Those who can, teach... English

FOR English-speakers who have moved to France and are looking for work, becoming an independent teacher of English is a popular step.

Various Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) courses and training programmes are available and provide official qualifications to those interested in such work.

While some people feel sufficiently equipped to teach their native language without formal qualifications, industry experts do not recommend this and advise some training.

Laura Harrison (pictured) is a course advisor with Cactus TEFL, a private organisation which offers advice and information on course choices available.

She said: "We get many enquiries from people who are looking at moving to France.

“There is quite often an assumption where people think they can speak English so they can teach it but that isn't necessarily the case.

“People of the older generation might be in a better position as they generally have a better knowledge of English grammar than people in their 20s or 30s however TEFL courses also teach a wide range of aspects such as lesson planning, teaching techniques and so on.”

Courses vary from a weekend to four weeks. Online courses are also available.

Ms Harrison added: "Short courses are fine for people who are looking to do a couple of hours private teaching within their own community.

“If anybody is looking to get work with a bigger employer they would probably find it hard without completing a four-week course.

“Even though people may have a lot of teaching experience they will probably still find the course useful."

Within the industry the Cambridge CELTA and the Trinity Cert TESOL are the best well known qualifications and, according to Cactus TEFL, they will be preferred by any employer.

Any course which involves at least 100 hours of input and six hours teaching practice is recognised by the British Council as an official TEFL-initiated programme.

Serena Di Ioria is an independent English language teacher in Nice.

She works with businesses, a language school and university and does not have a TEFL qualification but recommends others do.

She said: “I fell into teaching as I was originally doing translation work.

“I wouldn't recommend going into teaching English without having done some kind of qualification first.

“I never really learned English grammar step by step because we just aren't taught that at school nowadays and it made doing this job a lot harder. I was learning on the job.

“I am fine working for bigger clients now as I have been doing it for a year and a half but there is a big difference between speaking English and being able to teach it."