Before I ever thought about teaching French on my own, I did what seemed like the sensible thing to do: I applied to do the same job for somebody else.
I ended up doing a series of job interviews with different “language schools.”
Besides how disgustingly low the bar was (I wouldn’t advise anyone trying to learn a language to subscribe to such courses), what really stood out to me was the long series of “you have to”s.
I specifically recall one very comical interview after which I abandoned all hope. It went pretty much like this:
No questions about my background, my credentials, or any interest in how I would structure a lesson, BUT…
“Are you a native speaker of French?”
“No, I am not. My only native language is Italian, but I have a Master’s degree in conference interpreting with French as my first foreign language and multiple certificates which can demonstrate my proficiency.”
“Have you at least lived in France?”
“No, as I said, I’ve learned the language while I was living in Italy. But I can show you my credentials.”
“No. You have to tell students you’re a native speaker.”
“But I’m not.”
“It doesn’t matter. You know, I don’t even care if you’re a native speaker or not, but students do.”
“Okay, so I can’t work for you.”
“But you are a native speaker of Italian. You could teach Italian.”
“But I am not qualified to teach Italian to foreigners. Only French and English.”
“But technically you COULD.” (wink wink)
“Theoretically I could, but practically I won’t because that’s not my line of work.”
“You are making this very difficult, Giulia. But I can see you have what it takes to be a good teacher, so I’ll put my name down on (whatever paper) and vouch for you. I am taking on the responsibility, you understand?”
“Mhhh.”
“What language would you speak in class?”
“Mainly French, of course. But depending on the circumstances, I may switch briefly to Italian or English if I consider it necessary.”
“No, that’s not allowed. In class, you have to speak French only.”
“Okay. I don’t think it’s ideal to be this strict, but I can do that.”
“How would you teach the students?”
“(Happy me): Yes, so, there is this method that I have devised and tested on myself as well as on dozens of students I have tutored during my school years, and it REALLY works. I am so passionate about…”
“Let me stop you right there. That’s you. Most people don’t really care about languages that much. They take classes because they need to, so this method you’re so excited about… it’s not gonna cut it. You have to follow our textbook.”
“OoOokay. So no freedom whatsoever on my side. I understand. When would I start?”
“Oh, sweetie. You thought we had a position open for you?”
“Ehm… Yes, I replied to a specific job announcement, so yes, I did think so. Is it not the case?”
“No, this is just to see if you’d be suitable in case positions open up in the future.”
“(Disheartened): Okay…”
“I can see you’ve never been in this line of work before. Do you expect to be paid at the end of the month?”
“Yes, I do?”
“Oh, I should have told you earlier. It doesn’t work like that! You’ll get paid at the end of the project, once we get funding from the region to cover our costs. It may well be six months or more after you finish. So, can I write your name on my list?”
“Nah, you know what: this doesn’t look like a good fit for me. I think you’ll need to find another teacher. Sorry.”
Long story short, they wrote back to me asking if I could teach Italian to a top manager.
It was the last straw.