Is it difficult to find a job in small commune in SW France? Jobs do not require too much French language capability
What kind of job are you imagining yourself doing in a small commune without much French?
In tourist hotspots there is usually plenty of work in the season but the season is quite short.
Do you have the right to work in France or will you need a visa?
My husband has an Irish passport. I am trying to find out if I have the right to work in France for being the spouse of an EU citizen. Perhaps to start with, we are not employable with our limited French, but would there be voluntary opportunities/vacancies in smaller towns? Like National Trust places, food banks or charity shops in the UK that you can volunteer? or hospitals? just need opportunities to get to understand the system, learn and practice the language.
We have not relocated yet, just thinking ahead, how to start a more sustainable life there. We are in our mid 40âs, teacher and nurse in the UK.
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In France we donât approve of volunteering except in certain very specific circs eg for the restos du cĆur, secours pop etc. but your French being limited is likely to be a big stumbling block. Get proper lessons, doing charitable stuff and hoping to pick up a bit is no substitute, how will people in distress cope when they have an interlocutor who doesnât understand them properly or get nuances. They arenât guinea pigs.
Anyone doing work deserves to be paid is what we usually think, and you can do work if you are qualified and that usually means speaking French at least. Iâm not trying to be mean, this is just how our minds work.
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Hello @YCB and welcome to the forum.
Frankly, whatever your plans re work and/or volunteering⊠you will need to be able to converse in French.
My advice would be for you both to attend French lessons at your local college/whatever in UK asap.
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Thank you very much, we understand thatâs the reality, and do agree that language is essential for surviving in France. We have started lessons on Babbel, and will also book on-line tuitions on Preply to talk to native French teachers. Hopefully we can at least speak some and understand the basic before we make the move.
All communes have âassociationsâ that you can join. Associations are a big part of the French way of life for many people. If there is a local group that matches your interests eg hiking, photography, painting, knitting or whatever, it is a good way of meeting people to chat and perhaps make friends. Once you are more integrated you will have a better idea about work possibilities.
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Absolutely. Assuming you and he are relocating to France together, and you then apply for the EU family members carte de sĂ©jour (rĂ©sidence permit/CdS), you have the right to work in France, under freedom of movement rules, subject obviously to any job specific qualification requirements. My own EU family CdS says its valid for âtoutes activitĂ©s professionnellesâ.
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I disagree. I have been volunteering here for a long time and my French was not brilliant to start with. Many of the clients took apparent pleasure in dealing with someone that had a flaw, it made us more equal. And volunteers are rarely allowed to work alone, especially to start with. It really was ât a big issue for simple volunteer tasks. You are not likely to deal with complex cases. And, for example, volunteering for the SPA you donât need a French degree to pick up dog poo.
And when dealing with asylum seekers and refugees who are not from francophone countries it was a positive advantage.
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thank you, really looking forward to that
That has certainly been my experience over the years.
and while I can understand @vero 's comment, my own interactions with bereaved families have been very well received.
However, I stress that it is important to have some French language skills⊠comforting English words will not help a grieving French speaker.
and the local EHPAD are happy to have a mad English lady visit their solitary residents⊠I love to see them smile when they see me come through the door.
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very encouraging to hear your positive experience, and the voluntary roles you mentioned are the kinds we are looking for
How interesting, in what way? I mean what was your common language? I do a bit of work with Persian and Arabic speakers who donât read French, or speak it, translating documents and interpreting, I donât know how I could do it if I didnât speak much French (or Arabic and Persian, obviously).
Apologies if I was dissing volunteering, I think I wasnât thinking of a wide enough range of things.
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English, especially with Bangladeshis, but also Albanians and Turks.
My first volunteering role was cleaning the returned library books before they went back on the shelves. The books didnât have much conversation, but very useful for me as librarian chose so great books to help my reading.
I have also sewn up the torn seats in our cinema (arts et essai one rather than a megarama) and other menial tasks not requiring much French.
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They must greatly appreciate it! Thereâs miles more going on chez toi than chez moi.
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Perils of early retirement and not being one to spend afternoons sur une terrasse 
Not sure whether you would remember this
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Iâm intrigued by this comment. Are you thinking of the type of work where it is customary to have a contract, covering hours, earnings, sick leave etc, as opposed to all-volunteer efforts? On the latter, Iâve regularly cleared scrub from the nearby ruined chateau as part of a heritage association, or routinely help man the cash desk at the local clothes bank. I wouldnât remotely expect to be paid for my time, which is freely given. By way of contrast, there are full time staff (for the same association) who run a 7 day a week food bank, 12 hours a day, who are (rightly) paid.
One clothes bank volunteer, a yoof, recently declared that we should be âpaidâ for our time in the form of meal vouchers. The other volunteers, retired ladies, rolled their eyes and pretended they hadnât heard her.
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There is also seasonal work, I have done much of that over the years although it was always contracts with the employer that had to be signed as it was paid. The PĂŽle Emploi might be able to help find something even if its not brain surgery to do but remember this is France where as VĂ©ro said, volunteering is not the norm unless asked and everything has a paper trail because of the consequences for employers if there is an accident or incident. On one of my seasonal jobs, I ended up working in a chocolaterie (shop) serving customers and making up the displays of chocolates, to say I was nervous was an understatement but after a couple of hours, it all came naturally and I loved it plus it was xmas week so everyone was very much in the festive mood.
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Volunteering for a non profit association under the loi de 1901 and working unpaid for a for profit company are entirely different things though.
Coincidentally I have just seen this article in the Guardian which I think explains why France is right to have strict laws on pay for internships.
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Oh this did make me hoot with laughterâŠ
Last yearâs charity collection (just before Christmas) at the local supermarkets was the first time Iâve had a youth, early 20âs, turn up to help. Us Volunteers are in a somewhat older age bracket.
New to volunteering, he was (at first) eager to dive inâŠ
I was pleased to see him, as I was handling two areas at once⊠but he soon doused my happiness 
informed me he couldnât possibly handout leaflets to strangers (at the Entrance),
nor (at the Exit) could he pack âgiftsâ (tins/packets/jars) out of trolley and into the boxes provided.
Well, perhaps you can say thankyou when people handover their donationsâŠ
Oh no, he couldnât speak to strangersâŠ
He kept muttering into his mobile phone and eventually vanished.
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