The Freelance Teacher in France

I Touched a Piece of Heaven in 2011

2011-12-28T00:31:00.004+01:00

A popular New Year's saying is: "Let us not drink to the past, but to the future." In this post, I'd like to make an exception. I'd like to recognize the people and the organizations that brought me a great deal of personal joy and professional satisfaction in 2011.

The TESOL France Conference
I wouldn't be able to keep my sanity as a teacher and as a freelancer without my PLN (Professional Learning Network). I mentioned it in a previous post that isolation is a teacher's worst enemy. The individuals I've met through Twitter have provided me with classroom ideas, professional advice and contestant laughs.

A wave of friends and colleagues arrived in Paris on November 4-6 2011 for the TESOL France Conference I organized. I'd like to thank the following individuals who contributed to the conference's success. Your words of kindness and support resulted in a marathon of happy tears running down my face.

To:

The Best Team of 2011

The TESOL France Conference team: Debbie West, Ros Wright, Gillian Evans, Eric Halvorsen, Laurence Whiteside and Jane Ryder who made ELT magic from scratch. It is a genuine pleasure to work with you all.

To:

The Best Moment of 2011

Vicky Loras, Mike Harrison, Shelly Terrell Arjana Blazic, James Taylor, Dale Coulter, Ceri Jones, Sandy Millin, Shiv Rajendran, Stephen W. Henneberry and Paul Maglione for your thorough Conference Reports and fantastic contributions to the online ELT community. I hope that others will read your posts and realize that this conference is an event not to be missed!

To:

Willy Cardoso, Brad Patterson, Divya Brochier and Marisa Constantinides for continuing the conference conversations months after the event was over. Marisa, the #ELTCHAT videos are still a pleasure to watch.

And an extra emotional thank you goes out to Matt Ledding, who telepathically understood what drives me to organize TESOL France Conferences. It really is, as he puts it: in order to shine a light on talents so that we see them and focus on growing and pass that growth on to others.

Working for eduPad

Best Experience of 2011

I've mentioned to a few colleagues that I didn't have a summer vacation this year. Instead, I worked for the educational app company, eduPad. I admit it was the hardest I've ever worked in my entire existence, but I am grateful to the CEO, Jérôme Serre, and his business partner, Daniel Jasmin, for their faith and encouragement as I hired and managed authors and editors, oversaw mountains of educational content, and formed professional links with educators who put their passion for teaching into the development of eduPad's applications.

Over the course of three months I juggled busy class schedules and five time zones and worked with highly competent teachers and editors who included a homeschool parent, a physical education expert, scientists, historians, mathematicians, an Iraq War veteran, an SAT author, the incredibly creative Phil Wade, and the inspirational Lisa Dabbs who's insight was instrumental in ensuring the apps met US educational standards.

The Best Students of 2011

The Students at the Management Institute of Paris
Teaching at MIP was one of the most challenging, yet fulfilling, experiences I've ever had. We all invested enormous amounts of time and energy in the students' development. It wasn't easy because some students had severe learning and behavioral difficulties. It was at MIP I learned the art of "tough love".

I'll never forget the Director of Languages' phone call when he informed me that MIP would be merging with another school in a different part of France. The Paris site was closing permanently. Suddenly, you are slapped with the question, "Was all that energy worth it?"

The process of relocating the students was painful and complicated. We had to go from training the students for their futures as businessmen and women to counseling them on their transfer to other establishments. As the last day approached like an on-coming freight train, I witnessed inspirational growth in every one of them. In the end, they banded together to ensure the memories wouldn't die, the school's spirit would live on, and they would look after one another.

I wept on the last day, in the street, about a block away from the school. I wept because they were some of the most creative, resilient and clever students I had ever taught. They taught me more than they will ever know. As another quote says: “A new year is unfolding – like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within.” At MIP, I met dozens of unfolding blossoms. And I was incredibly fortunate to see their beauty within.

Next year and the years ahead, I hope you witness petals unfolding. And as they do, shine the light on others' talents for us all to see. Continue to focus on growing and pass that growth on to others.

Free Legal Advice in Paris

2011-09-22T09:20:00.002+02:00

The English Language Teaching (ELT) profession in France has seen dramatic changes over the last 40 years. In the 70s, we saw a surge in demand for language instruction and an influx of teachers from English-speaking countries. In the first part of this century, the demand stayed strong, but laws changed and Americans were denied easy-to-obtain contracts. Today, the profession is in a bit of a low, companies are cutting back on their spending and language schools and travailleurs independents alike are feeling the pinch.

While a crisis is the perfect opportunity to think outside the box, it's not an opportunity to cheat the system or employees. And sadly, I've heard of too many examples of the latter.

Granted, some language providers were cheaters even before the crisis. So, hopefully this post will help them break that nasty habit and replace it with something a little more legal...like, say, nail biting.

Over a lunch of steak, fries and beer, a dear friend and colleague told me of a terrible legal issue she had. Her French was good, but not good enough to compete with the person who was clearly cheating her. Moreover, the culprit had a legal background and used that to further intimidate my friend. She told me of a tiny shack she stumbled upon in the 14th district of Paris: La Maison de la Justice et du Droit du Secteur Paris Sud . Here, she was given FREE legal advice.

Translation of their website: La Maison allows everyone to learn about their rights and to assert them in everyday life. Hotlines are organized around the themes of daily life: family law, the protected adults (guardianship, trusteeship), housing, labor, consumption, access to French nationality, immigration law, fight against discrimination. For schedules and making an appointment in the house of justice and law, contact us directly.

With the changing tides of the ELT industry in France, I hope you don't need to pay a visit to the Maison. But just in case - there are lawyers there ready and available to help you - free of charge.

Auto-entrepreneur (a wolf in a sheep's clothing?)

2011-09-04T22:38:00.000+02:00

I have been called, cornered and accosted by teachers over the past several months asking me to compare the travailleur independent status and the auto-entrepreneur status.

