Job Discussion Forums

dekoi · Joined: 22 May 2007 Posts: 3

Hi,

I'm a 31 year old Australian, I am currently teaching English at a Junior High School in Tokyo, Japan. I have been teaching English as a foreign language in Japan for 5 years. I have a Bach of Music and am qualified to teach TOEIC and have had experience teaching Business classes as well as small children - kinder and up and no TESOL.

I am planning on moving to France (preferably Paris) early to mid next year. I have a Portuguese passport, so I`m EU national. but as you can imagine I want to organize work before I leave Tokyo for peace of mind.

What I`d like to know is, aside from the assistantship programme (which I think I`m too old for - 30 years old is the cut off) what other schools or institutions offer work/recruit from abroad. Or should I just get a list of the English schools in the Paris area and start emailing them in hope that one is looking for a teacher next year?

Hope this makes sense and not too naive and any advice would be appreciated!

bsjess · Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 48 Location: Paris, France

Check out:
www.fusac.com

You can find all sorts of job want ads in the Paris region. They renew the ads every two weeks. There is no shortage of work here, especially with your experience.

Feel free to send me an e-mail if you want more info on teaching in France. I've got a huge list of helpful links I could send you.

dekoi · Joined: 22 May 2007 Posts: 3

Thanks alot for the info, I`ll check it out and let you know how I go.

lolwhites · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 158 Location: France

I was able to land a two-year lecteur position at a university in the Paris area when I was 34. I did it by sending a CV to every language department in every university and IUT in Ile-de-France.

Most find their lecteurs through exchange agreements with other universities, but some recruit independently, so it's worth a try. You'll need to do it early next year to stand any chance of landing something in the autumn though.

dekoi · Joined: 22 May 2007 Posts: 3

Thanks for tip! Good to hear I`m not over the hill yet!
As for mailing out my resume, I don`t have a French version of my C.V.

Would it be a waste of time to email out an English cover letter/resume? - - wait until my French is up to snuff and then send it out or...

Should I just send it out A.S.A.P and hope for the best?

Thanks again!

lolwhites · Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 158 Location: France

Best to do letters and CVs in French if possible. The administrators might not have a good enough level of English, and it makes a better impression on a potential employer to write to them in their own L1 even when their English is good enough.

I'm sure Google will give you plenty of model CVs and letters in French and you could always send versions in both languages if you want to be really safe. It also helps to send photocopies of all your diplomas - they like thick dossiers here!