France is a wonderful place to live in, as you already know if you are reading this. Teaching English provides a way of making a living, and a way to make new friends. A TEFL course (“TESOL Program” in the USA) is what you need to start teaching. As little as 5 years ago, language schools in France were taking on pretty much anyone to teach English, as long as they were a native speaker and spoke a bit of French. Nobody had really heard of TEFL certification. But thankfully for French learners of English, there are more and more TEFL qualified teachers out there, so language schools no longer need to take on non-qualified teachers. In fact even experienced teachers are now being asked for it the certificate, and the whole “industry” is being regulated and overhauled. The good news for you, is that that outside Paris and some Mediterranean areas, most of France is still FAR from being saturated with TEFL teachers, as suddenly the whole of France seems to want to learn English!

But it’s not easy choosing the right TEFL course. If you do some “googling” for TEFL courses, you will often find a course in an attractive nearby location offered, but when you click on it suddenly you are back to a home page and being offered a discount on a course 10,000 miles away. Suddenly the TEFL career just seems geared up as a working holiday for backpackers anyway. And that’s just choosing the location…

It’s essential to choose a course which is going to give you enough training to get you a job. Most language schools insist on an externally accredited (CELTA, Trinity or IATQuO are respected TEFL course accreditors) 4 week TEFL course with at least 6 hours of teaching practice, as a minimum requirement to get you an interview. Online or weekend courses won’t get you a job on the whole, because employers need to see you have had plenty of experience standing up and teaching. If you can get a course which includes modules on teaching Young Learners (language learners aged 5 to 17) or Business English then that is an added bonus as these are growing areas.

What type of work is out there? How much will I get paid? Well, Business English still seems to be No.1. “Young Learners” are on the up in France – especially teaching toddlers. Teaching teenager groups after school will probably take off soon, as it did in Spain in the 90s.

Telephone lessons are common in France – and you can do this from home. The student calls you, you teach for half an hour slots usually, and then the school pays you.
You ought to think a little about what kind of teaching you want to do. Would you rather spend your days in the language school staff room and classrooms with other teachers, or is going out to businesses more your thing? Does the intimacy of One to one lessons appeal, or would you prefer big groups that you can “entertain”? How would you feel about a teaching a group of ten 14 year olds?
Think about timetable too – the great thing about teaching is that you can work the hours you like – up to 30 a week if you want to make money, or just mornings or evenings for periods when you want to spend more time on a hobby or with family.

So, to pay. Language schools pay 15 to 20 euros an hour and you can charge the upper end of this scale (or lower - to get more clients!) or more if you choose to teach privately. Many teachers are now setting themselves up as freelancers (“autoentrepreneurs” under the new Sarkozy scheme) which has added flexibility – you can bill language schools for hours you do for them, and also bill individual clients that you find yourself. You can even be a freelancer and have contracts. Of course if you are a freelance you can choose your own rates and conditions too. It’s a fun time and really not that complicated.

If you can get work teaching at the Universities (“grandes ecoles”) then they pay much more, although you will need a degree as well as your TEFL certificate to teach there. Here in Toulouse, there are 5 main universities, and they are often looking for teachers and pay up to 50e an hour.

A TEFL course is highly recommended if you want to get working straight away when you arrive in France or if you are following a partner here. Many people just teach for a few years before they find other possibly more lucrative work. IN fact many teachers find lucrative work VIA teaching – some companies ask the visiting teacher if they would like to come and work for them in another capacity!

It is advisable to start getting a grounding in French as soon as you arrive. Despite not needing French to teach – good teaching technique that you will learn on a good TEFL course, involves rarely having to translate or explain in French – many schools still prefer you to be able to speak some. Also you will get more private students if you can explain your prices and conditions over the phone! Some TEFL courses can offer a French course at a discount rate.

One final word – if you are American then you are going to need a visa to work officially. You can get one by applying for a French course run by a recognized institution such as the Alliance Francaise. Or some university language departments. Visas can only be applied for whilst still in the US so all this needs to be done a few months in advance of your TEFL course, and you need to explain to everyone – ie Alliance Francaise and then your Consulate) that you need a visa that allows you to work. Some visas don’t… Having said all this, research shows that there seem to be a huge number of Americans all over Europe whose visas have run out and who are just teaching cash in hand to make ends meet.

Whether you choose to teach to make friends, make ends meet, to restart a new career, to be able to live in lovely France, or even if you just want to sharpen your presentation skills, an accredited 4 week TEFL course is the place to start.

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