Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am qualified to teach French at the university undergraduate level (MA, but not high school licensed). Anyone employed as one on here? I need more than a community college salary. It's hard to know who's hiring and not. I'm on the East Coast, but would relocated, depending on location.
I am qualified to teach French at the university undergraduate level (MA, but not high school licensed). Anyone employed as one on here? I need more than a community college salary. It's hard to know who's hiring and not. I'm on the East Coast, but would relocated, depending on location.
Thanks in advance.
If you can't teach in high school and you don't want to teach in community college, I'm not sure where that leaves. An MA does not qualify you to teach in a full-time position at most 4 year colleges. Even a PhD would have a hard time finding a French job these days.
If you can't teach in high school and you don't want to teach in community college, I'm not sure where that leaves. An MA does not qualify you to teach in a full-time position at most 4 year colleges. Even a PhD would have a hard time finding a French job these days.
Really? There aren't many people with even MA's in French, let alone PHD's. I can get hired at most community colleges, but the pay is not that great.
To your surprise, I do know people who have taught undergraduate French courses at non-community colleges without PHD's, but they've had "other" job duties at the universities. The pay seemed much higher than in community colleges.
Last edited by FrancaisDeutsch; 01-25-2013 at 09:21 AM..
wow, really? I thought foreign languages were in demand, especially since not many people major in them...OP why did you get an MA? just curious..
There is a lot of demand for bilingual people in all languages (Don't get me wrong!); however, combining it with a specialty field is very important to land a decent-paying job, unless you know Mandarin or Japanese, where specialty knowledge is not as essential as so few Westerners speak these languages.
My MA is in linguistics (French < > English translation = my passion). But translation has proven to be too "esoteric" and "hidden" as a freelancer; in other words, you feel hopelessly lost at sea with little navigation as there is collaboration by those who have the freelance market to "push others out", even if you're very qualified in some fields. In the US, you don't even need a license to translate, provided you should have some credentials, unlike most countries in the world.
I am qualified to teach English and French at many language schools in Japan. They are very good-paying. But moving so far away from family is not that appealing right now in my life.
I just took a brief look at Higheredjobs.com and (other than adjunct positions) university language positions seem to be PhD preferred or required.
Yeah, "preferred" and usually required; but it's common place to have MA holders in a foreign language teaching at community colleges and in adjunct positions at universities (as you say above). Very few people have PHD's in French, which is the case with languages in general. At any rate, most universities believe that MA holders in French are well qualified to teach undergraduate French courses. But when they hire you full-time, they usually want you to take on other job duties, or work on your PHD (depends on university, French department needs, etc.). So there are "other" strings attached if you're hired full-time.
By the way, you can't get a PHD in the fine arts - MA is tops.
There is a lot of demand for bilingual people in all languages (Don't get me wrong!); however, combining it with a specialty field is very important to land a decent-paying job, unless you know Mandarin or Japanese, where specialty knowledge is not as essential as so few Westerners speak these languages.
My MA is in linguistics (French < > English translation = my passion). But translation has proven to be too "esoteric" and "hidden" as a freelancer; in other words, you feel hopelessly lost at sea with little navigation as there is collaboration by those who have the freelance market to "push others out", even if you're very qualified in some fields. In the US, you don't even need a license to translate, provided you should have some credentials, unlike most countries in the world.
I am qualified to teach English and French at many language schools in Japan. They are very good-paying. But moving so far away from family is not that appealing right now in my life.
I was in your position with a different language a while back. I made the switch to ESL, and have had better job opportunities. Full-time is still hard to come by, but possible if you are somewhat mobile and work hard for it. A degree in a foreign language is considered a qualification to teach English - you can usually get certified to teach public school with just a few education courses, and for colleges the opportunities are there once you get a little bit of English experience. French full time in college is really unlikely to happen - nearly impossible, I'd say.
Yeah, "preferred" and usually required; but it's common place to have MA holders in a foreign language teaching at community colleges and in adjunct positions at universities (as you say above). Very few people have PHD's in French, which is the case with languages in general. At any rate, most universities believe that MA holders in French are well qualified to teach undergraduate French courses. But when they hire you full-time, they usually want you to take on other job duties, or work on your PHD (depends on university, French department needs, etc.). So there are "other" strings attached if you're hired full-time.
By the way, you can't get a PHD in the fine arts - MA is tops.
There are more PhD's in French than there are full time jobs for them, especially since colleges have been cutting back on hiring in the humanities, especially foreign languages, for a long time. Universities almost always use their MA and PhD students to teach their low level language classes, and colleges use adjuncts. Full time positions in colleges and universities are not about teaching, they are about research. They hire people with PhDs and good research and publication records. Teaching is secondary.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
