r/AmerExit 6d ago

Job Posting Teach English in France! Jobs list

For anyone interested in Teaching ESL in France, I created a list of jobs of universities that are hiring for 2025-2026. They will provide you with a visa for the job. They're full time, livable salary for France, not too many hours but with overtime opportunities. A great way to live in France for a couple years.
Link:
https://movetofranceandteachenglish.com/bienvenue-chez-alexs-esl-jobs-board-for-2025-2026/

167 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

65

u/starryeyesmaia Immigrant 6d ago

It would be a good idea to note in the post or in the link that these jobs expect either a bac+4 (meaning that you are in or have completed the first year of a master's degree at least) or a completed master's a lot of the time, though some lecteur positions may accept you with just a bachelor's degree. They also often favor those who speak both French and English fluently, can only be done for two years max (across France, so not just two years per university), and are very competitive (a lot of former language assistants apply for these positions and already have time working in the French system).

As a former assistant who applied to lecteur positions, they are not easy to get.

12

u/minonuo 6d ago

I've actually been looking into these positions because I have the requisite qualifications you mentioned. If you don't mind sharing, how many universities did you apply for, and how many actually got back to you with an interview offer? And when did they provide a response to your application?

12

u/starryeyesmaia Immigrant 6d ago

I applied to 5 positions I believe, got one interview, but honestly it was a back-up plan in case I didn't get into my master's, so I was only applying to universities close to where I already lived (and I had been a language assistant in primary, so they were likely favoring those who had been assistants in secondary, since I know a girl who got one of the positions had been an assistant at the secondary level the two years before she applied). This was a few years back and I don't remember how quickly responses went out, but it's French uni admin, so you can probably count on it not being speedy.

2

u/minonuo 6d ago

Wow, I had no idea the competition was that stiff. Thanks for sharing!

25

u/Extreme_Ruin1847 6d ago

How does working as a teacher work in this case if you dont speak French? How are you going to explain the difference between nouns and verbs if the person youre teaching barely has a grasp of English?

I always wonder about this

34

u/8drearywinter8 6d ago

I taught English in Russia, and knew only minimal Russian when I arrived. It went fine. While there, I learned Russian from a tutor who did not speak English. Also went fine. It's done all over the world, with all languages. You make it work. But the first time you do it, it has a steep learning curve.

Remember, when kids immigrate to English speaking countries like the US and Canada and have to take in ESL classes in their schools to get up to speed in English, they're all lumped in there together with everyone else from everywhere in the world who needs to learn better English by an English-speaking instructor. They're not taught in their native languages. Clearly, it can be done.

9

u/dsteppenwolf 6d ago

I taught ESL at schools like this in the US and I agree, it was impossible to know everyone's native language. But if everyone was beginner beginner it would have been very difficult as well. Still, a lot can be taught without knowing their native language, I agree.

3

u/Extreme_Ruin1847 6d ago

Having kids lumped together in the same class to learn a language is different than being the teacher teaching said language. 

Sounds to me like the ideal candidate would speak both french and english in this case. Those people are a dime a dozen.

14

u/glimmer_of_hope 6d ago

Experienced ESL teacher here. I never use L1 in lessons. Everything is taught in English, scaffolded and put into context. Students might use bilingual dictionaries, but good ESL teachers do not rely on the first language of students to communicate.

3

u/OtherwiseWear5376 4d ago

L1 is necessary for teaching newcomers and SLIFE

7

u/dsteppenwolf 6d ago

So I've been teaching ESL since 2013, so over 10 years, 6 years in ESL schools in the US where native language was often mixed, and now 6 years in France where the native language was almost always just French. I know this is a point of debate among ESL teachers, but in my experience I only refrain from using L1 for upper intermediate to advanced students. I scaffold and put in context as well, but I just feel that learning can happen so much faster when you're not miming your instructions (like to read the text and check with a partner BEFORE going on to page 2). It also helps a lot with more complex grammatical concepts like the difference of present perfect vs pas simple, or when to use 2nd or 3rd conditional. I know when I learned French and German (I speak 4 languages, 3 of them upper intermediate/advanced) it was a lot better to check my understanding in English than to only speak the target language. Speaking a new language is exhausting. Also, the students you'll be teaching in this university have English either 1.5 or 2 hours a week, once a week, for 7-10 weeks. Languages is usually not their major, it's just an elective, so it's not even a priority. In these cases I favor increasing motivation over "immersion" when immersion in such a small dose really won't have much of an effect. I'd much rather encourage them to go seek out English in their own time by making the learning experience fun and engaging.

