How to earn some pocket money while travelling abroad
You want to go travel to France, Learn French in France, maybe stay in a host family or in a student residence, but your worried about the cost of it all to study French and live abroad. If you are anything like me when you plan on traveling to a different country your budget is definitely something you keep in mind. Travelling and the cost of living in another city, studying at a language school, especially in another continent can get expensive, but fortunately, as I found out during my French immersion stay here in Montpellier, there is for sure ways to make money while you are attending French classes and living are abroad!
Before I came Montpellier, I did some research online while I was in Canada about how I could travel in the south of France but also help myself a long by making money here and there. First you have to find out, depending on which country you are from, if you need a visa. Generally, if you are from the EU you should not need a visa to work in Montpellier. But if you are from outside France or the EU like me, you need one. I applied for a working Holiday Visa while I was in Canada, had the interview with all the required documents and two weeks later, boom! I had my working holiday visa in France ready for 12 months!
When I arrived in Montpellier I did a lot of research on what kind of jobs I could get with my limited French skills and only part time availability. I found many websites like Indeed, and Meteojob that offered many options for people who don’t speak French fluently and who are looking for an English job. I found a company that offered English speaking teachings and babysitters for French children in the area of Montpellier. I ended up working with an amazing little girl every week. All I had to do was work one day a week babysitting her in the evenings. This little job just working one day a week gave me an extra two hundred euro a month. I also had the option to work with more families for more hours during the week if I wanted to earn more money, but with my French course and the free time I wanted to explore the beautiful south of France I decided this one job was all I need. I also did look in several pubs and cafes in the historical centre, there are English and Irish pubs in Montpellier that will hire you if you speak French and English if you are lucky and apply at the right time.
I loved having this opportunity to work while I was taking my French courses because I got to learn a little more of the French culture and especially with my babysitting job I was immersed in the life of a family who lived in Montpellier. Even though I wasn’t with them all the time like an au pair, and I did speak English with the girl, the family and child were natively French and didn’t speak much English in the first place so in the end I did actually learn a lot from them as well.
Overall there are many job opportunities in Montpellier to find during your French immersion stay to earn a little extra money during your French Language stay. You can learn so much alongside your French classes because working and taking language courses in a different country in a foreign language gives you such a different perspective on the language and the culture. It will definitely enrich your vocabulary and only benefit you even more. It’s true that it can get a little costly living and attending a French language school to study abroad if you, like me are trying to do every activity offered by the ILA French school and to indulge in all the food you can but having the option to earn a little extra pocket money to help you out during your French education stay is definitely worth it. You will certainly make amazing memories and maybe even meet amazing people like I did while studying abroad in France!