chicfille

Some friends of ours sent their daughter on a 5-day school trip, aged 4. I was horrified, I think this is WAY too young to be away from home and in the care of just a handful of adults. They said she enjoyed it, but came home with lots of (very) dirty underwear... Our daughter's class went off to the mountains when we'd only been here for a term. She was 7 and not that keen, simply because of the distance (a 8-hour overnight coach trip), but we were made to feel like bad, boat-rocking parents for not sending her. The school insisted that they had never had any problems, that the children loved it and got a lot out of it. We and our daughter stuck to our guns though and think we made the right choice because she had no regrets about not going, because she just wasn't ready. Discuss it with your child, make sure they and you don't feel under pressure from anyone (teachers, especially) when deciding. It's entirely your choice, so don't be bullied!

I agree that an English teacher should not rule out any Americanisms or Britishisms as "wrong", but what irritates is the number of teachers that don't accept, or know, that there are differences! For the record, my daughters aren't allowed to attend English lessons at their primary school, because the teacher isn't much good at English, so I have heard! Goodness knows what she is teaching the others. On a slightly different point, as a translator I am sometimes asked to translate texts into "international English". What is this? I can't accept that it is American English, because there is no reason why that should be more international than British English. And the fact is, that neither is wrong, and are for the most part mutually comprehensible, which is the point of language, is it not?

I use an AZERTY at home (husband needs it) and a QUERTY at work, so I'm always mixing up q's and a's. But it helps that our home keyboard is a Microsoft "natural" keyboard where the left-hand and right-hand keys are slightly separated, so my hands are in a different position when using it. It seems to help my brain make the conversion!

Watercress is readily available in the shops here but only usually when it's in season (starting October if my sources are correct). It is usually found in barquettes next to the lettuces.

Because the studies are free (minimal frais de scolarité aside) however long you've been studying. My bro-in-law is 25 and has just finished his masters degree in a humanities subject. It took until now because he started off in science, switched to another science course after 2 years and after a year of that finally fixed on humanities. Ditto for those that fail a year - they can re-register for the same year of a course as many times as they like, so it can take in infinite amount of time just to get a licence. In the UK you can switch courses up to 1 year and 1 term into your undergraduate course (I believe, at least that's how it used to be). After that you're stuck with it unless you can self-fund. If you fail a year you're kicked out. And anything beyond a first degree has to be paid for oneself or other sources of funding found.  

I was once accosted in the street by a rather ruggedly handsome pair who asked me about my knowledge of fire safety. I naturally played the damsel in distress who knew nothing, so they invited themselves over to check my smoke alarms. *swoon*

It's defining 'fluent' that's the problem! Absolutely! In the course of my work I evaluate candidates for companies who wish to recruit English-speaking employees. Some who claim to be fluent because they have studied English for years are in fact far from it, whilst others who simply claim a working knowledge are far better at actually expressing themselves. What makes the difference isn't years of study but time spent living/working in English-speaking countries. Which is exactly what personal experience taught me - I arrived here as a student thinking I'd be fine, and quickly realised that my grammatically correct university French got me nowhere in conversations with the locals, and it was only after a few years of living, studying and working here for (marrying one of them along the way) that I finally got rid of my anglicisms and accent and became properly fluent.

I too am often alone at night with the children while my husband works, but I've only started getting jumpy just recently, after our neighbours were the victims of an attempted break-in one night while they were all in the house. The evil people in question broke their shutter and smashed a window with an iron bar - not even waiting until they were asleep, this happened only a few minutes after the last light had gone off. Since then I've been far from relaxed when alone. As soon as it's dark and the children are asleep I'm on alert, listening from my bed for unusual noises, phone under the pillow. I do fall asleep eventually, but only when I'm so tired I can't stay awake any longer. My greatest fear is precisely what happened to our neighbours, but worse, it happening when OH isn't in and with the evil ones entering the house and threatening (or worse, hurting) the children or me. There, I've said it! *shudder*

Not sure where you are Di so this may not apply to you, but I have just read this: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1838555,00.html which makes grim reading for those in desperate need of rain.

My primary age children came up with this: Good in England: uniform, packed lunches, PE (especially apparatus in the hall and rounders), writing, shorter days, singing, more playtimes, sports day and the Christmas show Bad in England: errr...nothing they could think of Good in France: geometry (yes really), geography (indeed), no Wednesday school Bad in France: rote-learning poetry, vegetables boiled to death, only one playtime, teachers that shout They agree that they like school here now as much as they did in England, but not for the same reasons.

Clean air? Butterflies? Remarkable though it may seem to some, both can be found in parts of the UK known as the countryside. Not everyone lives in a metropolis. And French ones have air every bit as filthy, and probably as few butterflies, as British ones. I moved from rural Britain to a French city (with my French husband), and I have replaced one set of contentments and irritations for another. The grass is never, or always, depending on your disposition, greener. Good luck to you Logan. One half of me wishes I was doing the same, and the other half is happy about staying put. 

We've got a gorgeous red one that scampers daily through the trees in our garden, crosses the road in front of the house (without looking - obvously not a member of the Tufty Club) and scales the walls of the house opposite at lightening speed! This summer s/he found a friend and the two of them were busy bounding about together looking all lovey-dovey! 

...or, like my husband, abandoned the fussy capitals as soon as they could in favour of simple capitals that are quicker and easier to write. My view of computers in schools is that some take it too far and attempt to teach everything with them, in the misguided belief that they need to be 100% techno-literate by the time they're 8, and others that try to claim that computers per se are harmful to a good education. Properly used, as a backup to help children understand concepts that are otherwise difficult or abstract, they are A Good Thing. Badly used, they are nothing more than a gimmick.  

[quote]Hi Chicfille I'm sorry that I seem to be having another disagreement with you about education, but that's teachers for you! I would agree with Russethouse and add that there are also grammatical dif...[/quote] The general idea was to do both - to improve their written English and to get their imaginations going again. I would prefer a British teacher for obvious reasons, but this student contacted me first so we talked about what I was after. I emphasised that I want them to learn British spelling and grammar, and although she agreed she might have to look up some of the differences (will find a website, Gay, and point the teacher in its direction), she seems to be pretty clued up and willing to do it. What swayed me in her favour was her enthusiasm and ideas. The lesson has to be fun for my children to enjoy it - and if they don't there's no point - and she seemed to have the necessary charisma to motivate and interest them far better than I could. I'll be keeping a discreet eye on both the teacher's and my children's work for standards and americanisms! In any case, no one is committing themselves to anything. If it doesn't work out we will part company and I'll rethink. Deby - unfortunately it's not practical for the children to go to her (shared) flat, so a quiet room at home will have to do... Thanks to all for the help with what to pay her.  

KathyC - the student I have spoken to is actually American, here studying to become a teacher of EFL, I believe. I am looking for someone because I'm no teacher myself and I think my children need a small amount of formal-but-fun learning in English to ensure they can express themselves and write it correctly. The student would come for an hour, once a week, and work on things such as writing letters and stories. Obviously the children are willing or I wouldn't be bothering! I think 15 euros is a fair offer to start off with, I wonder if she will agree?!