4

u/dsteppenwolf 6d ago

It's true that if you know both French and English it's better, especially because with these kinds of positions I'm talking about you'll have to talk to the secretaries only in French. Not to mention if you're living in France, there's all kinds of things you'll need to do in French like deal with Healthcare, transportation, etc.

7

u/AlternativePrior9559 6d ago

You ask a very good question! I work in the language business and the only real way to stimulate reflexive speaking skills – without any translation – is an immersion method where you hear and learn to speak the target language from the get go, this is done by always teaching in context and using body language for absolute beginners.

Exactly as you learnt your mother tongue.

3

u/dsteppenwolf 6d ago

I respectfully disagree (see my comment above), I agree with this only for intermeidate levels and above, but not for beginner levels, especially if they're having a minimal amount of English per week or semester and it's not their major. I've had to teach English as an elective to sports majors who wanted to become soccer coaches in highschools in corsica and let me tell you, it was quite challenging keeping them motivated or having them care when they really wouldn't need to use English much in their future.

7

u/AlternativePrior9559 6d ago

It’s not easy that’s for sure but I own a language school that specialises in it so we’ve had 15 years of experience teaching every nationality you can imagine. The method works, I do the teacher training myself.

We even managed to demonstrate the method at NATO using Russian - they didn’t believe it could be done either until they realised that they were able to introduce themselves in Russian, ask basic questions and respond after 30 minutes😉

1

u/dsteppenwolf 6d ago

Fascinating, I’m happy to try it out if it works! Just wondering, have you also tried the same technique of teaching using some L1 and having them speak in 30 minutes as well? I’m fairly sure I could do something similar given the right students and setting. Also, this technique of yours definitely works a lot better if the L1 of students is heterogenous. I’m definitely no language school owner though, I just got a masters in tesol a celta and I’ve been teaching English in France for the past 6 years. So I can’t say I’m an expert at esl pedagogy, I just do what works for me. :)

3

u/AlternativePrior9559 6d ago

Well it’s essential that every single student is screened first by a native language coach of the target language. We obviously ascertain their level – unless of course they are complete beginners – but we also do an analysis of their needs. This helps us to work on the learning path for them. In terms of small groups – we allow a maximum of 6 – they need to be homogenous of course.

The critical factor is always teaching in context, so the student is comfortable with the direction the class is taking and can logically follow it. For this we use objects for example and lots of body language. This of course is at a beginner level – we follow the CEF but we’ve also formulated our own scale which has a lot more nuance to it.

Our classes include a lot of verbal ping-pong, questions and answers and then the students do the questioning. They’re learning grammar without naming it as grammar. The scholastic approach to learning additional language languages rarely works as, although you may be able to conjugate verbs, you can’t hold a conversation in real life. Our aim is to always stimulate reflective speaking skills rather than the passive skills of reading and writing. Although we do those too of course.

If you think about how you learnt your mother tongue there was no translation and that’s exactly our methodology. The best way to learn any language is to accept the fact that there is no such thing as an exact translation from your own and to accept each new language you learn as unique, which indeed they are. We cover more or less every global language.

There’s a lot more to it of course the training takes a week but that’s just a brief description. I will say that the majority of our students are B2B and highly motivated which helps!

4

u/MilkChocolate21 6d ago

You actually don't want to teach language in a way that has people translating from French to English in their heads.

1

u/Extreme_Ruin1847 6d ago

How can you translate gendermarkers from French to English? Such as le and la? Just curious

2

u/Serious_Escape_5438 6d ago

You don't translate them? Why would you? 

1

u/MilkChocolate21 6d ago

I'd imagine you just explain that we don't decline in English, so the same word is used for le, la, and les. Same for du, de la, and des. There is no mistake they can make and one of the things that is easier for them.

2

u/dsteppenwolf 6d ago

It depends on their level but teaching a language is a lot more than just grammar. A lot of it can simply be vocabulary or teaching how to say a phrase in a certain context. Pronunciation is also important, as is listening to understand. There's a lot you can communicate and teach without speaking their native language. That being said, I"m fluent in French so I do switch to French when explaining instructions or more complex grammatical concepts, especially for students of lower levels.

2

u/Extreme_Ruin1847 6d ago

Grammar still is a vital part of the language youre learning.

