Group 1: Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.
• Group 2: Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus.
• Group 3: Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slowenia, Macedonia, Czech Republic, Türkiye, Hungary.

During the project year 2023/24 the University of Bremen supports ERASMUS internships with these grants:

Group 1: 750 euros
Group 2: 690 euros
Group 3: 640 euros

In order to enable all students to receive funding, we are unfortunately forced to limit the funding duration of the mobilities in the 2023/24 project year. Internships abroad lasting less than 4 months are funded on a per-day basis, internships abroad lasting between 4 and 6 months (120 - 179 days) are funded for a flat rate of 4 months (120 days). Internships abroad between 6 and 8 months (180 - 239 days) are funded for 6 months (180 days) and internships abroad of more than 8 months (240 days and more) are funded for 8 months (240 days).

Applications

You apply for an internship as a so-called Teaching Assistant on your own. You can apply at any school in the EU (as well as the partner countries Turkey, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein). A list of schools that are explicitly searching for language assistants can be found here. Even if the periods are out of date, you can generally assume that at least one language assistant will be recruited every year. Moreover, the indicated periods are often negotiable with the schools.

You can apply here via our database MobilityOnline. Afterwards, please upload the following documents (which can be downloaded  in MobilityOnline:

• Letter of motivation
• Certificate of enrollment
• Curriculum vitae (if possible in Europass format)
• Confirmation of Training Placement (to be filled out by the company)
• ECTS certificate or recognition in the case of voluntary internships

Closing date for applications

The application for the ERASMUS funding of an internship abroad can be submitted anytime prior to the start of the internship at the International Office.
If you wish to do an internship after you graduate, you must submit the application before the end of your studies.