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I need to undertake a "Stage de Sensibilisation à la Sécurité Routière" because of a traffic infraction, but my spoken French isn't very good. Given the number of driving schools around Paris that cater to English speakers, I was hoping to find somewhere that conducted this course in English.

It turns out to be quite hard to Google for this, because there are lots of companies that conduct these courses, and just adding on "en Anglais" to the query causes Google to provide me with a translation, but not really any more refined search results.

Is there anywhere that does the Stage de Sensibilisation à la Sécurité Routière in English, or in some way accommodates non-Francophones?

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    The French have historically been so protective of their language that I would be truly astonished if they stooped so 'low' as to offer a government-ish civil course in English. But maybe somebody will come along and surprise me.
    – ouflak ♦
    Commented May 18, 2021 at 9:00
  • The courses are conducted by private companies, and the government provides support for non-Francophones taking the code de la route and practical driving tests with the help of translators. So it doesn’t seem inherently impossible.
    – Marq
    Commented May 18, 2021 at 10:58
  • Yeah now that I've thought about it a bit more, there is a rather large non-Francophile population in France over the last couple of decades. It makes sense that there would be atleast some accomodations there.
    – ouflak ♦
    Commented May 18, 2021 at 16:27
  • is there a test at the end of it? Use the time wisely to help improve your French - you may even find the lecturer is kindly towards you (to improve his/her English). Start by studying the code de la route...
    – graham
    Commented Jul 17, 2021 at 10:03

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Apparently Not

I contacted many schools in Paris conducting these stages, and none of them offered the courses in English. Several schools indicated that their instructors spoke English and could help out if needed during the stage.

The stage itself is of course conducted in French. If you are able to understand some French and pay attention, it's possible to follow the gist of what's being discussed. The stage I attended involved a fair amount of participation, but the other students were kind and helpful and accommodated my significant language gaps.

(Amusingly enough, some of the road safety videos shown during the stage were made in Australia, and thus were in English with French subtitles).

Note that there is no examination for the stage. If you show up and make a genuine effort, even if your French comprehension is very poor, you will be fine.

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