While I am not an auto-entrepreneur (and cannot become one because I'm already a travailleur independent) I've listed a few pros and cons below following an email conversation I had with a teacher.

Being an auto-entrepreneur has its good and bad sides.

Good:

The social charges can't be beat - you pay 22% in social charges and don't pay income tax on top of that. That beats being CDD, CDII and Travailleur Independent
You can charge "pre-charges patronales" prices. For instance, as a CDII teacher, the going rate per hour is about 22 brut. However, as an auto-entrepeneur, you could bill the school as much as 35 an hour because they won't be paying any social charges on your salary. - Ask them about that.

Bad:

You have to bill the school and keep track of your bills (and be very very organized).
You can't charge any business expenses (metro, lunch, etc).
You get very little health coverage.
You need to be able to understand the government website to become an auto-entrepreneur which is in French, sign up and report your income to the government.
And most importantly: the auto-entrepreneur status was set up to allow for already self-sufficient professionals and students to have an income on the side. It was not designed for people to live off of as their prime income. So, if you do this, I strongly suggest you juggle other contracts that are CDD, CDII, CDI, or that you have a spouse who has a CDI.

Again, it's great to have on the side, but terrible as a prime income status.

PLN Challenge Interview with: Mike Hogan

2011-06-23T21:23:00.000+02:00

This post will seem like a bit of, what the French call, "a parentheses" from my usual posts on this blog.

In May 2011, Brad Patterson challenged us to dig deeper in our ELT friendship circle and choose someone to interview. Hence the PLN* Interview Challenge. You can follow all the interview updates here. For other groovy uses for the acronym PLN, click here.
*PLN: Personal Learning Network.

I chose to interview Mike Hogan. THE guy who took all those awesome IATEFL Brighton pics. THE guy we can rely on to back up the BESIG (Business English Special Interest Group of IATEFL) Online Team. THE guy who tweets some interesting stuff and is just an all around fun-lovin' colleague.

I was thrilled to find out we have a lot in common, which is why this interview idea is just fab. We both love acting, love teaching, we're both obsessed with his wallpaper, we both love jokin' around with Skype (hence the goofy photo shoot we did at the end of the video. See how much you and Mike have in common by watching this PLN Interview Challenge video.

And....Action!

The ELT PLN Book List!

2011-06-15T17:47:00.000+02:00

I've just had a quickie conversation on Twitter with those I follow (99.999% are English language teachers) a.k.a. my PLN (Personal Learning Network).

I was also recently asked: "Can you recommend any good summer reading?"

I came up with titles such as The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary or Shakespeare on Toast or The Fight for English. But then it hit me. All the books I've read in the last 365+ days have been non-fiction books related to language or literature.

Fortunately, I've been saved! In the time it's taken me to type this out, the hashtag #ELTPLNBOOKLIST has taken charge. It's coiner: @Shaunwilden

Who better to ask for reading recommendations than our fellow teachers? We probably have a high sensitivity for writing styles we can sink our teeth into not to mention excellent filters against airport junk.

So use the hashtag #ELTPLNBOOKLIST and join in on the discussion! And happy reading!

You Think You Can....But Can You?

2011-04-03T21:55:00.000+02:00

I never thought I'd say this, but language schools, I feel your pain!

Many teachers come up to me asking if they should become an independent freelancer. The question isn't "Should you?" but "Can you?" This goes for becoming a travailleur independent AND/OR an Auto-entrepreneur. Do you have what it takes to strike out on your own? Sure being your own boss sounds cool, but before you take the leap, I strongly recommend you take a good hard look at what language schools go through - because that's exactly what awaits you once you write that letter to UR$$AF or sign on to be an auto-entrepreneur.

Are you ready for:

Finding clients (in France, this means, are you good enough so that your trainees talk about you and recommend you. In France it's all about word of mouth, so put down that phone before you make one very chilly cold call).
Comfortable with communicating the price of your services to prospective clients.
Writing up contracts in French (and understanding their company's jargon if they are the ones drawing up the contract).
Maintaining clients (e.g. follow up, assessments; quality control of your own services).
Monthly billing (and keeping up with it).
Chasing after payments (are you willing to get tough? If you're subcontracting other teachers, do you have enough in the bank to pay those teachers in the event the client "forgets" to pay your invoices?).
Keeping track of your earnings and business expenses (a.k.a. keeping track of itty bitty pieces of paper and filing them in chronological order).
Understanding the frequent love notes from government agencies such as UR$$AF, CIPAV, RSI et al.
Setting aside money you earn during the good months for the bad months (in France this means one thing: July, August and much of September).
Setting aside money for when UR$$AF and CIPAV and RSI bills appear in your postbox every 4 months or so.
Getting to know your accountant and double checking any dirty work he side-dishes to his interns.
Keeping a close eye on your own sanity and professionalism.

All of these slippery round orbs one must keep in the air are important and necessary. I've said it before: it's not for everyone. But it's also an adventure and a never-ending learning experience.

When Does One's Work Ethic Become Unethical?

2010-12-16T16:04:00.003+01:00

Today is day seven I've spent at home recovering from pneumonia. Now, I do take some responsibility for being ill. In a week, Santa will be bringing me some proper snow boots, I'm sure.

But last week, for two days, I taught in two university classrooms with no heat. Nada. Zip. Nie. The radiators were cold to the touch. What's a teacher to do in this case?

Naturally, I feel most teachers have a very strong work ethic. We will battle it out, grin and bear it. But should we consider setting some limits, especially when our health is at stake? Because two days of bullet biting in an icy classroom has resulted in five days of missed classes and hundreds of euros of lost income. I ask you, should I have refused to teach under those conditions? Chances are, I wasn't the only victim that day. Chances are some of my students also fell ill.

With the current ELT discussions about what are the bare necessities of a language classroom (e.g. anti-material Dogme arguments, technology, etc), I ask: what are the bare necessities for staying healthy in the language classroom? In my experience, three things: proper heating, ventilation and availability of fresh water. Without these things, can we say it's unethical to teach and even learn in that kind of an environment? In a country that is labeled as having one of the best health care systems in the world, I don't think it's too much to ask.

