 Poster: A snowHead
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One of my sons is thinking of taking a sabbatical year out a couple of years before his 30th birthday and would like to do a season in the French speaking Alps teaching skiing. He has no ski qualifications at all but has been skiing since he was tiny I was hoping some of the experts on here could point us in the right direction for getting qualified. He knows the pay will be poor but should have some money behind him by then to help out.
He currently works in Northern Germany, sometimes in German, but is not fluent in German hence his desire to work in a French speaking zone because he is fluent in French. (He may amend that if his German improves). He studied much more French at school and then worked in French speaking North Africa. He may well be working back in the UK or even somewhere else overseas before he has enough savings to consider a sabbatical.
He has taught ballroom, latin and rock & roll dance for many years to both adults and children, and really enjoys teaching, so the passing on of information should present no difficulty.
He is an excellent skier, was clocked at 114 kmh recently (I mention that because I think the French at least require some kind of speed test?) and managed to overtake and 'catch' a friend who fell on a steep black run, (apparently catching girls in dance helped!) He has also studied first aid. All of which I believe should help to make him a good teacher but he will obviously need a qualification.
Where should he start, and when? Thank you!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Not exactly the same conversation but similar pam w!
Anyway CaravanSkier this is a very 'big' question being asked as you will see lots of replies on here. First things first though to say is that when you say 'French speaking alps' and given his background etc you are almost 100% certainly going to be looking at the french speaking part of the swiss alps but there will be plenty of commentary on why on here I would have thought! The long and short of it is that teaching skiing in France is a long term career as opposed to a 'season' so France as a location is not likely to be the outcome!
If he speaks French and really wants to follow the French route then looks at ENSA otherwise if wanting to do the training in English then look at BASI!
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pam w, Thank you, it was the other thread that prompted this. I did not want to take someone else's thread off course.
Steve Angus, I am sure he would love Switzerland but again, I know nothing about requirements to teach there. He does not want a career as a ski instructor, so probably that rules out France from what you say.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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CaravanSkier, it takes years and years, and a lot of dedication, for someone to qualify to teach skiing in France. Being a good skier and speaking fluent French doesn't cut any ice as there are plenty of French people who are good skiers - and it takes them many years to qualify, too.
If he has an entire year he could learn German well enough to work in Austria, doing the basics over the next few years, then some immersion in the first months of the sabbatical. Using the year to acquire a good level of another european language would be a good use of the time.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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pam w, We were thinking teaching in France might not be an option from what I have read previously, and he recognises that just being a competent skier and fluent in a language is not enough to teach, hence thinking about it a few years in advance and trying to work out a plan of action. It may not actually turn out to be possible for him to teach skiing at all but he wants to find out what his options are.
If it will be more practical for him to teach in a German speaking country he will need to concentrate on perfecting his German in the months he has left living and working there. He would want to be able to teach skiing in German to German speakers and he feels very strongly that being taught by someone who is struggling in a language is far from ideal. He has had Russian dance coaches for example!
All this information is very useful stuff, thank you.
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If it will be more practical for him to teach in a German speaking country he will need to concentrate on perfecting his German in the months he has left living and working there
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I don't think he'd need perfect German - I'm sure flangesax, who has done the Austrian qualifications and reported in detail about his experiences, would be happy to provide info - he is very modest about his own German fluency. Logically though, if a ski school has a native English-speaker on the payroll, they will often be teaching Brits or other Anglophones.
There have been a lot of threads about the French qualifications - they have to have top racing skills just to teach 4 year olds......
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You really don't need fluent German to pass the Anwärter, the base level Austria qualification. Decent basics is just fine. It#s a 10 day course, costs around 500 euros I think.
He'd be far more likely to be teaching Brits, Skandis and Dutch than Germans though. In one season and 6-7 peak week work in following years (in two different schools), I think I only taught two Germans...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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clarky999, interesting, at present he can get by in German, buying food in the shops, talking to folk at work etc and he is having lessons too so maybe his German will be good enough before he needs to prove it. 500 euros sounds very reasonable too.
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Does anyone know what qualifications you need to teach in Switzerland?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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kieranm, Thank you kieranm. Anyone know how difficult/easy work permits for Switzerland are?
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He can also work in france with a BASI L2 and a test technique (slalom) pass
so one plan maybe to do his BASI l1 in an indoor ski centre from now onwards, then some training on a glacier over the summer, take the L2 and the test technique pre-Xmas and then seek employment. A number of the young chaps did this on my BASI L2. One passed his test technique and got a job in Val D'Isere, another got a job starting the Monday after his L2 in Switzerland.
Loads of info here....
http://www.basi.org.uk/content/countries-rules--regulations-for-employment.aspx
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You know it makes sense.
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Thank you kitenski.
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