Mistral

I studied at a German university as part of the erasmus programme and I felt like a baby compared to many of the other students collecting their scheine year after year. what employers seem to want is either a BTS, which is quite low level, but in something very specific, so bac+2, or loads more years, more like bac+5 Our careers adviser always says that you have to count a further two years of training after leaving "études generales" (be it Bac G, Deug, licence ...) What she means (I think) is that studying, even to university level, remains very general, so to be employable afterwards, you need to specialise But why don't lots of British students repeat the year Because the drop out/failure rate in the UK is much lower than the French one. My husband once said that the british have UCCA (as it was then) and the french have the first year. My sister in law, failed her first year, retook, failed a second time, changed her subject, failed again and finally left university after 3 years and nothing to show for it. I have friends who start putting money aside to pay for their kids' studies when they are still in primary school and others who are still paying for "children" in their mid to late twenties      

Of course, the other end of the scale has its problems too. My sister in law was complaining the other day how difficult it was to find clothes in size 34. Yes, 34. I thought that was a shoe size

I reckon trading my husband for a French man might be the quickest route to fluency I certainly helps  But you get a French mother in law at the same time, which is strong enouragement not to speak the language

If babycentre doesn't have the answer, you could try asking on magicmaman. Try the regional board. http://forum.magicmaman.com/forum0.php  

I am always a little ill at ease when people ask me what language I think in, I'm not aware that I particulary think in a language unless I am writing something or I want to chose my words carefully When I get asked that I reply that while talking in French I think in French, and while talking in English I think in English. I just hope no-one asks me what language I think in when I'm alone (no idea) or at the table with both kids (I speak to them in english) and husband (we talk in French) or while watching TV in French and reading in English at the same time.

2007. That's OK, It's going to take me at least until then to get enough points to be posted to Brittany. Off to IKEA this morning I'm taking the cool bag.    

If someone has any stats for crime against women in rural France that would be additionally interesting This isn't as good as that but it gives an idea http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/chifcle_fiche.asp?ref_id=NATSOS05302&tab_id=443 I understand what you're saying about the silence and emptiness. I've always lived in middle sized towns and although I love holidaying in the countryside, I think I would miss the feeling that there are always other people within calling distance. Nothing to do with being a woman.  

I do get fed up when I go to M do's  with my kids ,give my order in French with English accent and they get it wrong.Don't worry. This even happens to my husband (without the English accent part) I know that I have asked correctly...but I do think they expect me to get it wrong and then they get it wrong...if that makes sense. Totally.  

SB, I can't see myself talking about overhead cam shafts in either language (whatever they might be) Apparently even true "balanced" bilinguals actually don't have the same range of vocabulary in both languages because they probably talk about some things in one language and others in the other. I don't know much about computers but what I do know is in french. I talk about poste de travail,  clé USB, graveur... But I don't know how to say it in English. On the other hand, I'm happier with english cooking terms. (but I still need enough french to describe what a cooking apple is)

It depends on what's being tested. Some results some back in the afternoon, others can take up to 3 weeks, if the labo has to send the test away. We average out on 48 hrs I used to mak an appt at the labo but then I realised that most people just turn up and wait, so I do that now.

Frankly, English parents out there, don't send you children to English lessons in French schools, mrs o's daughter has the right idea, opt for something like Spanish. I quite agree but you've got to be able to. Of the three collèges in my town, only one has a choice of LV1 and the lycée only has English LV1 at the moment. Until this year, the only language taught in the 10 or so primary schools was English. All the LEP's in the area only teach English LV1 (no LV2 at all)

In reply to the original question; English teachers are supposed to accept both the American and British ways of saying things. The only limit is that a pupil is consistant, using either one form or the other. This is great in theory, but unfortunately a lot of teachers don't know both forms so tend to only accept one. British English is the basic form taught in collège with an American character usually popping up in books so you can have somebody saying "gee Patty!!" or whatever. In lycée, pupils are supposed to study  American English as well. Every year I get pupils telling me I write the date wrong (day number month) All the teachers round here write it the American way. That's not a problem, but what is, is that they don't know there is a difference and all assume they are writing it the British way. More annoying was my daughter in CE1 last year who came home a bit confused because the teacher had asked how the "anglais" said père noël and she had been told she was wrong when she said "Father Christmas". The expected answer was santa of course. If I ever get my hands on the person who has been going round telling primary pupils that "gros" means big  (OK I know it does in certain situations)  

They don't seem to have a special phrase, just "des bonbons". Older ones usually tag a "s'il vous plait" on the end (which doesn't really go with the scream masks) but this could be because they recognise me from school.