Flash Memories at the IATEFL Poland Conference, Bydgoszcz

2010-10-04T00:11:00.002+02:00

First, I would like to thank those of you who made an honest attempt to kidnap me so that I could stay in Poland. Despite my efforts to remain in that wonderful country, I still had to return to Paris on September 20^th just after the IATEFL Poland Bydgoszcz conference.

It was a spectacular event. All IATEFL Poland conferences are. What I appreciate most is the enthusiasm for veteran speakers (e.g. IATEFL Global President, Herbert Puchta) but also an openness to accept newer speakers who are just beginning to get their “conference sea legs.” Conferences shouldn’t be just talent shows, but environments where anyone can share information in their own style of communication. That’s what I witnessed this year. I would like to send a special thank you to those who supported my friend and colleague Vice President of TESOL France, Debbie West. She hadn’t spoken in front of an audience for 16 years and chose your conference to get back in the habit of public speaking. Un grand merci a vous tous!

Congratulations!

What IATEFL Poland conferences reveal is that its members all have such a passion for their trade as English teachers. They all work so incredibly hard! We are all on a relentless quest for satisfaction in our classes. I often say that I have 150 children – adults included – who I help explore and excavate the English language. I’m sure you all have your “kids” too. And it’s thanks to conferences and associations like IATEFL Poland that help you provide the highest quality of guidance and instruction. Moreover, Anna Rogalewicz-Gałucka has got to be the best conference planner on the planet. And the hard work of the dedicated volunteers leaves me awestruck. As the volunteer president of TESOL France, I can say I receive as much as I give being on the Executive Committee: the friendships, the personal and professional growth, the input, the fine-tuning of communication skills, all of which I put back into my classes. I truly feel all teachers should try being on an association committee at least once. The rewards are countless.

Quelle histoire d’amour!

The town tour of Bydgoszcz was most interesting and revealed the enchanted history of the city. What a fantastic idea! Who knew that the history of Bydgoszcz is jam-packed with: lovers! And all sorts of love stories both humorous and tragic. Our guide donned a traditional costume and took us back in time to the medieval adventures of the citizens. The tour revealed the shear beauty of the Venice of Poland.

Pecha Kuchas and Tweets

I found dozing in the train back home impossible because the memory flashes kept bubbling up to the surface like voda gazovana. Especially when I thought of the fun we all had during the Pecha Kuchas. Lindsay Clandfield introduced a fantastic, if not slightly lunatic, lineup (Jamie Keddie, Geoff Tranter and myself). From crazy teacher inventions to Polish tongue twisters, the standing-room-only event is one I’m sure you will see again at future IATEFL Poland conferences. A special thank you to Magda Klys, Jarosław Kawałek and Peter Whiley for your help with Chrząszcz (pronounced: Hshon'shch).

And finally IATEFL Poland has been introduced to Twitter! The tweets and tweeting during the conference made it easier to get the juice out of more talks (e.g. I was tweeting during David. A. Hill’s talk while Lindsay Clandfield tweeted during Vicki Hollet’s and all our followers online got to read about the best of both). And there are now more “tweeps” after this conference. Consider following those who were there: Peter Whiley of IATEFL Poland (@iateflPoland); Jamie Keddie (@cheimi10); Vicki Hollett (@vickihollet) Paul Maglione (@paulmaglione); Lindsay Clandfield (@lclandfield); Veronika Salandyk (@weronika_sal) Marta Mrozik (@martulmj); Klaudia Skutela (@kskutela); Ron Mukerji (@Englodysiac) and me: @bethcagnol

Welcome Home

Did you know that Poland looks just like my native Virginia, USA? I feel at home in Poland with the added linguistic gymnastics Polish has to offer. My experience hearing Polish is a bit like listening to a recorded message backwards. From time to time, a word or phrase that’s slightly comprehensible jumps out at me. The language is so musical and seems to dance off the lips. It’s a language I can enjoy not understanding. It’s a language one must smile to speak. The covered vowels, the kissed consonants pull me onto the dance floor. Envious, I can only stand there and watch.

But dance I did this time. I learned so much. I can only sink into an infatuated state when two people start a rapid-fire conversation in Polish next to me, or when a TLK train rolls into the station or when I listen to a Chopin nocturne. Poland, you are my muse.

Prepare for the Worst and Get Paid

2010-10-02T17:33:00.000+02:00

They are out there: the language schools that subcontract you and test your patience by innocently forgetting to pay you or outright ignoring your demands for payment. You could have shown up on time, worked 35-contact-hour work weeks, signed those presence sheets, sent those invoices but the money just doesn't appear in your bank account. A language school that is late on their payments does deserve a good, long, contemplative chin rub. They could be delaying your payment because the trainees' company hasn't paid them. Or they could also be in serious financial trouble. But in the end, language establishment directors who are late on payments should be hung by their baby toes.

In this post, I've provided three letters, in French, that go from "poor sad me I need the money" to the more firm: "remember, stupid, I haven't been paid" to the nasty "I'm going to sue if you don't pay me." Hopefully, they will help you prepare for the worst and save you a few cents on rope for the occasional baby-toe hanging.

Letter 1) Poor Sad Me I Need the Money
Your logo, Your address, name, company, Number, SIRET, etc.

Rappel Concernant les Factures
no (list of unpaid invoices)

Client No :
Adresse de facturation :
(address of your client)

Au (date), nous n'avons pas reçu le paiement :
● de la facture (invoice number) du (date on the invoice) pour un montant de (total on the invoice) TTC,
● de la facture (invoice number) du (date on the invoice) pour un montant de (total on the invoice) TTC,
● de la facture (invoice number) du (date on the invoice) pour un montant de (total on the invoice) TTC,

Nous nous permettons de vous adresser une copie de ces factures et vous serions très reconnaissants si vous pouviez régler ces factures par retour, par virement ou par cheque libellé à l’ordre de (your name). Si vous avez réglé ces factures très récemment, merci de ne pas tenir compte de ce courrier.
Signature

More firm letter 2) Remember, Stupid, I Haven't Been Paid (NB: This one is sent registered)
Your Address
Their address
(City), le (Date)
LETTRE RECOMMANDÉE AVEC A.R.
Objet : défaut de paiement
Monsieur ________________,
Je me permets de vous écrire concernant le défaut de paiement de (number of hours) heures de travaux dirigés dispensées du (start date) au (end date) aux étudiants de (title of the students or stagiaires).

