Teaching English in France

It is quite possible for Anglophones to find a job teaching English in France. The posts abound, but you must know some of them are well paid in a nice atmosphere whereas others are quite the opposite.

Coming from abroad
Now coming from abroad, there are three possibilites.
The first is by far the best: being a lecteur in an English department at a French university. The salary is great and you only work 12 hours per week. The classes are not difficult to prepare either. Basically you just talk with the students! Paradise. Unfortunately, you are entitled to a one year non-renewable contract. Many of these posts are covered by exchange agreements with British or American Universities, but enough of them remain for you to find them yourselves. Contact French universities and pester them. It's common practice in France not to answer application letters and to throw them away like junk mail. A French department head once told me he got so many letters from people in the US asking for employment he just pitched them all without ever opening them. Call, no e-mail, no snail mail! Do not be daunted when they say no! That's also a common practice. The other good thing about a lecteur post is they arrange to get you a work permit, which will be useful if you want to stay in France afterwards. Oh, by the way, you need a Master degree (in anything) or be working towards one.

The second is taking a job as a language assistant in a school. There are even more of these posts available than for the lecteur jobs. It is the same kind of position: twelve hours per week conversation classes. However, they are not so well paid and you cannot work elsewhere. It's the law. Giving private classes, 25-30 euros per hour is possible, but you have to find them. You also get a work permit, and sometimes it is possible to live in a furnished room in the school. Go on the French embassy website in your country and you'll find the recruitment process.

The third possibility is working in a language academy. Here, there are tens of thousands of them everywhere. Look on any billboard, in any newspaper, and you'll see advertisements. However I must warn you though that they pay peanuts, so you'll have to work long hours (30-35 hours per week) teaching grammar, business English and conversation to small groups. They do give contracts but rarely help you get a work permit. So you have to get them while in France. I don't know if I'd recommend this type of work, but if the goal is just getting to France and experiencong life here... Besides that, the qualification of most of these places is just to be a native speaker of English and be able to tell a verb from a direct object. Yes, they are sweatshops of language.

Getting work once you are settled in France
When you are residing long term in France, some doors open, others close. No more chance of getting those lecteur and assitant positions. You can still work in an academy but who could stand that permanently?

If you have diplomas you "can" give classes at the university, and they pay really really well. Working there is a real privilege. However, there are only two ways to do so: become a French civil servant or be an adjunct teacher. Unfortunately the first option excludes almost all anglophones for one reason or another. First, only European citizens have the right to sign up for the competition exam. Americans, Canadians and Australians, forget it, unless you have dual nationality. Second, the exam is really difficult. You must speak, read and write fluent French. Much of the exam is in French and tough translations characterize it. For instance, if you know the words "jagaree, yellow bream, and hogtrotter" and know their French equivalents plus speak with ease about things like the Great American vowel movement or life in England under Charles II, you just might be prepared. Otherwise, consider the adjunct route. But, there is a hitch here too. You may only take French public service adjunct positions if you have either another full time job or you work 300 hours per year in another. Strict proof is needed even if they ask you months after you have started teaching.

Another possibility if you have already gotten that work permit is to apply at the Chamber of Commerce or write a letter to the local Rectorat. In the first case, it's a step above the sweatshops though it parallels it. You can get contracts, often do face to face work with businessmen and the pay is around 25 euros per hour. If you can get 300 hours a year there you can complement that with the university classes. Try applying for both of these positions around August and September. Again, do hassle. It pays off! The rectorat will hire foreigners to sub at high schools or middle schools when the normal instructor takes ill, has a baby or otherwise has to be absent for long periods of time. There are more and more of these positions available as the current government policy is to eliminate civil servant posts by not renewing them when the current teachers retire. So, sometimes you might get lucky and get a post for the entire year nowadays. (I know of someone who has made a career out of subbing). If you're not picky on where and when you teach and you have a few qualifications it's more and more likely you can get these posts. Thank you Sarkozy! They are pretty well paid, not as well as if you were the civil servant yourself, you do get all the benefits and holidays, but on the flipside you are the high school teacher, not the assistant, and you have all the burocratic, busy, desk work connected with it, (this is France and there is a lot!) and besides there are usually 30 students per class and you have corrections to do. The normal number of hours you can teach in school is fixed at 18 hours per week by law. You can also do overtime at the university easily as you already have a contract with National Education.

What not to do
Do not contact local schools or local universities about job opportunities. They have no right to hire you, and they don't pay you. The regional rectorat takes care of that. Any promises by anyone (principal, teachers, secretaries) in that school are worthless. Actually, more often than do not know the rules themselves.
Likewise, do not start teaching anywhere unless you have a contract or a letter of mission (temporary contract) in hand and it is signed by everyone who needs to sign it and is stamped. It is quite likely you will not be paid for your work if you don't have one. Without it you have no proof, you do not exist in the system and have no rights or legal recourses. Often wonderful perky people will declare they love you and will urge you to start immediately. They can be in a desperate situation if school starts the following week and they have no teacher. They assure you their word is good and you that you have been hired by them. Again, I stress that not many people know the rules (or perhaps only part of them) since accountants far away in another city take care of paying you. Also jurists will study your case only later on to see if you legally have the right to work, be paid, and subsequently only afterwards will draft the contract. As a rule of thumb, you need papers for everything in France. If you're not given them or asked for them, something is wrong. Unfortunately, I know trusting anglophones who teach semesters at university and are never paid. Why not? No contract was ever issued to them by anybody. Later on, they try to get paid and are asked for proof of working 300 hours elsewhere. They haven't, of course, so their work is legally declared invalid or non existent, which means the same terrible thing. Zilch! Ouch!

By the way, there are lots of lucrative $1000 translations available in France. Do not hand them in until you have been paid for them. When you meet the individual you must agree for him to pay you by personal check. You have to make clear from the start that your translation is personal and not official. Also, you do not have an official translation company (if that is the case, do what you want). In France you may not offer services nor write invoices if you do not have your own firm (question of taxes and social costs in this country). Therefore, the company must write you a letter of mission (contract again), in that case, they consider you their employee, or else (more likely) you must come to your own personal unofficial arrangement. Let them suggest something, not you. It's technically illegal. In the event you have not talked this over before translating and you do the work and hand it over to them, they have no legal obligation to pay you. At best, they will say, send me an invoice. In which case, you will be in breach of law, if you don't have a company, of course. My advice, get that letter of mission, with signature and stamp.

Put an ad on the net or in the local newspaper. Private classes abound. Almost everybody is learning English to some degree, though they never succeed. Get books from a local bookshop. Ask 25-30 euros per hour. Don't accept less, even if is your first time. At a language academy they would have had to pay 40 euros, and at the afformentioned universities or chambers of commerce it is 70 euros per hour. If they seem reluctant for any reason at all, break contact. There are other fish in the sea. Also get your payment right after each class. Ask for cash only. Some people start cancelling lessons and you never see them again in your life. Arrange to meet in a café. This can be a substantial source of income, really, it can.

Bonne chance