Many English speakers in France have lost their jobs and source of income due to Brexit. Our 4 week TEFL course in Toulouse can help fluent English speakers retrain and earn money again, whatever their nationality. They can become a professional teacher of English in France after just one month with us, and if they are unemployed the Pole Emploi will usually fund the course.
After our TEFL course there is plenty of work at language schools around France – or cut out the middle man and teach from your own accommodation! Lifetime job guidance is included in the course fee, so we can help you along the way, whether that is starting your own business, or getting jobs at language schools. We are here to help!
How Brexit has affected the English teaching profession in France
Since Brexit, Brits are no longer allowed to just come and move to France and start a new life here, so language schools and training centres like ours are relying more on people who already live in France – and on Irish people! This is good news if you want to get qualified as an English teacher, as there is less competition from British teachers arriving from the UK or worldwide now. Language schools of course love people who are already settled in France too, as they know they aren’t about to leave to go and teach in Asia!
Language schools in France are now choosing fluent speakers of English who are European, (Dutch, Germans…) and particularly French of course. The Irish, being still in the EU, are allowed to freely live and work in France, so they are highly sought after!
While Brexit has been devastating for Brits in France, especially those who work in tourism, the effect on the profession itself has so far been minimal. English is still the European default language, so demand for learning it has never been higher in France as the national education system struggles to keep up, notably due to very poor teaching of English in schools.
Brexit has also meant that many French people have now returned from London speaking fluent English, so all they have to do is get TEFL trained and then they can start working in their home country.
Can all English speaking Europeans teach English in France?
As a result of Brexit (see above), all fluent English speaking people who can live and work in France legally are now considered for English teaching jobs if they are TEFL qualified with an in-class TEFL course like ours (ie not an online TEFL course). People who are bilingual with English make excellent language teachers, and language schools are beginning to realise this.
Why non native speakers of English make good English teachers
Most native speakers of English were never taught much English grammar at school. So whilst we can instintively tell a student “yes that is correct” or “no that is wrong” we struggle when it comes to explaining why. This is quite unlike the scientific and grammar- based way that French, Spanish, Germans and Italians have learnt English. So when the student asks “do adverbs of frequency go before or after the verb?”* many native speaking English teachers start to panic, while the Portuguese or Dutch teacher of English calmly provides the rule. To add to this advantage, non native English speaking teachers have had to learn English themselves, so they are very much aware of the problems students have with English and where the pitfalls are.
How to make money from a gite in France
Now that tourism from the UK in France is at an all time low, why not offer residential weeks or weekends at your gite to French people? Or just make one “classroom” (ie a table and chairs, and whiteboard!) and teach groups of locals there? Many of our ex trainees (including retired pilots and schoolteachers!) are now making money from their gites in France by teaching English. All you need is 4 weeks of training with us and then you are ready to start teaching!
A new career for pilots and aviation engineers in Toulouse!
A surprising number of our TEFL course trainees are ex pilots and come from other areas of aviation. This is in part because the struggling Airbus is based in Toulouse but also because many pilots have found themselves out of work since the COVID pandemic. Once they become qualified English teachers in just 4 weeks, they can do very well teaching English within the aviation profession as well as teaching general English. Pilots often live in quite nice houses, and many just put a whiteboard in the kitchen to make it into a classroom!
Teaching jobs for Brits living in France
If you were already living in France before 2021 then have no fear – you should be legally allowed to stay on. There are teaching jobs in every city and town in France, or why not go it alone and cut out the middle man? Opening your own language “school” is easy if you start small and let word of mouth do the work for you. A common mistake is to try to offer everything to everyone (all ages, all levels, many timetable options…) The way to do it is tell your student that if they bring their friend along you will only charge 50% as much again. You can easily do it from your kitchen or living room, or perhaps they local mairie can let you use the salle de fetes? In any case, all you need is to train to become an English teacher with us!
Other work options for tour guides in France
The director of TEFL Toulouse, Jonathan Davies, used to work in tourism (taking American high school groups around France and Spain). But when 9/11 happened he realised how precarious the industry could be, and how guides seemed to be in and out of work all the time. Which is why he moved to English teaching, as he knew this would provide more regular work in any country he decided to live in! Tour guides make excellent teachers of course, as they are unfazed by speaking to large groups of people and having to make things interesting for them. Not only that, but the current trend in English teaching is to do things with your students in English, (eg city tours, cooking, walking, sports..) rather than just teaching English in a classroom. If you train with us to teach English, you can still do tour guiding in your free time! It just adds another string to your bow.
Can French people teach English in France?
Yes, and those who are truly bilingual are the most sought – after of all Europeans now that Brits can’t come and settle in France! They understand the difficulties that other French people have with English and of course can even explain things in French to low level students. Also language schools know that teachers of English who are French are less likely to leave than other nationalities, and know that they don’t have to help them understand the bureacracy in France!
It is worth noting that French people who are TEFL trained can also teach French as a foreign language in France and around the world, using cutting edge TEFL techniques! Once you know how to teach, you can teach any language!
A training course in English in South West France
We are one of the few courses held entirely in English in South West France, and recognised by the state because the course leads directly to employment. The pole emploi will often even pay for your training with us if you are currently unemployed in France.
Can I use my CPF (DIF) credits to pay for a training course in English?
We are currently working on this and by Spring 2021 you should be able to use your CPF credits to pay for our course. Contact us in the bottom right corner of this page or at info@tefltoulouse.com to find out more. If you have been working in France for a while you may be surprised by how much you have saved up in CPF credits! However if you are unemployed, it is better to try to get the Pole Emploi to pay for the course, allowing you to spend your CPF on something else!
Cours en anglais financé par le Pole Emploi
Mais bien sur! Our 4 week TEFL course in Toulouse to become an English teacher can be funded by the pole emploi! Just apply here – if you are accepted we will send you everything you need to show your conseiller(e). Just make it clear to this person that TEFL (cours pour devenir professeur d’anglais) is not the same as TOEFL (examen en anglais pour les francais!) . Sometimes the conseillers refuse funding because they don’t understand that the TEFL qualification is what language schools require to hire English teachers.
Thanks for reading this, we are here to help you train to become an English teacher, and are here to answer all your questions! Just contact us and we promise to get back to you!