Contact the French Chamber of Commerce to learn about business teaching opportunities. Private companies like inlingua also often recruit English teachers for other businesses. [2] X Research source
There are a wide variety of ways to teach at a school or academy. You could apply directly to schools that advertise for teachers online, or you could contact the French Ministry of Education for information about its teaching programs. Americans could apply to be school teachers through the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF).
You might also choose to advertise your tutoring services in the local paper or in web forums for French people interested in learning English. Due to their high student populations, university towns like Grenoble, Bordeaux, Montpelier, and Toulouse are especially good places to pick up private lessons. You can often charge 15 to 20 euros (about to $20 to $28 USD) an hour for lessons. You will not need a work permit for these types of informal arrangements.
Use the Cambridge English portal at http://www. cambridgeenglish. org/find-a-centre/find-a-teaching-centre/ to find a CELTA test site near you.
Certificates with less than 120 hours will probably not be recognized as valid. The more hours your certification course requires, the better your chances of landing a job in France. Online TEFL certificates are often not accepted as valid by employers, and certificates obtained through a traditional classroom course are given more weight in the application process.
Even if French is not required for your job, it’s a good idea to learn the language since you’ll be living in France for the duration of your teaching contract.
You could be asked to submit your university transcript to show what grades you got in your French courses. You might need to write a personal statement of motivation in French. It’s also possible that you’ll need to obtain a letter of recommendation from a French language professor or an evaluator from Alliance Francaise. If you haven’t taken many (or any) French courses, you could choose to take a standardized French language test. This is rarely necessary, but acing a test like the TEF, DELF or DALF could help your application.
Citizens of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada might be able to teach on a student visa. Those between the ages of 18-30 could apply for a working holiday. Contact your local French consulate or embassy for more information about student visas and working holiday opportunities.
If a particular school contacts you about a job, ask them for the phone number or email address of a current native English teacher. Talk to this person about their experience to find out more about what it’s like to work at the school.
Use a travel guide to identify affordable hostels in the area where you’re working. [16] X Research source
Insist on getting these important details in your contract. Don’t accept verbal confirmation of a particular working condition in lieu of a black-and-white statement in your contract.
If you’re only teaching English in France for a short time, it’s best to avoid becoming an auto-entrepreneur since the administrative challenges can be significant. If you’re in France for the long haul, though, you might want to consider it. Additionally, you can only register as an auto-entrepreneur if you have more than one client. So if you’re working full-time at a school or academy and take on a part-time private lesson, you could qualify for auto-entrepreneur status. [19] X Research source