The joys of working in a French secondary school, I had no trouble with the drug addict question My in-laws play Monopoly to their own rules (for example: all the community chest/chance money goes on the free parking and you get it if you land there) and I usually refuse to play because I get confused and they won't let me be the bank (I only got the colours confused with the UK version once but they won't let me forget it) But I've played it enough to remember rue de la paix

It's strange how it varies so much from shop to shop and region to region. Two years ago the carrefour in paimpol already didn't have plastic bags. We kept being caught out on this because none of our supermarkets down here in provence was doing it (or even mentioning it) Then about a year later the Auchan in martigues started the eco-caisse system. When we went to the swiss/german border on holiday, I thought that they were certain to be in the forefront of the no-plastic bags idea, but no, they still gave them away like confetti. What annoys me is that there is nothing announcing it. It's not until you get to the checkout that you realise you've got to either buy (yet more) bags for life, or try and carry all your shopping in your arms. Just a notice in the carpark or at the entrance would make you think to go back and check if you haven't got a few bags in the car. This is why I appreciated the eco-caisse system, you could choose whether or not you used it (no-one around here did, so it was always the quickest checkout in the shop) I like the green géant/casino bags for life. They fold down well and have stable square bottoms that make packing easy.

What I was trying to say is that you really shouldn't rely on word of mouth. As I said, it's almost totally based on criteria such as the number of immigrants (or at least the imagined number) or whether or not it's in the town centre (good) or the outskirts (bad) A lot of collèges have quite a high teacher turnover and it usually takes a few years to build a reputation so it's quite possible to choose a collège based on teachers (or heads- they do have a lot of influence) who haven't been there for the last 5 years. As I said my last school had a very bad reputation, the head spent years trying to prove it was wrong. After  about 10 years people finally began to realise that we weren't as bad as all that  only for the head to retire and be replaced with someone who was  completely incompetant (I have to say it) the school has gone downhill badly since but now it's still living on the old positive reputation. You can't win Tourangelle is so right about inspections. In 13 years I have been inspected exactly twice, each time for a single hour of lesson. I know teachers who have never been inspected and others who have refused inspections for the last 10 years.

The whole idea would be completely against French thinking. This is the counrty of "égalité" All teachers are trained to the same levels, all are therefore equally competant  Teachers are are not recruted directly by the school but their postings are based on a points system (ancienté giving the largest amount of points) All classes should have the same mix of abilities and follow exactly the same programme, the idea of a school having a particular ethic or style is unknown. The only things you will probably find are word of mouth comments from other parents on the school's reputation mainly based on the kind of pupil who goes there (i.e. large immigrant population). I used to work in a ZEP, which had a very bad reputation while people conveniantly forgot that we had the best brevet scores in town (against not so good 6eme evaluations)  About 10 years ago, my academie (Aix-marseille) published a list of all the colleges  (not including marseille) in 5 catagories. The criteria for the catagories included the number of pupils with at least year's delay on arriving in 6eme, at least one foreign parent, unemployed parents and other things along the same lines.  

I don't know for private schools, I suppose that will depend on the headteacher. All three of my kids went to state maternelle mornings only for the whole of their first year (started at 3 and 4 months) Since most PS (petite section) classes have very long naps in the afternoon, the teachers preferred we kept the children at home in the afternoon. They had less bedspace problems. I don't know about only certain mornings. I have a friend who sent her (2 year old) daughter three mornings a week, but she's the forceful type, who arrives and announces that's how things are going to be. Maternelles do follow a set programme so the teacher might not be too keen. On the other hand, We only sent our two eldest 4 mornings a week  in the first year (just didn't send them on saturdays and Wednesdays the school is closed) This was so common that the teacher never planned any specific teaching for Saturday mornings.    

the parents had `forgotten` how to write capitals in `fancy` if you understand me. Most of these parents couldn`t be more than 30 years old, so either they do not write much or they are computer techos . Or they have not used "fancy" capitals since they left primary school. We're happy that last year's maitresse gave the kids a print out of what they're supposed to look like, since my husband can't remember. He does use the computer but he writes a lot too. he just doesn't do the capitals anymore  

