FAQ

The two main jobs I recommend applying for are the lecteur de langue and maitre de langue positions. Both are year-long positions that give you the right to work and live in France. The main requirement is to teach English (or whatever language you apply for) to undergraduate and graduate students in person at the university campus. While there are other positions that exist, such as the TAPIF Teaching assistant position for Americans or the entrepreneur or au pair route, the two positions above are in my opinion the best in terms of experience, salary, and quality of life.

Both positions are great because of the amount of teaching you do compared to how much time off you get, in addition to your salary and the length of the contract (1 full year instead of 8 months). It provides for an unparalleled work-life balance, allowing for a quality of life other workplaces could only dream of.

The lecteur de langue position is like a teaching assistant position. You will teach and grade some classes, but most of your teaching hours will be teaching language workshops that aren’t graded. Sometimes you are given a syllabus for your classes, sometimes you have to create your own. Salary is about 1250-1350 euros after taxes a month. To qualify, you need 4 years of post-High School education. To some universities, this means a 4-year undergraduate college degree. To others, this means an undergraduate degree and 1 year of a master’s degree completed as well.

The maitre de langue position doesn’t expect you to teach any language workshops, and instead you teach all of your own classes. You also give all of your own grades, and you need to create your own syllabus most of the time. Salary is about 1550-1650 euros depending on the region. To qualify, you need a Masters degree.

For both positions, you only teach from mid-September to mid-December, with 1 full week of vacation in the fall and 2 weeks of vacation for christmas and new year’s. For the 2nd semester, you teach from mid January to mid April, with 1 full week of vacation in February and 1-2 weeks of vacation in April. You may have some make-up exams to proctor in May or June. The university closes in July and most of August, but you’re still paid the same monthly salary throughout the whole academic year.

It depends on your level of French, but honestly, if you don’t know any French at all, yes, that’s a problem. While it’s not technically a qualification to apply, because of how competitive these positions are, in practice the universities usually hire candidates with at least a beginner’s level of French. Knowing Intermediate French is great for the position — you definitely don’t need to be completely fluent, and for some lecteur positions, it might even be preferable.

Almost all universities across France hire for these kinds of positions every single year. They also almost all have the same academic calendar, which makes the hiring calendar a lot easier to manage.

Universities hire from as early as January to as late as June for that year’s hiring cycle. Positions start September 1st and end August 31st the next year. The majority of the positions, however, are posted in March and April.

For more in-depth details on each university, I’ve created a university directory that I update regularly, which is available for purchase in my shop.

Universities regularly post their positions for 2 weeks to a month (the usual hiring window is 1 month) and then take them down on their university website. As a result, it’s hard to find the positions, because of how many universities in France there are. The only website I know of that posts them semi-regularly is the SAES website. But most people apply to those positions, and not all positions can be found posted there.

That’s why I created my own jobs board, Alex’s Lecteur and Maitre de Langue Job Board! I post a new one every year and keep the previous years up for helpful reference, and it’s all free! I definitely recommend this as the best place to find and apply for positions, as I post many that aren’t featured on the SAES website and are hard to find.

Of course! I have a variety of different resources depending on how much help you need.

For some free helpful support, in addition to my free jobs board, I also have a monthly newsletter that features any new jobs I find during the January-June hiring cycle. I also offer a free Hiring Roadmap PDF to help you better understand the entire hiring cycle and process.

If you need some more structured help, I offer a downloadable application tracker to help you stay organized. I also have a University Directory that I regularly update, as well as an ebook that’s part-guide, part-memoir of my experience and tips applying to jobs and making the actual move to France.

In 2026 I will start offering some free and some paid webinars to teach on how to most effectively and successfully get a language teaching position and move to France.

Finally, if you want one-on-one support with me to create a personalized strategy plan based on your profile to maximize your strengths and weaknesses, or if you need help workshopping your resume, cover letter, or practice interviewing, I offer paid 1-hour consultations.