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This week in my French conversation group, we'll talk about work.
I will teach you vocabulary and structures to talk about your work.
And I'm going to use my job as an example to tell you about it. Stay tuned until the end, because I have a surprise for you! Let's get started!
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My work situation:
Currently, I am an online French teacher for foreigners. I teach French to people for whom French is not their native language.
I have a micro-entrepreneur (or auto-entrepreneur) status, which means that I am not employed. I work for myself.
I am the founder of Ohlala French Course where I offer private French lessons, a French conversation group and some self-guided courses to learn French.
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The job I wanted to do when I was little:
When I was little I wanted to work in a zoo, be a fashion designer and travel all at the same time. It was a little difficult for me to make a choice.
These are jobs that are related to the things I loved as a child and that I still love. I love animals, drawing and traveling.
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The studies I did:
I didn't start with language studies right away.
I wanted to find a job that would allow me to travel and I decided to study international business.
I did a DUT (technical-commercial diploma), then a professional license in management.
I enjoyed my studies, but I hated my first work experience.
It was a very bad professional experience and it made me want to change my path.
After that experience, I moved to Malta, I talk about my expatriation in this video.
In Malta, I started a distance learning program offered by the University of Artois: I did a Master FLE-FLS-FOS in a professional and academic context.
Let me translate that for you: it's a Master's degree that teaches you to teach French as a foreign language, as a second language and for specific purposes.
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My professional experiences:
As I mentioned, I had some work experience as a salesperson.
After that I did some jobs on the side of my studies in the field of customer service.
During my Master's degree, I did an internship at the European School in Brussels where I worked with children.
Then I worked at the Alliance Française de Bruxelles and at Berlitz.
I created Ohlala French Course in 2019, but my activity really started in 2020. It's been a year and a half now and I'm more than satisfied!
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My missions and responsibilities in my job:
So, let's start with my missions. When you are a micro-entrepreneur, you don't just have one job, you have several!
Obviously, my first mission is to teach French. I give private lessons and I manage my conversation group. I have another French teacher, Benoit, who also teaches in my conversation group.
This involves creating lessons, correcting assignments and a lot of organization.
I also work with two other online language schools.
I have a presence on social media, including Instagram and YouTube. It's a lot of work, there's content creation.
I post twice a day on Instagram and I post a video a week on YouTube. I also have to respond to all your posts and comments and emails.
There's also a lot of administration, which is my least favorite part!
And next to that, there is the reflection and the construction of new projects to propose you the most adapted things to your needs.
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A typical day:
That's a hard question to answer!
My days are never exactly the same. Maybe the organization of my weeks stays similar.
I have classes every day from Monday to Friday. I have anywhere from a minimum of 3 hours of class to a maximum of 9 hours of class per day. Now, I try to have a maximum of 6 hours of classes per day
Besides my classes, I organize myself this way. Here is my schedule:
On Monday, I prepare resources for my conversation group.
On Tuesday, I shoot my video of the week and edit it.
On Wednesday, I write my blog post for the week and leave myself some extra time for editing, because it takes a long time to edit a video.
On Thursday, I create my posts for the following week.
On Friday, I write the script for my next video.
On Saturday, I write my newsletter for the week.
And on Sunday, I prepare my lessons for the upcoming week.
If I have extra time, I move on to new projects or deal with the unexpected.
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The qualities needed to do my job:
I think the most important quality in my work is: patience and empathy too.
In order for my students to feel comfortable and for me to help them the best I can, it is necessary.
Patience is also useful when it comes to managing social networks. It is sometimes difficult to manage, you have to take a lot of distance.
You have to be organized, you have to know how to manage your time well.
It's important to be autonomous, to be able to find solutions by yourself.
I think it's also necessary to be creative in creating content and courses. You have to try to make complex grammar rules simple or at least accessible.
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Pros and cons of my job:
There are many advantages in my work.
The first is freedom. I am free to work wherever I want as long as I have a good internet connection and my computer. I have freedom in decision making, I can run my business as I want
The second advantage is to work online. I really love it! It saves a lot of time and I find that there are more possibilities.
I also love the fact that I learn new things every day through my work. It's very rewarding!
The first disadvantage concerns all micro-entrepreneurs, we have no security in our work.