SB, here's a mantra to repeat to these parents "B2I" This is the Brevet Informatique et Internet. All pupils are supposed to be at level 1 by the time they arrive at collège (yeah, rigt with no computers in primaire) and at level 2 by the time they leave. It should actually appear on their bulletins in 3eme. Frightening details here: http://eduscol.education.fr/index.php?./D0053/accueil.htm It's one of those wierd situations, all teachers are supposed to validate their abilities but computing is no longer part of the technologie programme, so we're not sure where they are supposed to learn the abitities we have to check, nor exactly how we are supposed to check them. I'm in BDR and things are a lot easier since every 4eme and 3eme has a laptop on loan from the conseil general. Of course, we get the opposite problem; parents expect us to use them all the time...  

I registered mine directly at the schools not at the mairie, although this could be because it was a larger town. I think that all that was needed was the carnet de santé and proof of address (electricity bill or similar) One of the schools may have asked for the livret de famille, the french book you get when you marry that as everybody's details in it, but I expect a birth certificate would do instead. Here's the link to the ministry site which tells you what they consider necessary for inscription. Not every school asks for everything on the list.http://www.education.gouv.fr/prat/inscrip.htm This is what the site says you need for for primary school Votre enfant n'a jamais été à l'école maternelle Adressez-vous à la mairie de votre domicile en présentant : - le livret de famille, une carte d'identité ou une copie d'extrait d'acte de naissance - un justificatif de domicile - un document attestant que l'enfant a subi les vaccinations obligatoires pour son âge. First go to the mairie with -livret de famille, ID card (passport) or birth certificate -proof of address -proof the child has had the vaccinations necessary for his age Faites ensuite enregistrer l'inscription de votre enfant par le directeur ou la directrice de l'école élémentaire en présentant : - le certificat d'inscription délivré par la mairie ; - le livret de famille, une carte d'identité ou une copie d'extrait d'acte de naissance - un certificat médical d'aptitude ; - un document attestant que l'enfant a subi les vaccinations obligatoires pour son âge. Then go to the school with - certificate of inscription from the mairie -livret de famille, ID card or birth certficate - a medical certificate (no idea about this, i've never been asked for one) -proof the child has had the vaccinations necessary for his age

My doctor also said that the BCG was not necessary anymore, but both the Ecole Maternelle and the College insisted.  I also thought this was strange as TB is on the increase. As far as I've understood it, a lot of doctors are saying that the BCG isn't very effective against the strains of TB that are around nowadays so they don't really see the point. For the last few years there has been a rumour that the government is going to stop making it obligatory. The problem is that this isn't yet the case and no-one know when (or even if) it is going to happen. At the moment is is still obligatory for school inscription according to the ministry of education. The whole situation becomes difficult when a doctor decides to advise against it and the school insists on it. Even if the school doesn't ask for it at inscription (which technically it should) there are set moments for school doctor's visits and they check that the jabs are up to date then.

 There's a general strike (or at leat the usual suspects- transport and education) next Tuesday (4th oct) I'm not too sure what it's about ths time, I didn't go to the réunion syndicale but then those who did aren't too sure either. It seems to be one of those "ensemble de son oeuvre" things. I expect it will be quite well followed in secondary schools because it's the first one of the school year and there is a lot of murmuring about the new law on having to replace other teachers. I don't know for primary schools. As usual, I expect the private schools won't be involved.  

I think TU made a very good point, obligatory education is up to 16 (which does make me wonder what the family was doing with her for the last two years) If she no longer wants to go to school, then her parents have to uninscribe (does that word exist?) her, she can't just stop coming. What a sad situation

The only vaccinations that are obligatory in france are the DTP and the BCG. All the others are "recomandée" and no-one can force you to have them done. Children are expected to have the BCG before starting creche or school so most have the jab in their first few months, once they're got the DTP series out of the way. But there is no set age as long as it's done before they start school. Here's the ministry website for school inscriptions. http://www.education.gouv.fr/prat/inscrip.htm The vaccinations aren't mentioned in the collège/lycée inscriptions part because it's assumed that children will have had them done for primary. A lot of people on the forum have never been asked to have the jabs done, it seems to depend a lot from school to school despite the ministry rules.