Hello All!

[Lairdykins]

Hey there everyone,

Just registered and thought I'd say hello and thanks for having me! I'm currently living in Florida and attempting to move to Paris in July or August. Right now, there are so many things to take care of in order to make the transition, it seems rather daunting. I am a tutor here at a local college (I can teach English, Math, SAT, GRE, TOFEL, etc), so I'm hoping I may be able to find a job in Paris in a similar vein. I'll be combing through this forum (which seems to have a gold mine of information, yay!), but I was wondering if anyone would be able to give me an idea of his or her understanding of the teaching/tutor opportunities in Paris? Are skills such as mine in high enough demand to be able to expect to find work? Could I possibly get a Visa with them, etc? Thanks again.

~ Michael

[Bevdeforges]

You won't get any sort of visa with your job skills alone. What you need is a job offer and a French employer able and willing to sponsor you for a work visa.

Teaching in the public system here is probably out of the question (at least for the moment) as it requires you to pass a competitive exam (in French) - and don't forget that most universities here are part of the public educational system. French universities don't have the "general education" requirements like a US university, so most young teaching staff (maitre de conference) are newly graduated PhD's in their fields.

You may want to take a look at private schools (though their ability to sponsor foreigners for visas may be limited). In Paris there is the American University in Paris, and Schiller International University (I think that's the current name) - both US based higher education programs. Not sure how often they hire, but it never hurts to ask.
Cheers,
Bev

[Lairdykins]

Hey Bev, thanks for the response.

You're likely right that I wouldn't be able to enter the public education system any time soon. Though I'm currently learning French now, I'm sure I'm a decent bit away from passing a French competency exam. I hadn't thought of looking at the two US based universities, but I will definitely look into those. My first notion of where I might be able to fit into the French educational system was in private education, not even necessarily with private schools but in companies providing preparation to French students attempting to attend US universities, maybe some French equivalent to the US's Princeton Review. I was under the impression that there was some demand for that sort of preparation, but I could have certainly misunderstood. To your knowledge, are there any such organizations?

[_Sarah_]

In fact the exams to enter the public school system are only for French or EU nationals, non-French/non-EU nationals can only sit the exams for private schools. To be eligible to take the exams you also have to have a Masters degree.

Without knowing your age/qualifications/plans in life, one option you might like to consider is taking up French classes to get a student visa which would allow you to work (a limited number of hours), so that you can get a taste of life in France and improve your French.

Sorry, I don't know about the programs you are referring to.

[Lairdykins]

Hey Sarah,

I'm 23 years old with undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and English Literature. In addition to currently working as a tutor, I am also editing text books. I am in no way opposed to taking classes or furthering my educations; I certainly plan to earn a master's degree eventually, though I'm still deciding what I'd like to study. I attempted to apply for the Fulbright Scholarship as soon as I learned of it, but unfortunately I had missed the deadline by a couple of weeks. It has been a personal dream of mine to travel, and because I have family who have lived in Paris for a large portion of my life, and because I am absolutely enthralled with the French language, I would like to move to Paris if possible. I will definitely be spending a number of months there beginning in the summer, but my hope is to find some way to take up permanent residence there. I'd work in any field possible in order to make that happen, but in my brainstorming, education has consistently felt like the best option.

Of course, finances are a factor. I'd attend university in Paris in a heartbeat if I had the funds. But, I feel like it might be a tad too expensive to go that route.

[Bevdeforges]

I'm not aware of any great movement on the part of French students to attend US universities - certainly not at the undergrad level. That's largely because French universities are very low cost in comparison - and anyone with a bac is admitted. (They flunk them out later... though that doesn't seem to bother anyone here.)

There is perhaps some demand among the "bi-cultural" crowd - Americans married to French or other Europeans nationalities - who want their kids going to university in the US (or sometimes, Canada). I know when I was involved with an American expat group that sponsored scholarships for bi-cultural kids, the attitude among some of them was that "it wasn't fair" that US universities expected French kids to have all the extra-curricular activities because "French school is so much harder" and the school day here is much longer (so no time for sports, student government, after school jobs and all that other application trimming stuff). That was a few years back, but perhaps things have changed.
Cheers,
Bev

[Lairdykins]

Hmm. Sounds like I need to keep brainstorming.

I appreciate all of the feedback. I think I'm just going to have to keep poking around and thinking about some more possibilities. If you have any suggestions, please please please feel free to point me in a direction. I will be the first to admit my ignorance on the subject. Thanks so much for all of the help so far!

[_Sarah_]

Well I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do. Really I have no experience or knowledge in this area....getting some sort of tutoring/teaching job in Paris while on a student visa is the complete opposite to needing to find an employer who can sponsor you for a work visa. Doing your Masters in France once you speak the language well and know what you want to study is always a nice possibility.

[BonjourFrance]

Originally Posted by Lairdykins

Hey Sarah,

I'm 23 years old with undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and English Literature. In addition to currently working as a tutor, I am also editing text books. I am in no way opposed to taking classes or furthering my educations; I certainly plan to earn a master's degree eventually, though I'm still deciding what I'd like to study. I attempted to apply for the Fulbright Scholarship as soon as I learned of it, but unfortunately I had missed the deadline by a couple of weeks. It has been a personal dream of mine to travel, and because I have family who have lived in Paris for a large portion of my life, and because I am absolutely enthralled with the French language, I would like to move to Paris if possible. I will definitely be spending a number of months there beginning in the summer, but my hope is to find some way to take up permanent residence there. I'd work in any field possible in order to make that happen, but in my brainstorming, education has consistently felt like the best option.

Of course, finances are a factor. I'd attend university in Paris in a heartbeat if I had the funds. But, I feel like it might be a tad too expensive to go that route.

If finaces are a factor, then forget about it! At your age with your math degrees you are a failure if you can't get a teaching job. Go to another state, e.g. California and teach math! You will never make that kind of money as a teacher in Europe. Teach for a couple of years and go on vacation 3-4 month/year in Europe. I've been in the system and I know that being a math teacher is the easiest job in the world. It's just my honest advice!
Good luck to you son!