I moved to Paris in May 2024 for a new job, and after a few months of settling in, I found Serve The City by Googling ‘volunteering in Paris’, attracted by the flexibility (I was often travelling back and forth to London), the range of opportunities, and the mixture of French and English. In January 2025, I joined the English language and culture exchange programme. I later joined the French language exchange, and then the Saturday morning food distribution, taking on more responsibility as time went on.
The language exchanges start with a half-hour class, covering a particular aspect of life in a French- or English-speaking country, followed by an hour of conversation and a group meal (pizza!). Volunteers are paired with beneficiaries, but there isn’t a completely strict divide; almost all of us are immigrants in Paris, with different native languages and levels of proficiency. After a few months, I began preparing and delivering language classes on topics such as my life as a scientist and films and emotions. My first language exchange was with a serious-seeming teenager from West Africa who spoke French but little English. He didn’t seem very excited to learn the vocabulary I wanted to teach him about the topic of the day, so I asked him about his dream job. He wanted to be an engineer, so we learned words like ‘machine’, ‘factory’, ‘repair’. He finally cracked a smile when we tested his knowledge with a practice interview.
Moments of connection like this have brought me a lot of satisfaction while volunteering with STCP. Many beneficiaries tell me that they have no, limited, or very negative experience with formal education. As an academic and lecturer, I have been very privileged in my educational experience, and my goal has been to share the joy of learning in a relaxed and supportive environment. It always helps to find a topic that people enjoy talking about: food is a popular subject, and (unfortunately for me) so is cricket – I remember one man with almost no knowledge of English telling me he was an all-rounder. In return, I have been able to learn about cultures all over the world, hearing about topics like Beninese vodún, Afghan food, Sudanese marriages, etc. It is important to remember that the exchange is a two-way street – just because you have more fluency in the target language doesn’t mean you have more worthwhile things to say.
Community and solidarity are at the heart of STCP, and for me, one of the most valuable aspects has been the chance to feel more connected to a new city, in a new country, while doing something meaningful with my time. I remember at food outreach, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I’d been having a difficult week. Inspired by our American volunteers, we went around the room with everyone saying something they were thankful for. Almost everyone, including the many refugees who volunteer during food outreach, said how grateful they were to have an opportunity to help others. I think this is entirely genuine: being able to do something for others nourishes you in a way that I believe is necessary for us to thrive.
One of my highlights of the year was helping to organise, prepare and deliver a 12-week intensive class working on literacy skills for beneficiaries who had difficulty reading and writing in French. It was a huge amount of fun, requiring a lot of hard work and commitment from our students. By learning a few sounds each class, playing a lot of games, and encouraging the students to help each other, we made great progress in helping our small group navigate life in France. The focus these classes demand can be exhausting, and I was very impressed when, during the heatwave, one of our students chose to come to class after working 8 hours on a building site in the 41C heat.
Humility is a central tenet of STC’s mission, and for me that involves recognising the hard work that goes into navigating a new country as an asylum seeker or refugee, while still choosing to put in the hours to practice a new language (sometimes their fifth or sixth language). It takes great strength of character to go through the challenge of leaving home, perhaps against your wishes and in difficult circumstances, finding a community somewhere new and very unfamiliar, and showing up week after week to be cheerful, respectful and interested.
As a researcher and teacher, I believe the communication skills that can be gained in any new environment like this are valuable in the workplace. Beyond that, I really learned a lot about what life is like for people with all sorts of life stories. Sometimes we had to navigate unpleasant moments, perhaps due to interacting with people who were in a difficult situation, or dealing with attendees who were not in the best frame of mind. People may come from a very different background to you, and sometimes patience is required to overcome different communication norms and encourage mutual respect. However, I felt STCP was an excellent and supportive environment to tackle these challenges, and I have come out of it more skilled and confident as an organiser and educator.
One of my favourite classes to deliver was about gender roles in France and sexism, topics which I am passionate about. As our beneficiaries come from a range of cultures, I wondered how they would respond, but we had some great discussions, and everyone was attentive and interested. I was keen to teach them words like ‘discrimination’ and ‘stereotype’, which I thought may help them understand aspects of their own experience, but as my Afghan friend told me when we discussed the French motto liberté, egalité, fraternité: “These are very important to me: they’re the reasons I came to France. The only thing I would change is to make it fraternité et sororité.”
I made some wonderful friends and connections in STCP, with people from all over the globe, all building a community together in Paris. I will miss you all dearly and wish you the best for the future. Bon courage!
By Naomi Solomons