A ce jour je n’ai pas été payée pour ces enseignements.

Je comprends que les procédures administratives puissent prendre du temps. Toutefois, le délai de paiement me paraît singulièrement long. Depuis plusieurs mois (or weeks), j’essaie de comprendre pourquoi ces heures n’ont pas été mises en paiement.

(if you've received an email that seems fishy) Le (date), (name of person who told you you wouldn’t be paid) m’a envoyé un e‐mail dont le texte est (copy and paste the email or letter). Cet e‐mail n’explique en rien les raisons du retard. En outre, loin de s’en excuser, il me semble que la mise en paiement elle‐même est maintenant remise en cause puisque « (quote from letter that gives impression they don’t know when you will be paid) ».

J’estime que cette manière d’agir est contraire aux bonnes pratiques des affaires.

(if you choose to threaten to quit) Dans ces conditions, j’ai informé (name of department or director) que je renonçais désormais à collaborer avec eux. Je le regrette vivement. Par la présente, je vous demande de bien vouloir ordonner la mise en paiement des (number of hours) heures que j’ai dispensées dans votre établissement.

J’attire votre attention sur le fait que la situation perdure depuis plus d’un an (or number of months or weeks) et que ce courrier est une ultime action amiable avant l’engagement d’une action contentieuse.

Je vous prie d’agréer, Monsieur (name) l’expression de mes salutations distinguées.
(Signature)
(Your Name)
(Your Title)
P.J. : Copie de l’état récapitulatif du service prévisionnel (copy of the contract or signatures of your classes)

Nasty Letter 3) I'm Going to Sue if You Don't Pay Me. (NB: it's also sent registered)
Your Address
Their address
(City), le (date)
LETTRE RECOMMANDÉE AVEC A.R.
MISE EN DEMEURE AVANT POURSUITES

Monsieur __________,
J’ai dispensé (number) heures de travaux dirigés dispensées du (start date) au (end date) aux étudiants de (title of the class, or students or « stagiaires »).

Le (date you asked for payment) courant, je vous ai écrit pour vous faire part de ces éléments et vous demander d’ordonner la mise en paiement.

A ce jour je n’ai toujours pas été payée pour ces enseignements.

Par la présente, je suis au regret de devoir vous mettre en demeure de me faire parvenir la somme de (how much they owe you) euros (write out the number lexically in French) sous (number of days) jours, faut de quoi j’agirai par voie de droit pour obtenir le paiement de la créance et le remboursement des frais engagés.

Comptant sur votre diligence, je vous prie d’agréer, Monsieur le Président, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées.
(Signature)
(Your name)
(Your title)

P.J. : Copie du courrier du (date of the first and second letters you sent)

I was brought up to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. This applies to your life and your home. As a professional it applies to your job, your presentations and your projects. As a teacher, it applies to your classes. As a freelance teacher, it applies to your clients, your taxes and most importantly...your paycheck.

Is Your Professional Image Wearing Thin?

2010-08-02T00:31:00.000+02:00

1) Assigned as an English teacher at a luxury accessory store in Paris, I was sent to the head quarters in the chic 14th district. Immediately greeting me at the door, the head of human resources looked me up and down and said, curtly, "Oh...I expected somebody older."

2) Later, at another school, upon seeing all the female teachers working there, a prospective, adult male student asked me, "Gosh, are all the teachers who work here pretty?" Without missing a beat, I replied, touching my hair, "Why yes, Monsieur, we are."

3) Not too long ago, I was standing in a Parisian commuter train on my way to class when an ad for a successful home-tutoring service caught my eye. A beautiful, young woman with wavy brown locks sits at her cafe table with an esperesso tasse, pensively looking at the sky. The ad reads that she's a teacher - hoping she's been all she can be. But what jumps out, or rather pops out, is her plunging neckline. I had to smile, wondering if fathers would call up the school asking for a tutor "just like that one!"

The above examples got me thinking. What is an English teacher in the 21st Century supposed to look like? Do clients expect they'll be getting the present perfect with Juliette Binoche? Honestly, today, clients are getting scarcer and pickier, and with that the expectations for professionalism and perfectionism are getting higher.

I'm not saying we should all go get face lifts and hair plugs. But teachers, especially independents who bounce from the classroom to the human resources office and back again, need to be aware of their professional image.

We've already acknowledged that the job is difficult and the conditions are harsh. But as ugly as this may sound, I do believe learners prefer a teacher who is pleasantly put together. We teachers need to start thinking about the nonverbal messages we send to our learners if we come into class looking like, well, we've been run over by that commuter train.

What Now: Staying on top of your game

2010-05-14T01:17:00.000+02:00

Times are tough and tense. And teachers are going to need to stay on top of their game. Every sector has its ups and downs. It's just what we decide to do during those downs is what counts.

This time last year I was in tears - with exhaustion. In the taxi, on the way to what should have been a relaxing weekend, the tear ducts burst open. I came to the realization that I had pushed myself too far physically and mentally and had to cut back. Little did I know that the job of cutting back would be done for me. Fellow teachers who were in the same boat last year (bawling from burnout) are, this year, wondering how they are going to make ends meet until September. Companies are opting out of language teaching (at least face to face), clients are stalling on payments, and schools are suspending hours. This leaves the teacher looking at her nails wondering which one to bite first.