If, let's imagine, I get sick and I can't do my job anymore, I have no protection. It would be very complicated. For the moment, I'm knocking on wood as they say, it hasn't happened.
It's a lot of work to manage all this, I have very little time for myself. I am often stressed and I have difficulty letting go and stop working.
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Subscriber questions :
I asked you on Instagram, if you haven't already, you can follow me I post twice a day. So, I asked if you had any questions about my work and I'm going to answer them now!
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Do you have collaborators?
For Ohlala French Course, I have my boyfriend who is in charge of the website, he is a web developer. Otherwise, no. There is Benoit, as I said, who teaches two classes for my French conversation group.
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Why did I decide to work online and not in a face-to-face school?
It's really an obvious choice for me! I love being at home, I hate taking public transportation, the crowds. It's very stressful. I did my Master's online and I thought it was great, I was working at my own pace, I was in a comfortable place (at home). And I thought it was the perfect place to learn. So I want to offer the same thing to you French learners.
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Do you ever get frustrated because a student doesn't understand something even though you've already explained it 10 times?
So it never happened. And no, if it did I wouldn't feel frustrated. Sometimes a student doesn't understand something right away, and that's perfectly normal. If that happens, I will explain in different ways, use visuals and examples. There is always a solution.
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What's the hardest thing to do in your job
There's not really anything difficult about it. What I have the most trouble with is the lack of time. I would like to have 72-hour days or not need to sleep.
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Is your job tiring? How many hours do you work per day?
Yes! Actually, as I said view that I have a lot of things to do and I work on a screen. Yes, it can be tiring. I don't really count my hours. I start working around 8:00/8:30 and finish around 8:00/8:30. I take a few short breaks during the day to clear my head.
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What do I like most about my work?
I think I said it before, it's the freedom and learning new things. I teach my students French, but they also teach me new things, it's very interesting
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How did your job interview go?
I don't have a boss, I'm the boss! So, no job interview
Actuellement = 🇬🇧 currently
Micro-entrepreneur (ou auto-entrepreneur) = 🇬🇧 self-employed person
Salarié(e) = 🇬🇧 employee
Fondatrice / Fondateur = 🇬🇧 founder
Créatrice(teur) de mode = 🇬🇧 dress designer
Un métier = 🇬🇧 an occupation
Un boulot = 🇬🇧 an occupation
Un DUT = 🇬🇧 a higher national diploma, technology degree
Une licence = 🇬🇧 a bachelor degree
Une voie = 🇬🇧 a career path
Commencer des études = 🇬🇧 to start studies
Faire un Master = 🇬🇧 to do a master's degree
En tant que = 🇬🇧 as
Dans le domaine du service client = 🇬🇧 In the field of customer service
Pendant = 🇬🇧 during, for
Ensuite = 🇬🇧 then
Mon activité = 🇬🇧 occupation
Ça fait = 🇬🇧 it’s been
Assurer = 🇬🇧 to handle
Gérer = 🇬🇧 to manage
Un emploi du temps = 🇬🇧 a schedule
En rab = 🇬🇧 more
Les imprévus = 🇬🇧 something unexpected
Impératif(ve) = 🇬🇧 imperative
La patience = 🇬🇧 patience
L’empathie = 🇬🇧 empathy
Prendre du recul = 🇬🇧 to take a step back
Gérer son temps = 🇬🇧 to manage your time
Autonome = 🇬🇧 autonomous
Créatif = 🇬🇧 creative
La prise de décision = 🇬🇧 decision taking
Enrichissant = 🇬🇧 enriching, rewarding
Toucher du bois = 🇬🇧 touch wood, knock on wood
Lâcher prise = 🇬🇧 to let go
Un(e) collaborateur(trice) = 🇬🇧 collaborator
Être frustré(e) = 🇬🇧 to be frustrated
Poser problème = 🇬🇧 to cause, pose a problem
Fatigant = 🇬🇧 tiring
S’aĂ©rer l’esprit = 🇬🇧 to clear your mind
Un entretien d’embauche = 🇬🇧 job interview
Un patron / Une patronne = 🇬🇧 a boss
French Work Vocabulary:
What is your job?
I'll see you soon for new adventures, in French of course! 🇫🇷
