Teaching English, Translating or Interpreting in France

Although France is a large country, globally, there are only an estimated 300 million French speakers worldwide. What this means is that most switched-on French parents want their offspring to speak another language, and most business owners now realise they are limiting their potential if they communicate only in French.

A Quarter of the World Communicates in English

With just over a quarter of the world’s population communicating online in English, there’s no getting away from the fact that if you want a piece of the global action, that’s the language of choice, and more and more French people are realising this. What this means is that if you are a native English speaker who also speaks French, you have great potential to make an income for your new life in France.

There are three key ways to do this. The first is teaching English, the second is translating, and the third is interpreting. Although an excellent command of French is a prerequisite for the latter two, for the first, it’s arguably better if your French isn’t all that great.

Teach English as a Foreign Language

Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) today, in many ways, is easier than it has ever been. It’s now possible to obtain a recognised TEFL qualification online for a very affordable sum, or alternatively, if you are close to one of the TEFL training centres, you can opt for a classroom-based experience.

Getting a TEFL Qualification

With prices from only a couple of hundred pounds, TEFL is one of the world’s most recognisable language qualifications and allows you to obtain everything from a basic grounding in teaching English, through to specialising in teaching business English or teaching English to children. When you enrol for a TEFL course, you get all you need to achieve a certificate in your chosen level.

Once you have your TEFL certificate, all you need is an open and inventive mind in order to track down students. If you choose to invest in a property in or close to one of the major cities in France, there is likely to be a whole host of possibilities, but even if you’re ‘out in the sticks’, you’ll find that there are parents of children of all ages who are keen to invest in improving their kids’ English.

If you work with one of the language centres in a large city, you’ll either be employed on a freelance or salaried basis. If you decide to work to support children with their school English lessons, you are most likely to be successful by either working on a freelance basis, backed by either an Auto Entrepreneur business status or on a Chèque Emploi Service Universelle (CESU) basis.

Working as a Translator in France

As more and more businesses in France seek to work on a global platform, there are increasing translation opportunities. Translation work takes many forms and might be working on an ad hoc basis for a local business that needs documents translated from time to time, or you could be setting yourself up as a fully fledged translator in either a specialist or generalist area.

In France, you can also become an “official” translator, authorised to translate official documents such as birth and marriage certificates, as well as court documents. While this type of translation work is much more structured and highly paid, it is only a select few who gain this opportunity, so perhaps don’t hold out on this as a solution.

Interpretation as a Way of Making a Living

Again, if your French is pretty much fluent and you’re a good listener and communicator, there are sure to be opportunities to make income as an interpreter. Even small, rural businesses are now realising the potential of hosting visits from foreign buyers and will need support in communicating with them.

Small vineyards, for example, are now welcoming potential clients from Japan and China, and the common language is English. What this means is that you’d be working with the French business to interpret their presentation and perhaps sales message or pitch to these foreign clients. As a result, you’d need specialist vocabulary and a bit of a marketing mind in order to get a good outcome.

While none of these opportunities are likely to make you rich in France, if you have a business mind and are motivated, you can certainly sniff out work. In order to help you promote yourself, you should organise as an absolute minimum:

• A sales letter or letter of motivation. In order to promote yourself to businesses in any one of these three categories of work, you will need to put together an engaging and convincing sales letter or letter of motivation (in French, of course). Once you have done this, you will be able to select businesses or potential employers to whom you can send it.
• A CV. While not all of these opportunities will require a CV at the prospecting level, a strong, well-written French CV will be very useful in convincing potential clients or employers that you’re the right person for the job.
• Business cards/leaflets/postcards for shop windows. It is important to have marketing collateral to promote your business. In this day and age, you should be able to order all you need online at a very low cost.
• A basic website. Most business customers expect a website these days, and if you’re setting yourself up to teach English or as a translator or interpreter, it’s worth investing the time to get this right. A website needn’t cost a fortune (in fact, there are plenty of free options), but it’s well worth investing time and effort in getting the content spot-on.

If you’re thinking of moving to France to work or to retire, why not get in touch?