With that said, there are still things teachers can do to stay on top of their game. Below, I've provided a list of actions one can take, in order of cost. I'd like to stress that it's now we need to look at the cost of our professional development as an investment. What, among the not-so-free items on this list, will pay for themselves in 1 month, 5 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years? Ask yourself that as you browse and consider each suggestion thoroughly.

Join Twitter - great for networking with other teachers around the world. Be the first to know about anything and everything ELT related. Sure it takes time to touch base, but now you've got it.
Join the SEETA Online Community (South Eastern Europe Teachers Association). They run free online webinars with the stars and more of ELT.
Join the TESOL France Jobs List. It's free and you receive the latest job ads for France (and a few abroad too).
Join IATEFL Email Discussion Lists. It's free to join, and you can stay up to date with the latest buzz in the ELT sectors that you enjoy the most. My faves are the BESIG (Business English Special Interest Group) LAM SIG (Leadership and Management SIG), and Testing and Assessment (TEASIG) discussion lists.

€ Join TESOL France. For the same price as a learner's dictionary, you can attend all of their events for an entire year. Unlimited networking opportunities, workshops, conferences, Teaching Times magazine and you can meet ELT experts face to face.

€ Write articles for newsletters, journals, online forms, etc. Even if you think everybody's heard it all before, write it anyway. Get your name out there. It will also speed up your typing skills (which is a huge time-is-money eater, in the end) The key € here is time, not cash.

€€ Attend (better yet, speak at!) international conferences. The cost will include the registration fee (e.g. 60-100€), travel (60-200€) and accommodation (depends). But believe me, it's totally worth it. As an independent, you can even charge this as a business expense (within reason and provided you include proof of attendance along with your receipts) And quickly, like now, get over your fear of speaking in front of your colleagues. You speak in public as a profession every day for Pete's sake!

€€€ Do an MA. Nothing boosts your credentials like a good, solid MA in TEFL. The good news is there are quite a few distance and semi-distance programs you can look into. Google it. Today!

€€€ Move to where the work is. This may not be an option for many, but I know a few who are considering it. In the 1970s, France was the promised land for English teachers. Work was a plenty. Well the wrath of the grapes has arrived and finding ELT work is getting harder and harder. But don't move until you are sure you 1) have the experience and credentials worthy of the place you're going to and 2) have a solid, trustworthy contract under your arm.

In brief: don't burn your bridges. Au contraire. Diversify diversify diversify.

Independents' Day: Part II

2010-03-13T20:02:00.000+01:00

March 20th, 2010
2:00pm to 5:00pm

Venue: Telecom ParisTech

Presented by TESOL France President, Bethany Cagnol and Executive Committee member, Elaine Henry.
TESOL France President, Bethany Cagnol, and fellow Executive Committee member, Elaine Henry, team up for "Independents' Day Part 2". This 3-hour workshop is for independents and non-independents.
Elaine and Bethany will be speaking about:

Getting and maintaining clients,
Time management,
Late-payment issues,
Paperwork,
URSSAF,
Using Excel,
Autonomously managing one's accounts.

Since this workshop is Part 2 in the series, the speakers won't go into too much detail on how to become a travailleur independant. But for highlights from Part 1 on how to go freelance, I recommend you read the articles from the blog before coming to this workshop. Get your questions in now, by posting them here. The speakers will then try to incorporate them into the workshop.
Join us in what promises to be a very informative and lively discussion.

Consider Jobs in ELT publishing - by author Lindsay Clandfield

2010-03-06T22:11:00.003+01:00

Since independents in France can dip into a number of different areas of ELT, I thought I would direct your attention to this excellent blog post by author Lindsay Clandfield. "Feeling tired of teaching? Fancy a change but don’t want to abandon ELT altogether? Many people I know who have felt this way have been drawn to the world of ELT publishing. Publishers are often on the lookout for good teachers for a variety of jobs" (Clandfield, 2010).

Better yet, if you are paid from an institution outside of France, then that income is considered "export," therefore it doesn't count toward your 30,000EUR cap before paying VAT! Three cheers for that!

Read on: Six jobs in ELT publishing - Lindsay's "Six Things" blog

Seminar on Falling Prices and Salaries

2010-02-23T04:41:00.001+01:00

If you're an independent, this seminar is not to be missed. There is a registration fee, but you can charge it as a business expense. It's definitely worth going to see.

Falling salaries and prices, increasing competition from web 2.0 technologies and low cost distance learning, a major reform of training law under way: what future for face to face language trainers in France.

Presented by Andrew Wickham

March 6th, 2010

1:00pm to 5:00pm
Venue: Telecom ParisTech

Register here: http://www.tesol-france.org/Wickham10.php
To cover speaker and event costs, there is an exceptional entrance fee for members and non-members: €25

The rise of distance learning and the Blended revolution are having an increasing impact on the traditional language training industry in France, which could be on the eve of a major transformation. Today, face to face training with teachers based in France accounts for 80 to 90% of language training, but if the current trends persist, will distance learning by telephone or visioconference, using "offshore" trainers working in countries where salary costs are much lower, replace face to face training in the coming years? Is e-learning, thanks to Web 2.0 technology and broadband access, finally coming into its own? What are the comparative advantages and disadvantages of distance learning over face to face training? How are traditional training organizations coping? Is the market going to concentrate? What do face to face trainers need to do to stay competitive? With prices and salaries under even greater pressure from the economic crisis, and worsening work conditions, what incentives are there for providing the high level, personalised professional training that many clients say they want today? How will the current reform of training law impact the market in 2010 ? Will the trends currently developing in France spread throughout Europe in the coming years? These are some of the questions that the Linguaid market study set out to find answers to in early 2008. Nearly 2 years later, Andrew Wickham, the writer of the market study report, which was published in Spring 2009, will present the study, which has been updated for 2010, and discuss some of the findings that directly concern trainers. The workshop will be as interactive as possible. This will be followed by an open discussion with participants.

Andrew Wickham began as a language trainer then moved to training management, set up and ran a training company, then moved to project management of industrial blended learning systems. He currently works as a consultant. His specialties include: Designing, building and running large-scale integrated training systems, strategic consultancy, managing language and communication training projects, cross-cultural training for business communication, and communication coaching.

