Expert: Rolland Puckett - 9/26/2002

Question
Hello,
I have my BS in Management with a minor in French.  I am interested in getting certification to become a High School level French Teacher.  I have contacted some colleges but they said it would take up to 2 years because of the course offering schedule. There were not that many classes to take, 2 graduate and possibly 3 or 4 undergrad for a french major...as well as classroom time.  Should I attempt to get a private school job?  Can I get certification without any real teaching experience? ( I substituted on the high school level briefly) thanks for your help:-)

Answer
Hi, Jessica!

Please forgive my tardiness in sending you an answer.  Life is most demanding.

I thought this would be a short, one small paragraph answer until I re-read your message.  You have something very good going for you!  A business management major is soooooo useful these days.  I wish I had that degree, along with my others.  Dr. Joyce Brothers wrote a book just before you were born: How to Get Whatever You Want In Life, or thereabouts.  Her most effective device for doing just that in one's career is to combine something a little unusual with one's "usual" career choice.  There are lots and lots of business majors out there, and opportunities for them, too.  But, if one possesses a talent or significant qualification in addition to that principal major, then one will stand out and be considered with greater attention for fulfilling a need in business, government, etc.

I have a friend who majored in psychology - which prepares one to teach, or go for a PhD, or major in something else later.  (I know; I did it.)  He happens to be half Native American, and the man speaks (and writes, amazingly - since written symbols for some Native American languages are rather new) several Native American tongues.  He translates the Sunday school literature for Native American congregations of the United Methodist Church, as well as authoring much of it.

Dr. Brothers, a singularly interesting lady, described a lot of real-life instances of her philosophy, and she gives examples of how this combinative effect works in corporate and other structures.  If you were to become quite fluent in French, there are corporations that would very much be interested in your business and bi-lingual expertise, especially in the French language.  I speak German and fair French (much more beautiful that Deutsch!), and I can tell you that a truly bi-lingual person with a business major would be in demand by many multi-national companies.  France and the United States conduct an immense amount of business.  I know there are computer programs that instantly translate.  I have one, but it doesn't work all that wonderfully.  Some meanings are downright laughable when the typing is done.  A "speaker" is what they want, especially in sensitive meetings.  

My nephew asked me to go along for a very sensitive meeting in Hamburg.  Two of the Germans continually made disparaging remarks about how lazy we are, and that few of us ever bother to learn a foreign language, etc.  I waited until the last day of meetings, and thanked them (in German) for their hospitality, telling them that the company would be in contact.  Talk about ashen faces!

If you're set on teaching in secondary education (a noble profession, and I do mean that!) I would not consider a private school, unless it happens to be a special school.  There are two or three in my area, rather exclusive, long-established, and teaching positions there are cushy.  That's because the students are really serious and rules are quite strict.  Things are done quietly, the ambience is marvelous for teaching and for learning.  The salaries are okay.  There are  a great many Christian and Jewish schools in my area.  Teachers do not have discipline problems, which are inevitable in public schools.  Salaries in the private sectarian schools, however, are generally not good.

I live in the Nashville area.  There is a very well-heeled county adjacent to the metropolitan area that's quite upscale, with beautiful residential "farms," and historic places.  The schools and teachers' salaries are two notches above the city.  A young friend of mine just three years out of college teaches mathematics there, and she very much likes it.  Of course, a secondary school teacher wihout a master's degree makes a subsistence living.  Her husband is a computer engineer, thankfully.

To get to the heart of your question, if it's at all practical financially for you to do it, I would complete a major in French.  The minor is significant, of course, but not so very significant.  It's the difference between knowing something about French, and that you possess true and fluent skill in the French language.  You have the foundation, but the building is yet to be built.  

It's easy for me to state all that, but you're young, and you have the time.  Usually, of course, the big question is the finances required to complete a degree.  There's financial aid all over the place, much of it unclaimed.  The public library reference department is a great place to find resources for financial aid - including many private scholarships that no one knows about.  Ask the librarians to help in locating the resources.  That's what they're there for.

My state is so desperate for language teachers (and teachers in some other fields) that all it takes for certification is eighteen hours' college course work in the subject one wants to teach.  Secondary school principals, however, really push for a teacher to complete more and more hours credit in a certified subject as time goes on.  I'm told it has to do with a school's rating, somehow.

I hope I've provided at least a modicum of insight to help in your job determination, and that you find just what you'd like to do.  What a blessing that is!

Yours,
Rolland Puckett