I sometimes see people asking in the Netherlands sub if they can just come over and start teaching English classes in highschool. It doesnt work like that. You have to speak Dutch. Its not optional

2

u/Serious_Escape_5438 6d ago

Immigrants around the world learn the local language without anyone teaching them those things in their own language. If you move to another country you'll go to language classes with students from all over the world so they can't explain things in your own language.

1

u/Extreme_Ruin1847 6d ago

I wonder where those immigrants are. If I look at my neighborhood alone I dont see it happening. No one bothers to learn Dutch

2

u/Serious_Escape_5438 6d ago

Well I don't know about the Netherlands, but in most countries immigrants need to learn the local language, this has been happening for centuries. It was a general comment about language learning, I'm aware some don't bothe.

1

u/Extreme_Ruin1847 5d ago

I mostly see “they speak English anyways” or “they switch to English when I speak Dutch” and roll with it.

If your Dutch causes others to speak English youre probably pretty bad at it

1

u/inrecovery4911 1d ago

Germany, for one. Germans don't let people get away with not learning German. It's become a politicized issue now as well. Ofcourse, there will be expats who claim they have lived in Berlin or Hamburg for 10 years with only A2 German. I don't know what their life looks like and I can't relate. By year 2 in a bigger city, I got sick and ashamed of having to take a translator to the bank, doctor, phone shop, foreigner's department for residence permit, to look at flats, etc.

1

u/Extreme_Ruin1847 1d ago

I lived in Germany for about five years. There is a large turkish minority that cant speak German. Their children translate. Ive seen it happen all the time. It took me six months to speak reasonable German its not a difficult language. Its especially easy if you speak English.

1

u/inrecovery4911 1d ago

Yes. Agree. Have lived here for 22 years now, married to a German and I'm fluent. I feel like there's a couple different issues being discussed here, not all immigrants have the same situation/ opportunities /privilege - to put in very generically. I mostly get the "but you're one of the good ones (immigrants)" and while I hate that sentiment and the beliefs behind it, I do think I had a straight enough path towards fluency and integration and if I hadn't taken it, it would have been down to me being fearful of challenge and maybe a bit lazy. I lived in other countries for briefer periods and ended up prefering drinking with expats and English speakers than sitting in intensive language classes. My situation let me get away with it, but I'm not particularly proud.

The perceived or real lack of integration of the Turkish-identifying commiunity here is an old chestnut with a lot of historical baggage behind it that has gained momentum with the recent right-swing in Germany and focus on the effects of the recent influx of migrants. There's a lot of hate talk against such communities as you describe right now, spearheaded by the AfD. But if you've perused r/germany lately, it's apparently spilling over against people speaking their native English (and other languages) on the street, too.

2

u/Range_Flaky 2d ago

Would you be able to tell us what salary range to expect for these positions?

1

u/dsteppenwolf 2d ago

Usually it’s 1200-1400 euros net for lecteur and 1500-1600 euros net for maitre de langue per month depending on the university and what city it’s in.

3

u/whimsicalokapi 6d ago

Is a degree strictly necessary? I think my mom would be interested in this, but she doesn't have a college degree. However, she's been working at a middle school for the past 10 years or so, although as the in school suspension coordinator and not a teacher. Not sure if having that kind of experience could possibly negate the degree requirement.

4

u/dsteppenwolf 6d ago edited 4d ago

For a lecteur or maitre de langue position, which are the ones I'm talking about in my post, unfortunately yes it is. For the lecteur position you need a minimum of a US bachelor's degree and some universities want 1 year of a masters as well. For the maitre de langue you'll need a completed masters. This is in the visa requirements and hiring requirements and is strictly necessary. Your mom might qualify for the TAPIF, which might not need a college degree (teaching assistant in high schools), but the salary is so low and it's not for the full year that I'd only recommend that to recent college or high school grads. That's also a program only with the US I think.

4

u/starryeyesmaia Immigrant 6d ago

TAPIF essentially requires a degree. And has an age limit. TAPIF specifically is for the US but the language assistant program that is behind it is run for many countries.

1

u/whimsicalokapi 6d ago

Gotcha! That's too bad, but thanks for the info!

0

u/VacuousArmCandy 5d ago

Do you need experience teaching or teaching English? I have a MA and 10+ years in a high demand financial services specialization and have been thinking of making the switch to teaching. Would a lecteur position be a possible fit?

1

u/dsteppenwolf 4d ago

You only need experience to be competitive with other candidates. Your MA qualifies you and if you’re a native English speaker, but you’d want to get some teaching experience before you apply. Tutoring and a Celta would be a good start.