Keep That Envelope!

2010-02-13T11:20:00.002+01:00

Another title for this post could be "Excuse me for my lateness Part 2." On February 9th, I received the first out of the four annual bills I get from the health insurance collector for independents. The letter was dated 18 January. Funny. I looked at the envelope and sure enough, it was sent on February 5th. Now here's the nutcracker: the deadline for payment was also February 5th! A check for 225EUR and an angry post-it note later, I sent off my payment hoping they wouldn't charge me any late fees. But just to be sure, I am keeping that February 5th postmarked envelope in case I have to prove my innocence. One more little piece of paper to add to my collection of the mistakes made by collectors.

Independents' Day Workshop: March 20th

2010-01-31T23:11:00.001+01:00

In March I'll be organizing a second workshop on Going Independent. With the help of fellow freelancer and partner in crime at TESOL France, Elaine Henry, we will be speaking about gaining and keeping clients, paperwork and billing issues.

This three-hour workshop will be held at:
Télécom ParisTech
49 rue Vergniaud
75013 Paris

March 20th, 2pm - 5pm.
http://www.tesol-france.org/index.php

It will be free of charge to TESOL France members, and cost about 10EUR for non-members.
More information on the workshop will follow in future posts. Come along if you're free!

Time Is Money, Really

2009-12-31T14:17:00.011+01:00

A wise woman once told me, "Don't give yourself away for free." *

This is some tough advice to follow - especially in the ELT field. It's tough because this industry is filled with individuals who love their job. They spend hours creating activities, churning out tests, marking exams, meeting with unruly students, having a chat with the director, and quite often not a minute of that time is paid.

For a travailleur indépendant, the weight of time on one's shoulders grows heavier with additional billing, communication with administrators, late payments, the occasional mise en demeure and filing those rice-paper-thin receipts you get from the café next door.

As I say, you have to love this job.

Let's look at it this way:

The average "vacataire," or temporary teacher in France, at a university gets 33€ Net an hour (see my previous post on "speaking in Net").**
The average English class is 2 hours a week, so 66€ Net per week for one class.
The average class size is 20 students (give or take 5).
In addition to in-class time, the teacher is responsible for:

Correcting homework
Writing exams
Correcting exams
Informing the direction of any incidents
Carrying out quality control with respect to the student attendance, behavior and participation
Attending meetings with the administrators

Some would call this "giving yourself away for free." Others call it "part of the job."

Here are two examples:

Let's say you've just received a 200-word essay for homework from each of your 20 students.

2 hours of face-to-face time that week,
+ 10 minutes per essay (=200mn or 3h20) (incl. reading, corrections and comments on the mark)
________
5h20

66€/5h20 = 12.38€ per class, per week (or 6.19€ / h)

***********************************************
Let's say you have an end-of-term exam coming up. You want to make sure the students are able to demonstrate what they have learned over the entire semester (e.g. ten weeks). Worse: the direction wants the exam to reflect the students' "level" in English.***

The exam takes 2h30 to write:

30mn writing the grammar section (the harvest from past work and lessons)
30mn writing the vocabulary section (ditto)
60mn writing the reading section (choosing an article and writing comprehension questions)
30mn writing the essay section (choosing a subject for which all the students can provide 200 words worth of content)

The final class of the week is devoted to an exam tutorial. = 2 hours.
Exam Day: Proctoring an exam at a public university is often unpaid. = 2 hours
4h30 for marking 20 exams:

grammar, vocabulary and reading section = 3mn 30sec per test = 1h10 for 20 tests.
+3h20 marking 20 essays (see example above)

The Final Tally
2h30 writing the exam
+2h final class (e.g. exam tutorial)
+2h Exam Day
+4h30 marking exams
________________
11 hours

66€ / 11 hours = 6€ per class (or 3€ / h)

In this industry, it's very hard to take that wise woman's advice. Many don't have a choice. Or do they? Where can you fudge the numbers? Writing a shoddy exam? Marking homework without really reading it? Copying an easy-peasy exam from previous years even if it means it doesn't fit the content of the semester? How about not even giving homework assignments? Heck, just skip the exam, won't you?

If this is the case, then I guess we can safely say that you no longer love what you're doing and it is time for you to start considering other options.

Footnotes
*Ok, she should have said "free of charge" but let's not coupe les cheveux en quatre, OK?
**NB: Most public universities won't allow independents to bill them directly; thus the independent is treated like any other vacataire and paid six months after the work is completed (will be a future post, promise).
***This has to be one of the most misinterpreted, misused words in the English language. I have very strong views on language assessments. I agree with Bachman (1990) that there is no such thing as a perfect test that assesses a student's true language level.

3, 2, 1, Charge!

2009-11-18T23:30:00.006+01:00

The most common question new independent teachers ask me is: how much should we charge? Before you ask: "what can we charge?" you have to ask: "what do we earn?"

In France many teachers have grown accustomed to earning between 15 and 22€ an hour net.

Frankly, I don't know why anyone "speaks in Brut" (before taxes). Hiring managers at language schools "speak in Brut." Many teachers I know "speak in Brut." At the interview, they give you the Brut hourly wage and hope you don't bring up Net (after taxes). Friends: what's the point of "thinking in Brut" if you don't pocket that sum?

Below, I walk you through how much you are worth as a non-independent and calculate the minimum price you could charge a language school once you become an independent.

Look at the bottom of one of your monthly Bulletin de Paie (pay stub) at your Net pay (Net a Payer).
Find your Total Brut pay, in bold.
Look at the right-hand column. It should be called: Charges Patronales. At the bottom of the column, in bold, you'll find the total charges patronales. This is a tax your employer pays to have you on staff.
Add the Charges Patronales to the Total Brut.
Divide the total by the number of hours you worked that month.
The result is how much you are worth, per hour, for that language establishment.

Let's look at this example.

