Teaching in France. What region is the best? Quelle region est la meilleure?

Question

My questions are all over the place. Feel free to answer any. I'm thinking about teaching English in France. I have questions for those who live/have lived in France or have traveled there. Does any part of France stand out as having friendly people, nice girls, or outdoor activities like rock climbing or running? Maybe something near the Pyrenees or the Alps would be interesting and would be close to other countries as well? What are Provence and Corsica like?

I'll probably return to America when I'm done but would it be difficult to find work at an English language news bureau like BBC or NBC or with foreign companies? I'm thinking those jobs would be near Paris. I probably don't have enough experience in journalism to be a foreign correspondent or reporter but I think that it would be cool. Do you have any recommendations for finding an apartment? What part of France is the worst? I'm sort of joking on that one.

Answer 1

The only places you are guaranteed to find lots of work are Paris, Toulouse and Strasbourg, you just don't have high concentrations of people who need to speak English in other places. Having lived in Paris and regularly visited friends and family in the other two towns I can say that Strasbourg was easily my favourite, followed by Toulouse with Paris way, way behind. You are most likely to find a job teaching English in a private language school, very unlikely to find anything like a "real" job without lots of experience or specialist knowledge (the joys of a 10% unemployment rate...)! The good news is that plenty of private adult-ed schools in and around Paris don't require teaching qualifications or experience.

On a teaching salary you're going to have to share an appartment with other people: students and other language teachers are the most likely candidates.

France does have some people who are friendly to foreigners but also a lot who just don't want to know about you if you don't speak French - Paris is especially bad for this.

Add some more details to the question if you want me to clarify or expand anything, I'll check back later.

Brownieleslie is wrong as to work permits, you do have a special skill which no French native speaker has: you are an English native speaker! Very easy to get a work permit to teach English if you're a native speaker.

Answer 2

aquitaine, midi pyrénées , languedoc roussillon, rhone alpes , cote d azur , poitou charente

Answer 3

Unless Paris, Lyon and Marseille all the other places are fine.

Answer 4

Do you have citizenship from an EU member state? If not then it will be practically impossible for you to find a job. The way it works is that the prospective employer has to apply for a work permit for you by stating no French person is qualified to fill this position. The paperwork is a huge headache, which is why a lot of employers only hire from the EU, and even if you have a patron willing to do this your application may be rejected. Working illegally is not a good choice as Immigration keeps a close eye on language schools and carries out unannounced checks, as the owners know.

I would recommend that you either try to find an internship with a news agency (although France is a high-demand destination) or, if you are interested in teaching English, then go to http://www.frenchculture.org/a_assistant...

This is a government-run program for native English speakers to teach 12 hours a week in state schools.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

The other people have answered your question, but I'd like to tell you that we really NEED english or american people (with english mothertongue) to teach us because we are too BAAAAAAADDDD in english!!!!

You could teach in private class, i don't know the exact term in english, but in french, tu devrais plutôt donner des cours particuliers, ou prospecter auprès des entreprises, qui cherchent souvent à améliorer le niveau de leurs troupes, surtout quand ils font de l'import export.

La France est belle aprtout, mais évite le massif central, d'abord parce que c'est là qu'il y a les températures les plus basses, et aussi parce que c'est paumé, y'a rien à y faire.