Call me mad but..

[Wdolidol]

I'm going to move to France around November 2008 - April 2009.

I'm going to be 18 in April 2009, so if anyone can suggest any good reason why I should wait till then, please, go ahead

I'm planning to save up for a number of months, take my car on the ferry and pre-book a youth hostel in a town/city, while I search for a 1 bedroom flat in the area/bedsit.

Then, once that is done, I will ask around the local schools/colleges to see if they need any English Language assistants, while also advertising my services in local shops, university, churches etc etc as a private english tutor(I will be taking a TEFL certificate and gain work experience teaching immigrants english while in England).

The savings I will of made from now till I leave should be enough to live on for about 2-4 months while I build up a client list.

If this is of any use, I will of completed my AS levels by this time, including one in French, my French is of basic fluency.

What i'm wondering if you can tell me is the following:

How much is it to rent a 1 bedroom flat in a French town/city(not Paris, preferably a southern one like Montpelier)?

Are there certain areas in France where private English tutors are sought after?

Has anybody done this before, and if so, how long did it take them to start making a living out of private tutoring?

Also, if anyone has a link to a website with all the French legal stuff i'll need to do, i'm aware my driving license will be valid in france and i'll legally be able to work without doing anything, but i've heard about a carte de sejour, is there anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks a lot in advance

Wdolidol

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by Wdolidol

How much is it to rent a 1 bedroom flat in a French town/city(not Paris, preferably a southern one like Montpelier)?

Are there certain areas in France where private English tutors are sought after?

Has anybody done this before, and if so, how long did it take them to start making a living out of private tutoring?

I take it you're coming from the UK, so right, you won't have any visa hassles. You also won't have any carte de séjour problems either. The carte de séjour is no longer issued to EU nationals in France.

OK - to your questions:
Rental on a one-bedroom flat can be literally just about anything. It depends on the area. Rural areas are considerably cheaper than cities. There are a few magazines that cover rental and house purchasing ads for all France that might give you an idea about various areas (and give your French a bit of practice before you get here). The granddaddy of them all is Particulier à Particulier here: IMMOBILIER DE PARTICULIER A PARTICULIER. Choix entre des milliers d'annonces immobilières de particuliers, location, achat et vente en immobilier | PAP.fr Click on "Location" for rental listings.

English tutors are generally pretty sought after by folks anxious that their kids should learn English, though I wouldn't count on the pay being too extraordinary. You'll also have to set yourself up as a business and get yourself registered for social insurances. It might be easier to try and find a language school to hire you at first, get you your social security number, and then once you've got a bit of experience under your belt, strike out on your own.

The language schools tend to have the corporate accounts sewn up, and its the corporate accounts that tend to pay the best when it comes to language training.

The best site I know of for all the legal stuff you'll need is SERVICE PUBLIC - Particuliers - but again, it's in French. The section on Etrangers in France is actually quite good, and you'll want to check the section on Emploi. As with most information in France, your mileage may vary. Different towns and regions tend to interpret the rules in their own way, but this site gives what are supposed to be the official rules.
Cheers,
Bev

[Wdolidol]

Thank you very much Bev, the links are being bookmarked!

About the setting up as a business, will I have to do this even for just private tutoring in my own flat??

Also, you're right, I extremely doubt the pay will be brilliant, but i'm not looking to make a fortune out of this, or anything close to it. I believe learning a foreign language or two will be a much more useful asset than another 5 years in full time education. After all, the main point of doing this to learn the language. Also, if I ever want to, I can do an open university degree.

All i'm looking for, after supporting myself a couple of months, is just have enough money to pay for rent, food, bills, the essentials basically. I estimate this to of taken place by the end of 1 year. After that, then i'll look at expanding into the luxuries of life.

Do you, or anyone of experience think this is a possible thing to do?

Thanks a lot by the way!