One month, as a CDII teacher, I clocked in 41 hours at a language school.
I was paid 714.82 € Net (17.43€ / hr)
My Brut pay was 918.40 €
The Charges Patronales was 394.81 €
918.40 € + 394.81 € = 1313.21€
1313.21€ ÷ 41 hours = 32.03€ / hr

Once an independent, I decided to give myself a little raise, wrote a proposal for 35€ / hr and the language school accepted. After the charges and taxes I paid as an independent, I pocketed a bit more than my days as a CDII teacher.

When calculating your hourly rate, it's usually best to be conservative and assume that 37% goes towards charges and taxes. So with the above pay, I made 20€ as an independent instead of 17.43€. That's still pretty low if we calculate the time it takes to do all the paperwork, the billing, the pay chase and the other nitty gritty.

In a future post, I'll go into why time really is money for an independent teacher in France.
But at least you can now look at your Bulletin de Paie with a informed eye and charge full steam ahead.

Advantages and Disadvantages

2009-11-15T16:31:00.007+01:00

Like any business, being self-employed has its advantages and disadvantages, pros and cons, good vs. bad, upsides and up-side-downs...

While weighing your do-I-or-don't-I options for going independent in France, consider these:

Professional Advantages

You can explore unlimited realms of ELT around the world,
You can accept work from almost every language school and company that rings you up,
You have the freedom to accept other offers, not just in teaching (e.g. materials and test writing),
You can accept unlimited vacataire offers (being independent IS your employeur principal),
You can subcontract your freelance friends,
You develop basic accounting skills.

Financial Advantages

You have more flexibility with earnings and spending (e.g. fees, investments, etc),
You can declare up to 50% of your rent as a business expense* not to mention telephone, internet, equipment, etc.,
Training (e.g. TESOL France membership, attending and speaking at international conferences, etc) is written off as a business expense,
If you are married, the reduction on income tax spills over onto your spouse.

* 50% with a studio; approx 40% if a 1-bedroom apt. Consult your accountant.

Personal Advantages

You are your own boss,
It gives you an edge in your classes especially if you teach English for Specific Purposes (ESP) such as in Business or Finance,
Your employer goes from being your boss to being your client,
It looks great on your CV,
You can develop self-promotional skills,
It will improve your French.

Disadvantages

It can cause administrative overload, especially in the beginning,
Independents often feel like they're drowning in mail, taxes, estimates, billing, banking issues, etc.,
Dealing with the jargon – in English and in French - can cause migraines,
Technically, you are personally liable for your assets should the business fail or a client calls into question your professional responsibility. *

* But last time I checked, teaching English wasn't considered "risky business" ... unless you count teaching the present perfect.

What does it take?

Extreme patience
Meticulous organization
Creativity
A tough gut
Determination
Assertiveness
Functional French
Pride & a tough ego ... yet: humbleness
If applicable, a supportive spouse, ideally French speaking

As you weigh these advantages and disadvantages remember: going independent isn't for everyone. But neither are bungee jumping, guerrilla marketing and escargot.

English Teachers in France are "Independent"... Naturally.

2009-08-08T23:11:00.011+02:00

The steps for Going Independent are a plenty. Just thinking about it can take a while. The good news is whatever your status, you can start thinking about it today, now, during your lunch break.

Compare:

CDI (Contrat à Durée Indéterminée: long-term contract)
Many schools may offer you a CDI...while many may not. Here are some CDI basics:

Congés payés (vacations) are covered by your employer
You receive tickets restaurants, comité d’entreprises, mutuelle, and other “perks”
You get sick leave and/or maternity leave
Your employer takes out Social Security
Your employer should offer professional training (DIF)
A three-month notice requirement for quitting

CDD (Contrat à Durée Déterminée or fixed-term contracts)
It appears to me that the majority of contracts for teachers in France are CDDs. Most go for 20 hours or 40 hours, then stop. Teachers often get used to juggling more than one CDD at a time (I knew one who juggled a whopping six!)

You are paid an hourly wage
Social charges are deducted from your pay slip by your employer
You may get compensation for transportation. No compensation for meals, equipment, etc.
Some sick leave

CDII Contract (intermittent unlimited term contract). I've also heard people call this a "vacataire" contract. I call it the "ramen noodles" contract. Basically, it offers the employer an alternative to illegally churning out countless CDD contracts. It offers no perks for the teacher.

The previous CDD info is the same, except you are guaranteed a handful of hours per year (e.g. 350)
A three-month notice is usually required if you want to terminate your contract

Independent

You are responsible for filling your own timetable
You are responsible for your own vacations
You are responsible for writing off business-related expenses (lunches, travel)
While sickness is covered, sick leave isn't. For additional insurance see: la loi Madelin
You're responsible for your retirement – See: CIPAV
Professional training is a “business expense”
No long-term commitment
Stealing clients is illegal and you can and will be sued under French law

In conclusion: Teachers in France in the continuing education sector are naturally "independent."

All teachers in the aforementioned categories are used to salary variations, looking for clients (or that next 20 to 40-hour gig), variations in demand, juggling different time tables and the joys of French administration.

Apple pies and tarte tintins. Roughly the same ingredients. Only one will turn your life upside down.

What's in a Name? Initialisms Galore!

2009-07-14T21:14:00.007+02:00

July 14th is "Bastille Day."

News flash! The French don't even call it that, not to mention "Jour de la Bastille."

They call it: La Fête Nationale.

It's the perfect metaphor for working as a travailleur indépendant. The administrative documents we independents churn out on a monthly basis often fall under more than one name, which can wreak havoc on our precious filing systems.

Just being a travailleur indépendant means you are also:
A freelancer
Self-employed
An independent
Profession liberale (Fr)
Entreprise Individualle (Fr)

As a linguist, I am no stranger to multiple names for the same thing. Just look at the latest research on English used as an international language. In a recent talk I gave in Cardiff, I showed 18 terms for roughly the same phenomenon (English as a Lingua Franca). Juggling the jargon France is no different.

Initialisms Galore!

