Hi first post on the French board
Ok, I am English but I have lived in Italy for over 8 years teaching English (privately and for English language schools). My son and his (French) wife and my 2 grandchildren live near Rennes and as I am now just over 60, I am thinking I would like to spend more time near my grandchildren before I fall off the mortal coil. My question is this, how easy would it be for a non-French speaking English language teacher to get a job, either private 1 to 1 or via a language school?

Hi sonofjoe and welcome to the French forum. I think Francois Hollande probably stands a better chance of being re-elected President than you have of finding a job. (In case you've not been following the French news that would mean less than 0%).

Even if you spoke fluent French and were qualified in France it would be difficult but without that it would be well nigh impossible unless, of course, you have friends in high places in which case, no problem at all.

A big part of the problem, unfortunately, is that ageism rules. Most people over 50 who end up without a job don't rate their chances of ever getting another. And that's French people who have worked here all their lives.
There is teaching work around if you want to go freelance, that's the only option there is for a lot of people who want/need to work but can't get a job, but it's not an easy option.

Welcome to the section, Have you considered retraining as a airline pilot?

Hi,
It's no doubt not impossible to find work teaching English, but the going rate for private tuition or for classes through an agency would appear to be between 15 and 30 euros an hour, before tax and social security, meaning a good 25% gets subsequently knocked off.
Rennes is a university town with a lot of 'Grandes Écoles' that might have teaching hours available, but the snag often is that in order to be able to be a chargé de cours, doing just odd hours here and there, but that do not constitute a regular job, one needs un employeur principal, or salaried job that covers health insurance etc.
Not being able to speak French, or indeed the language of whatever country one is living and working in, whilst wishing to be taken seriously as a language teacher doesn't necessarily inspire confidence amongst potential clients and doesn't help in negotiations. And it certainly doesn't help with everyday life.... But perhaps your experience of life in Italy disproves this. I'd be tempted to say that you should give it a go, so as to be closer to your family whilst there's still time; having a pension or private means of some sort would obviously help overcome the material problems you'll otherwise be faced with.
Good luck

Hi, and welcome to the France forum!
Unfortunately, as mentioned by ET, your age is against you.
There are many newly or soon-to-be TEFL qualified expats, with or without French, asking advice on this Forum, but they don't give feedback, which IMO is a bad sign.
All French people did grammatical analysis in Primary School and, even if they've forgotten it, prefer English Grammar to be explained in French grammatical terms.
Sorry to be pessimistic, but it's doubtful that a language school would take you on i) because of your age and ii) with no knowledge of French. You would also have to set yourself up as a free-lance, with all the bureaucratic hassle involved.
Coaching in English for school- and Uni- students could be paid by the Chèque-Service system, but they are precisely the clients who most need explanations in French grammatical terms.
If you don't find such "legal" work, and you aren't in receipt of a Pension, you would have to consider the problem of healthcare coverage. Your son could make enquiries at his CPAM as to whether you could be considered as a dependant on his Carte Vitale.
Good luck with your decision!

I wasn't being entirely facetious here. My French wife is an English teacher here and her principal has offered me work (not a job) to run some advanced English classes. These would be off-curriculum discussion groups to improve students accents, knowledge of the UK and its customs plus modern use of the language (idiomatic expressions, text abbreviations etc). Quite simply they would just add the hours I worked to my wife's pay.

I have done a couple as an experiment and the kids loved it though I must say I found it pretty wearing!

Maybe there is a way forward for you here?

Thanks to all who replied with a meaningful response.
The rates Peabrain quoted are similar here. (I charge 22 an hour for private lessons but would only be paid around 12 from an agency)
In all my lessons in Italy I only speak English! The Italians tell me they prefer it that way. They hate their Italian/English teachers at school, as they know they do not get the real deal with pronunciation & accents. Most, if not all, have said to me, I can learn grammar in a book - Guess the French are just lazy!
I did have two French children who had private lessons from me and boy, was they hard going! Plus mother stood over them the whole time!!

@dmu +1
When I was learning French at the Alliance Française, it used to drive me mad when the teacher tried to explain French tenses in French when the class could understand the explanation in a couple of minutes in English.
I changed to one-to-one lessons for that very reason.
I was not lazy but I just wanted to maximise the value of the lessons at £25 per hour.
If you decide to freelance then you will have to deal with French bureaucracy to set up your business structure.
You have asked for advice and you should consider the advice given here very carefully.
In my area, I find the standard of spoken English by school-age children to be very high because they have native English teaching assistants and there are also 3 or 4 private language schools.
I hope that whatever you decide works for you.

I think I will probably stay here and buy a faster car After 8 years of Italian bureaucracy I do not relish the thought of going through something like that again!

Slightly disagree with some posters on here.

I came to Grenoble with very basic French (hello, goodbye etc) and I managed to get a job straight away. Having experience or a qualification like a CELTA is invaluable. At first when my business students released I spoke very little French they were a little apprehensive! Afterwards they told me they preferred my lack of French as it forced them to search for the answer.
University might be a good route for you. For example I have had to say no to three other universities who were looking for teachers.

Here are the requirements;

LES CONDITIONS DE RECRUTEMENT FIXÉES PAR LA REGLEMENTATION NATIONALE N'ONT PAS CHANGÉES :
La règle principale est la suivante : le candidat doit exercer à titre principal une activité professionnelle effective et stable, qui lui assure des revenus réguliers au minimum égal au SMIC. Si cette condition n'est pas remplie le candidat ne pourra pas être recruté.

3 possibilités :

- soit une activité salariée d’au moins 900 h de travail par an (avec un seul et unique employeur principal) qui peut être réduite à 300h pour une activité de formation (hors vacations)

- soit la direction d’une entreprise ;

- soit une activité non salariée de type profession indépendante, libérale ou auto-entrepreneur à titre principal, à condition d’être assujetti à la Contribution Economique Territoriale (CET) et de pouvoir justifier de moyens d’existence réguliers depuis au moins 3 ans.



In my honest opinion having a lack of French is not as bad as some make out in the world of teaching. I have found that students would rather have a native speaker with the relative experience rather than someone who has english as a second language.

My best advice would be to visit as many places as possible and meet the head of department/school so they know your face.

Good luck, you can get a job

I think it would be hard for you, the French are like the Italians, they don't speak English.

Plus, it's hard to find a job as an english teacher right now.

However I think that if you have no ties, you could always try and go back to Italy if things don't work out..

OT : it's interesting, & very depressing, to see the pay scales for TEFL in France quoted here. I was earning around & above the upper level 20 years ago . /OT.

I worked with teachers who had little to no French. Depending on the age & type of class, they managed fine. (Those of us who spoke French got the "bad" classes, where being able to both understand & tear a strip off unruly students in fluent argot was necessary, but earned no bonus !)

I've got one of those, with over 25,000 hours in command....he had no employment on his horizon. As he was unemployed, I thought I'd try to find a job, my French isn't bad, I wasn't picky, but in two years of solid trying for everything from supermarket check outs to cleaning, I got two interviews...one person told me "why would I give you a job, when we have unemployed French people"?