Teaching English in France

Posted by Jan Morris - 18:39 on 14 December 2008

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Teaching English in France
We had been living in France for about 3 or 4 years when an English woman living not far away phoned to ask if I could take over her English lessons at a local private primary school. She wanted to make a career out of teaching English in France and went to England to take a month’s TEFL course. When she qualified she came back to teach adults and is still at it 10 years later, very successfully, in several local towns and the city of Caen.

She must have caught me at an auspicious moment because I said yes. I had no training at all, not even a TEFL course. And the only experience I had with children was as a mother of three boys and a few years as an assistant cub leader.

The head master was reassuring, the school had a lovely homely atmosphere and my English friend gave me some of her notes to start me off. But the first day was a terrifying experience.

To start with I had three half hour lessons with the oldest children, aged from 9 to 11, rushing from classroom to classroom. I made up my own programme as I went along, teaching the alphabet, numbers, simple phrases and lots of songs. Games like hangman and bingo were very useful. I once had a go at teaching them rounders and cricket – not very successfully. And conkers. And of course there were English customs, like Guy Fawkes day and Shrove Tuesday pancake races to explain without bringing religion into it – you are not allowed to teach religion in French schools. For a couple of years I took them Hot Cross Buns until it got too expensive. They loved it when I took things in like clothes and English products (to play shops). At Christmas I gave them my last year’s cards and Christmas crackers – unknown here – which were always a hit. They were polite about my home made mince pies, but I’m not sure they really liked them.

I soon had 5 half hour classes, one after the other, with pupils aged from 6 to 11. I gradually improved, tried a couple of teaching books, which I found inhibiting and ended up doing an OUP course which needed as much preparation as before. The curriculum got more exacting, and verbs and things had to be taught to the older ones.

Those first pupils of mine are now grown up, married with children of their own and I meet them serving in shops and banks and at the tills of the supermarket - and the only English they seem to remember is ‘Heads, shoulders knees and toes’.

Jan Morris, English teacher in Normandy, France

Your Comments

Comment by Mary Waters at 15:51 on 17 May 2009.

Hi Found this quite inspiring as looking to move to France in next year. I'm a state school teacher here in Scotland teaching English and I aim to 'retire' to France but would like some form of part time work. This seems ideal!

Comment by Joy macmillan at 16:34 on 19 March 2013.

Hi I live in Brittany and have just completed my 150 hour course. I am about to embark on the three advanced courses (100 hour). Do you have any suggestions, I would love to do some work at a local primary school. Either paid or on a voluntary basis. Many thanks.

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