Don't get me started. In the English teaching field, we've got: ELT, ESL, EFL, ESP,

TEFL, TESOL, EAP, TEA, IATEFL, BESIG, CEFR....Even David Crystal's blog is an initialism! (DC Blog).

Being a freelancer means you should initially know about:

URSSAF: Unions de Recouvrement des Cotisations de Sécurité Sociale et d'Allocations Familiales
SIRET and SIREN (roughly translated as "company registration number")
INSEE: Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques
Code NAF / Code APE: (trade sectors. Language training falls under 804C, generally)
CIPAV: Caisse Interprofessionnelle de Prévoyance et d'Assurance Vieillesse
DIF: Droit Individuel à la Formation

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Get ready for more alphabet soup.

Excuse Me for My Lateness

2009-07-07T09:47:00.007+02:00

Here's a well-known travailleur indépendant's joke:

Two men are driving in the middle of the desert and the car breaks down.
Driver: Oh dear. We've run out of gas. We don't have any cell phones, food or water. We're going to die.
Passenger: Did you send in your URSSAF payments?
Driver: No, why?
Passenger: Don't worry. They'll find us.

I don't know one independent in France who hasn't received one "rappel de cotisations" (translation: reminder of payment due). If you:
1) move,
2) go on vacation in August,
3) don't send your cotisations registered,
4) don't call the offices every hour of the day to make sure your check / TIP arrived safely,

then you will receive, at some point, a "rappel de cotisations."

I'll never forget the day I arrived home to find a letter from CIPAV (retirement):

Date: 28 septembre 2007
"Madame,
Vous êtes redevable d'une somme de 16,651.00 euros, au titre du régime d'assurance vieillesse de base, et de l'invalidité-décès que nous vous invitons a régler avant le 30 novembre 2007.
Veuillez agréer, Madame, l'expression de notre..."

I'm not a fainter. But on September 28th 2007 I sure was! Pay up 16,651.00 euros in two months!! Were they out of their minds?
Turns out, they were.
URSSAF didn't inform CIPAV of my existing company. So, for two years, I hadn't been sending off the required payments for retirement. Whoops?
Discovering this, I sent CIPAV a friendly note saying: "Hey, fellas, I'm ready to start paying you." To thank me, they send a bill the size of a downpayment on a McMansion.

There's a happy ending. My accountant, let's call him Mr Miyagi, informed me that government agencies, such as CIPAV, churn out false "rappel" on a daily basis to spook unsuspecting business owners into thinking it was the business owner's fault. Again, it's URSSAF's job to touch base with CIPAV. In my case they didn't. In my case, and in many other cases, I'm slapped into thinking it was my fault.

In the end, there's no need to ask your doctor to up your prescription of valium. Take each rappel in stride. And remember what each of our students whimpers upon arriving 15 minutes after the lesson started: "Please, pardon me for my lateness."

The Red Pill or the Blue Pill?

2009-07-04T23:29:00.004+02:00

Becoming an independent is a bit like Neo and Morpheus's meeting in the first Matrix film. "If you take the blue pill, the story ends, you awake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe." You take the red pill, and you wake up in a plastic egg filled with gooey, enzymatic Jello.

The red pill symbolizes the truth. Alice's rabbit-hole. An independent's ticket to Wonderland.
But as Morpheus warns: "After this, there is no turning back."

To get the full effect, watch the video clips from the film:
Short version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQF8LAmiaE
Long version (including the gooey scene): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_8Zq_iWuFg

It's positively eerie how this scene ties in perfectly to taking those first steps as an independent. Read on:

Morpheus: I imagine that right now you’re feeling a little like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit-hole…You’re here because you know something. What you know, you can’t explain. But you feel it....That there’s something wrong with the world (1). You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.
...
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere...You can feel it when you go to work, or when you go to church, or when you pay your taxes (2). It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage (3), ...Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. (He produces a box containing two colored pills, one blue and one red.)
This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back (4). You take the blue pill, the story ends, you awake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Pause. Neo reaches for the red pill.) Remember: all I’m offering is the truth, nothing more (5). (Neo swallows the red pill with a glass of water...four months later he receives his first two bills from UR$$AF and RAM to the tune of 428 euro.)

Source: Larry and Andy Wachowski (1996)
http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Matrix,-The.html

Footnotes:
(1) All teachers who have experience with CDD, CDI, CDII, or vacataire contracts know this!
(2) Morpheus' first mention of URSSAF, CIPAV and RSI.
(3) Second mention of CDD, CDII, and vacataire contracts.
(4) Sadly, this is true for independents. It's very difficult to go back.
(5) Morpheus must have read my mind.

Start-up letter to send to UR$$AF

2009-07-04T23:14:00.003+02:00

Here is a draft of the letter you can send to URSSAF to inform them of your intentions of starting a independent company. Think of this letter as the red pill Neo takes at the beginning of the film, "The Matrix."

URSSAF
Centres de Formalités des Entreprises
3 rue de Tolbiac
75701 Paris Cedex 13

Paris, le 15 juin 2_ _ _

Objet : Création d’entreprise individuelle

Madame, Monsieur

Je soussigné (your name), née le *(birthdate) 19** à (place of birth), immatriculée à l’INSEE sous le numéro (SS#), demeurant (address), souhaite m’installer à compter du (date you want to start) comme formatrice /eur en anglais pour adultes en qualité de travailleur indépendant.

En vous remerciant de votre obligeance, je vous prie d’agréer l'expression de ma considération distinguée.

(your name)

About this blog

2009-07-04T15:34:00.006+02:00

July 4th: America celebrates her Independence Day. Here in France, for this southern belle, every day is Independence Day - or rather an Independent's Day. Every July 4th, I'll pop open a bottle of champagne to mark the anniversary of my "travailleur indépendant" status. It has been a journey filled with surprises, triumphs and heart attacks. Being a travailleur indépendant is not for everyone. This blog is thus dedicated to those who are thinking about taking the leap, have already jumped, and who have landed in the thorny thicket known as Freelancing in France.