Good morning. International House are recognised as one of the best CELTA trainers. I did mine with them in Newcastle UK some 13 years ago and have managed to earn a modest living here in France ever since. It's a big investment though so you need to have some concrete plans regarding future work. A CELTA will not qualify you to work in Education Nationale but you may be able to work in Grandes Ecoles or the FACs and independent language schools. You will also need to consider your employment status - I am a "travailleur independent" (profession liberale) with a SIRET number and of course have to pay significant social charges as a result. Being in a rural area is a bit of a disadvantage as it involves a willingness to travel to the nearest large towns or cities - in my case Toulouse or Albi - and frais de deplacement is not usually paid.
France isn't yet ready to accept UK teaching qualifications for permanent work in schools, collèges and Lycéees.
On line courses have little value, especially internationally, if they don't have a significant amount of observed teaching practice. Having said that, I have never been asked to produce any of my certificates, apart from my original registration with the Rectorat.
The CELTA or TESOL are both internationally recognised.
Teaching in schools, rather than informally,, usually means registering with the Rectorat or cneap, having your Degree accredited and then doinbg vacataire work as a stand in teacher to cover long term absence.
Alternatively pass the CAPES to become a qualified teacher in France. The CAPES is notoriously difficult and requires registering a year before the 3 days of 4 hour written exams.
Hi everyone. I have bought the GlobalTEFL (UK) and it seems quite good. Question though, is there a market for English Teachers in France?
Kind regards,
Marius.
If you want to know more about what's needed to teach in schools just let me know and I'll happily explain as it's a bit complicated, but TEFL won't get you into any state school and very unlikely to get you into cneap or other private ones, perhaps mfr but only perhaps!
Hello Dedene,
Thanks for the links; I'll have a look.
I am just gathering information about different qualifications for teaching english in other contexts than school. The CELTA seems the most professional but I don't know. But as I'm currently working and have 3 children it'd be difficult for me to do anything that involves too much face to face study: I can use my DIF and maybe Plan de formation from my company if it's a business related qualification however.
If you like to, I'm sending you a Friend request so we can talk about it more at a later date, perhaps when you've started,
Thankyou!
Angela
Angela, I'm going to go to the International House at ILC France.
Here's their coordinates:
ILC FRANCE -- IH Paris
Teacher Training Department
13 passage Dauphine
75006 Paris --- email: info@ilcfrance.com
or have a look at www.ilcfrance.com
Are you thinking about doing one? Or have you already done it?
Good luck, Dedene
Would agree with all of the above Elaine!
Hello Dedene,
Could you tell me the language school in Paris where you are going to do your CELTA, please?
Thanks.
Angela
Hi Suzanne,
Having gone through this same question a couple of years ago, here's what I found out. First I did a TEFL on-line course, it was lots of fun, interesting and I even learned some things. I did my TEFL from International TEFL Teacher Training (TESOL ITTT). I did a 120-hour training with tutor support and I paid about 175€.
But if you're not doing any classroom practice, the certificate will not help you get a real paid job. But I was only teaching a few people here and there, rather informal. So the TEFL course gave me enough to do a decent lesson plan and gain a bit of confidence.
After these past couple of years where I have been doing more and more teaching and starting to hanker for a real professional ESL job, I have decided to do a recognized certificate course -- a CELTA (Cambridge Certificate for English Language Teaching for Adults). This certificate is recognized in all language schools around the world and in many of the public organizations in France. I'm going to do mine in Paris.
There is a big difference in price of the two as well. About 175€ for an on-line course compared to 1589€ for a CELTA plus living expenses wherever you do the course. It just depends on what you want to do with it.
So good luck, and choose well. If you want any more info from me, please don't hesitate!
Dedene
Hi Suzanne. I paid for 120 hour on-line course with "i-to-i". Found them professional, and the intensive weekend course, with teaching practice, was very well done. I have done the 60 hours course, but have yet to go back and finish the other modules,such as grammar.
I have seen on-line courses sold very cheaply on Groupon, so I would keep an eye on that before spending your money - you just might pick up a bargain.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
I came to France in March 999 and had a job interview at one of the Grande Ecoles. I was offered a self-employed teaching position in the language department but was advised to do a CELTA before starting. I did this with International House in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and started teaching in September 1999.
However, all of the Grande Ecoles and Universities now severely limit the number of hours you can teach per year (around 120 hours I think) which means that you need to work in several different establishments to be able to earn enough to live on. The reason they do this is to avoid you claiming that they are in fact your “principal employer” and should be paying your social charges etc. Although the hourly pay rates are good it’s hard to get more than 2 or 3 hours a day or 2 a week at one place. Also you have to pay your own social charges (about 40% of gross income) and your own travelling expenses. To compound matters, the Universities only pay you twice a year!
To be able to get or organise enough teaching work is very difficult these days and you need to be near or in a city or large town, ideally where there are a lot of higher education establishments - in my case, Toulouse. I enjoyed my work and earned enough for a modest lifestyle but it certainly isn’t easy!