gingra

I think that for anyone who is willing yet unable (for whatever reason) to find work it can be soul destroying. I have lived and worked in over 3 different countries for both short and long periods of time and I have met people in all places who feel the same. Bills, fees and payments are constant yet job security is no longer a given despite qualification / experience and so on. Even when moving within a country, there is no guarantee. I moved from a city to rural Britain and had to spend a large part of my first year unemployed - although not unemployable. I applied for a range of positions, but nothing so I went back to training / working. People make assumptions about what is to blame and who is to blame trying to justify or make sense of the situation. In my limited experience it is relative to place, time, culture etc and if you need work and have none - then it is really hard. Do people really believe that work will fall in their laps? Who does this actually happen to???!!!

Thanks for those sites too! I am not sure what quals are needed specifically for France for TEFL, but an introductory course can sometimes be enough to start with and if you decide this is for you, most countries have at least one company which will do further courses such as International House or the British Council. It is wise to check out the company first as there can be a lot of cowboys and make you work for pitance without guarantee of payment. If you are planning to work in a larger town or city there tend to be more reputable comapnies. I also have a PGCE as I teach in FE - I haven't done sufficient reserach to see if this is 'useable'. I know its acceptable for international schools...my research contiues! I think that we may have put the organic farming on hold and tried to get established by finding work first. I have lived in other countries, but had work to go to and for some reason this move feels much bigger. Perhaps it is because the risk is greater - the town more rural...I / we are older and have more fear! If you find something really useful - could you give me apointer in the right direction too?!   Cheers

Thanks both for the replies - I shall definitely take them on board...it may be that I go and work and my future husband adopts a rather more domestic role!! The area we intend to look at is about 1 hour from Toulouse and is rather remote, however, each village has a primary school and there are quite a few colleges. I have travelled around a little to check the schooling provision. I am currently teaching in and FE college after having taught business English so I don't mind the age range... I guess it is weighing up the risk factor and being prepared to look for work and not expect things to work out straight away - as with any move. My spirits aren't dampened at all Monty - food for thought... thanks again

Hello again, Seeing as I didn't get very far with the organic farming thing - could the title have put you off? Anyway, I spose what I am trying to say (but attempting to make it sound less desperate than it feels) is that we are prepared to do most kinds of work - my aim is to teach English as a foreign language to start with as I have experience etc and my fiancee is more hands on, farming, driving all sort of machinery (he has all the appropriate English licenses). Are such skills transferable? We have relatives out there, but unfortunately neither of us can 'do hair' so no way of getting into that! Cheers

Hi! We would like to start a small-holding or even a large holding in the Tarn y Garonne region. I don't know if it is best to start ourselves from  scratch or to try to buy an already established farm. We have an outlet for produce and realise that if we supply fruit etc, it will be seasonal work and therefore one or both of us will have to find other employment to supplement our income. We have many questions about farming in France and also working in France (I am a qualified teacher of EFL and other subjects - so that may be useful). Is there anyone who could set on on a path or recommend links or possibly answer all our questions and say 'get your tickets and lets go!'